Group Coach and Ride: Intermediate
From £120.00 inc. VAT
Level: 4-6
Intermediate
Coaching
Guided ride
Location
Group Coach and Ride: Intermediate
From £120.00 inc. VAT
Coaching isn’t just a great way to improve your mountain biking skills: it can also be a load of fun.That’s why we’re introducing our new group mountain bike coaching for intermediate riders. It’s a simple formula:
- 3 hours of expert coaching, in a group of up to five other mountain bikers at the same level as yourself
- after a short break, a 2 hour guided ride, so you can put your new skills into practice
This combination makes for a great mix of learning and fun, with one of Marmalade’s expert coaches.
This intermediate session will be optimised to suit you and the other riders, but you can expect to cover things like:
- Better cornering – on flats and berms
- Finding flow on the trail
- Taking on trail features with confidence
- Introduction to climbing and descending on technical and steep terrain
Not the right level for you?
Beginner and advanced level options are also available for our Group Coach and Ride days.
If you need to hire a bike, check availability first and book using the bike hire selector below.
Or, for some private guidance…
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- Our private coaching is flexible and focused, so you (or you and your friends) can really focus in the skills you want to master
Itinerary: Group Coach and Ride
After an introduction and briefing to the day, you will get started on this day of off-road skills-building:
10.00am to 1.00pm – Three hours of structured coaching will be adapted to suit riders’ needs, but is likely to cover:
- Better cornering – on flats and berms
- Finding flow on the trail
- Taking on trail features with confidence
- Introduction to climbing and descending on technical and steep terrain
1.00pm – 1.30pm – Lunch break. Enjoy a drink and snack at Peaslake Village Stores or the Hurtwood Inn – or bring a packed lunch.
1.30pm – 3.30pm – Now it’s time to practise your new skillset on a fun and progressive guided ride on the famous woodland trails of Holmbury and Pitch Hills. Your coach will customise a route specifically designed to give you opportunity to use your new skills and build your confidence.
The area and the trails
The lush woodland that smothers these green sandstone hills is festooned with ancient bridleways and trails that have made the Surrey Hills famous. This ride will perfectly link together the best introductory trails of Holmbury Hill and potentially Pitch Hill, depending on our progress on the day.
Your choice of bike
E-bikes or conventionally-powered mountain bikes are all welcome, whether you bring your own or hire from our friends at The Riders Hub.
How to get here
By train – The nearest station to Peaslake is Gomshall which provides easy connections of around an hour from London via Dorking and Guildford stations.
By road – From London and the south you’ll likely use the A3 or A24 and the A25. Head for Hurtwood’s No.1 car park at the top of Holmbury Hill.
Jim Barrow
Cycling UK, Technical MTB Coach
Jim’s two-wheeled journey began in the early 80s on a BMX, then progressed onto mountain bikes in the 90s. He fine-tuned his bike skills across the whole off-road racing spectrum: XC, enduro, endurance, cyclocross and BMX.
Having built this deep love of biking, Jim now devotes himself to sharing it with other riders, as an experienced leader and coach. And when he’s not mountain bike coaching or shredding in the woods, he’s camping in them – adding bikepacking to his enormous biking portfolio.
Jim guides Marmalade rides all over the UK – and is our skills coaching specialist and bikepacking expert. So whether you’re looking to finesse your trail technique or discover the joys of sleeping under the stars, Jim’s looking forward to riding with you.
Andy Pittson
MIAS, Technical MTB Coach
Andy spent most of his early days and his twenties as an accomplished climber – taking him all over Europe. As mountain biking became more popular in the 90’s it wasn’t long before this adventurer was exploring the great outdoors with pedal power.
Swapping ropes for tyres, mountain biking became Andy’s new passion. Never one to turn down an exciting opportunity Andy headed off to southern Spain to work overseas as head guide for one of the world’s leading mountain bike holiday providers, where he spent seven amazing years delivering multi-level experiences for their global community.
These days Andy is settled with his family in the vibrant city of Brighton, and has been guiding and coaching for Marmalade since 2019. Andy still races enduro – keeping his bike-handling skills finely tuned.
Just like Jim, Andy boasts a wealth of UK wide and overseas experience and is passionate about sharing his knowledge to improve your skills.
- Duration: 5 hours
- 3 hours coaching
- 2 hours guided ride
- Distance: 12-14 miles (19-22km) approx
- Elevation gain: 2,000 ft (600m) approx
- Technical Grade: Intermediate
(any questions, please contact us) - Meet time: 9.30am │ 10.00 am on bikes
- Meet point: Hurtwood car park no.1, Holmbury Hill, Peaslake
- Our intermediate Group Coach and Ride day is aimed at the regular mountain biker looking for a sociable and informative group activity to build on their core skills to further develop the right techniques and confidence
- You should have a good understanding of basic mountain biking techniques, including the ‘Ready Position’, basic cornering, and riding confidently on basic off-road trails. (If this doesn’t sound right for you, check out our beginner-level Coach and Ride day)
- You should be confident riding your mountain bike on blue-graded trails
- To take part, you’ll need to be an active person who has the personal fitness to ride for at least 2 hours at a social and comfortable pace
- The trails will include features such as roots and loose rocks, along with small rollable steps – all of which can be easily ridden or avoided
- This session will include undulating trails – and in places, climbs that may be challenging
- This session requires a suitable mountain bike (Hybrid and budget bicycles are not suitable)
- See the ‘Bike Hire‘ section below if you need to hire a bike
- Riders should be aged 18 and over
- If this ride sounds too hard or too easy for you, check out our beginner- and advanced-level Group Coach and Ride options
Equipment, kit and clothing
Essentials:
- Suitable mountain bike in good working order (bikes can be hired)
- Helmet (in good condition, with no damage)
- Clothing and shoes appropriate for cycling and weather conditions on the day
- Personal choice of drink and ride snacks
Recommended:
- Gloves
- Glasses, sunglasses or eye-shields
- Backpack
- Spare inner tube
- Puncture repair kit and bicycle pump
- Padded cycling shorts for comfort
What’s not included
- Bike hire – this can be booked via the ‘Bike Hire‘ section
- Personal clothing & equipment
- Overnight accommodation
- Pre, during or post activity refreshments
- Personal travel or accident Insurance
Private coaching
Base price of £180 is for one person for 2 hours. Add more riders for a group of four using the ‘Extras’ drop down menu.
Need to hire a bike? Then after you have booked your coaching, scroll down or click here to reserve your bike with our friends at Surrey Hills Bike Rental.
Still not sure what experience is for you or have a question? Then please send Sean an email or call on +44(0)7840724611.
(All prices include VAT)
Bike hire (extra information)
Bike hire selection
- From the system below choose the date and time to match our itinerary
- We recommend the six hour option as a minimum from 9.30 am
- Select normal mountain bike or electric mountain bike
- Choose the size of bike, based on your height
- Add a helmet if you need one
- Go to checkout and complete the bike hire reservation
- Book your place on your desired coach and ride session with us
Please Note:
The bike hire system below can sometimes have a delay before it has fully loaded. If it fails to show, then visit Surrey Hills Bike Rental direct to reserve your bike. Then return to this page to confirm your place on our guided ride.
(** Marmalade MTB is not responsible for the provision of these bikes. By using the system below you are booking direct with Surrey Hills Bike Rental.)
4 reviews for Group Coach and Ride: Intermediate
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James –
Up until now I had tried to teach myself MTB skills by watching YouTube videos, but this wasn’t yielding many results. I decided to go on Marmalades Intermediate training course and was blown away by the improvement I made in just one day. Manuals? Completed it mate!
The first 3 hours were focused on skills, and with a small group we all got individual feedback that we could work on, and improve, for our next attempts.
After a quick bite to eat we set off on a 2 hour guided ride around the Surrey hills. The trails were amazing and just at the right level to challenge us put our new skills in to practice.
I’ll definitely be joining Marmalade again for a course in the future.
Andy Leader –
The Intermediate Coach and Ride session is a great way to boost your riding skills and receive first hand expert guidance on techniques to improve on. It was really useful for me and I now know what I need to work on to become a better and more confident rider. Jim our coach on the day clearly explained and demonstrated the right way to do things and, with a small group, able to advise on an individual basis. The session was well organised with the expert coaching on various skills with practice on trails in the morning and a guided ride on the trails in the afternoon. All in all, a great mix of coaching and riding in the famous Surrey Hills and definitely worth doing if there’s any aspect of riding you want to improve.
Andy Christie –
The morning skills sessions were well planned out, with Jim’s expert coaching and friendly and easy-going manner. We were immediately able to test what we had practised, in a real world trail environment. The Surrey Hills is a perfect location, with a swift lunch stop in Peaslake, followed by an afternoon hitting the trails, the perfect way to round off a great day!
Jonathan –
This is a great format of coaching and learning followed with hitting the trails in the afternoon. Thanks to Jim I already feel my skills have improved.