At the beginning of the year I set myself a health and fitness goal of running in the Canberra Times Fun Run (10km). I did the training and had the ability to do the run, however on the day of the race I was flat on my back with a cornea infection. I was not impressed that I had worked so hard all year on my running and then not be able to tick off the goal! However my dear husband came up with an alternate challenge that proved to be much more difficult, but fortunately much more fun 
A mountain biking skills camp.
Very pleased that I had just done the drop offs without stacking!
Each year Canberra Off-Road Cyclists (CORC) run a number of development events for men women and juniors. This year I attended the women’s off-road cycling skills camp at Birrigai. To say that I was nervous beforehand is an understatement. The prospect of spending an entire weekend with people I didn’t know was scary enough without adding the unknown cycling component in! As it turns out, the ladies were all wonderful and I came away having made a bunch of new friends. Mountain bikers seem to be a very laid back bunch of people! I love it!
The skills sessions taught us everything from basic cornering techniques to dropoffs, bunny hops and negotiating single track riding. It was challenging and some parts were downright difficult, but always the coaches were patient and helpful. Special shout out goes to Gail whose chief role on Sunday afternoon was to pick up the dummies that I spat on some blue single track out at Stromlo. She’s a legend. So encouraging and more patient with biking noobs than anyone I’ve ever met!
Belinda did a spectacular job getting everyone organised and moving each day
Anyway…I learned HEAPS and I’d say the challenge of the weekend more than made up for missing out on the fun run. I’ll definitely be signing up for next year and bringing a friend or two.
Big thanks to everyone at CORC (the coaches volunteered their time for the whole weekend!) and the sponsors ONYA bike and MalAdjusted who supplied swag for the event too. It was a very well run weekend and highly recommended for anyone from the complete novice to advanced riders….and a great way to meet new people!
Just for fun, here’s a video of my new friend Jo killing the drop offs! We both had a ball with the bunny hops, but were having too much fun to stop and take any video
I’m looking forward to heading out to Stromlo with my guys…they’ll still have to go slow with me for a while, but it won’t be long before I can keep up and not embarrass them with my shrieks as gullies and rocks jump out in front of me But right now I’m going to nurse the bits of me that hurt … which oddly enough are my shoulders and not my butt.
Click here to see more photos of the weekend!
A note for non-Aussie readers: the word corker (alluded to in the title) is an Australian slang word meaning “Something striking or astonishing, or something very good of its kind.”
