Mountainbike courses Harz

Mountain bike riding technique courses

For a riding technique course, you agree on a start time and location with the guide, just like on a guided mountain bike tour, and discuss your wishes and ideas before the course out of. In order to be able to learn and practice certain movement sequences in the terrain, you will drive a route during the course that connects specific areas of the terrain. During this tour there are longer breaks during which the MTB guide explains content to you in structured discussions and accompanies you with targeted exercises to help you implement and improve movement sequences yourself. Of course, you will also learn directly how to apply what you have learned in the terrain and have the opportunity to stop for a break on the tour, get to know exciting trails and get further tips on mountain biking.

Difficulty

You will be introduced to the challenges of the terrain step by step. Each course is as individual as you as a participant. You don't need to worry about being overwhelmed - the pace of learning is adjusted to your progress, the difficulty of the paths and key areas in the terrain is adjusted to your practice progress and it is not a standard course where everything is explained to you , but you are not addressed individually. The aim of the course is for you to improve and go home feeling good.

Starting locations

You can arrange an individual starting point with the guide in Clausthal-Zellerfeld or the surrounding towns of Hahnenklee, Altenau, Goslar orschulenberg. The course can start directly at your accommodation or at a bike rental store. If you are unsure or are just coming to the Harz for the course, the guide can recommend a starting location. Bikepark intensive courses take place in the Hahnenklee Bikepark unless otherwise agreed in advance.

Participants

In principle, no experience in mountain biking is required to take part in a mountain bike course. You can book the course even if you have never sat on a mountain bike before. The content will be adapted to you during the course. In most cases, a mountain bike course is booked as personal training, for small groups or as a family adventure. If you would like to learn advanced riding technique, then the Bikepark intensive training is recommended for you.

Duration

Unless otherwise agreed in advance, the course starts at 10:00 a.m. The course is structured similarly to a guided mountain bike tour and therefore also includes riding like on a tour. The relationship between tour, breaks and exercises is individually adjusted so that the course is fun and enjoyable and does not consist exclusively of dry lectures or exclusive touring. The time with the MTB guide consists of lots of relaxed conversations and should feel like you are going biking with a friend. The course lasts as long as fun, fitness and weather permit. Most courses end like this in the late afternoon.

Fritz Geers is known from:

Mountain bike course

The one-day courses start at an individually agreed starting location in Clausthal-Zellerfeld or in a surrounding area (Hahnenklee, Altenau, Goslar orschulenberg). You can also arrange for the course to start directly at a bike rental shop. Unless otherwise agreed in advance, bike park intensive courses take place in the Hahnenklee bike park.

Driving technique training

All driving technique courses take place in the Harz low mountain range in northern Germany. The mountainous landscape offers a variety of varied trails and paths that offer technical challenges and key areas of all levels of difficulty to practice on. The MTB guide will communicate with you during the tour and adapt the route for the course along the way so that you specifically target paths and places in the terrain that are needed for practice. Below you will find an overview that will help you to better differentiate between the course content of the riding technique course and the bike park intensive training.

MTB riding technique for beginners

If you have never had any contact with a mountain bike but would like to learn the most important basics right from the start, then a riding technique course is right for you. In the course you will be introduced step by step to more difficult challenges and will learn over the course of the day how to move safely on the bike in the terrain and what is important.

Basics of MTB riding technique

Even if you have been mountain biking for a while, even simple key points (such as hairpin bends, high steps or steep descents) in the trail can be a big challenge for you place. The aim of the riding technique course is for you to understand the complex movement sequences on a mountain bike and to feel what it feels like when you implement them correctly. This creates the basic prerequisites for mastering even difficult areas.

Driving flow & flow feeling

During the driving technique courses on natural trails, you will only learn what you need on natural trails. To do this, you will delve deeply into the elementary basics in order to sit more safely on the bike and thus feel the flow feeling more quickly when mountain biking. If you want to learn skills like jumping or moving wheels while riding, then a bike park intensive training is right for you. Even for difficult terrain in low mountain ranges, it is not absolutely necessary to master these techniques.

Bike park intensive training

In addition to the varied terrain, there are more than five bike parks in the Harz. Nowhere else in Europe are there so many bike parks and trails so close together. In the bike park, the transport with the lift and artificially created routes creates different conditions than when mountain biking on natural trails: you will also find high jumps, berms and wooden elements in the bike park.

Advanced MTB riding technique

If you want to learn advanced mountain bike riding techniques, then bike park training is right for you. During a bike park intensive training you will learn how to ride high roots, high steps, steep curves or berms, how to move the rear wheel into hairpin bends, and how to ride on steep gradients with the correct riding technique and choice of line. You should first have a firm grasp of the basics of MTB riding technique.

Advanced bike park riding technique

Small jumps and drops are part of the bike park intensive training - jumps that are several meters high or similarly risky bike park elements are not included. If you would like to learn driving techniques where the wheels leave the ground for more than a second or if you are unsure which driving skills course is right for you, please get in touch.

General course information

You will find an overview of the dates on which mountain bike guides are available during the season in the online booking linked below. To book a mountain bike course, book your desired date and decide to add the “Riding Technique Course” or the “Bike Park Intensive Training” as an option when booking. You can also see in the overview of the dates whether an MTB guide with the appropriate expertise is still available for the mountain bike course and, if necessary, book additional dates, for example a guided tour.

Group size

The MTB guide will be reserved for you on the date you booked. When booking, you do not have to specify how many people you are booking the course for: regardless of whether you are organizing the course just for yourself or for a group of friends, no additional (external) participants will be added to the booking - the guide is there completely at your disposal. It is recommended that you keep the group small so that you do not deprive yourself of the opportunity for the guide to respond to each participant individually. Most courses take place as private training with 1-2 people.

Mountain bike

You can bring your own mountain bike to the course or find out where you can organize a suitable rental bike on the booking page. In general, we recommend bringing an all-terrain bike without attachments such as a stand, luggage rack or heavy saddlebags and point out that a mountain bike is particularly characterized by wide knobby tires and wide, flat handlebars. For the bike park intensive training, mountain bikes specifically suitable for the bike park are required (full suspension enduro, freeride or downhill bike).

Pedals & Saddle

If you have ever booked a course at another riding technique school, you know that most courses require that you can lower the saddle using a hydraulic seat post or a quick release and that Do not use clipless pedals. In principle, these recommendations also make sense, but we represent the philosophy that competitive athletes, for example, can implement complex driving technique movements even with clipless pedals and without an adjustable saddle on difficult routes. You will learn the advantages and disadvantages of each during the course and can then decide for yourself what is best for you.

Equipment

Aside from a helmet, you don't need special protectors for your knees, elbows, shoulders or back for a riding technique course, but you can use them if you feel safer with them. You should wear clothing appropriate to the weather and it is recommended that you wear long cycling gloves and suitable sports glasses or cycling glasses. During the course there is the possibility of a stop and there are many short breaks during which you can bring yourself drinks, bars or snacks if necessary.

Protectors

During intensive bike park training, wearing a so-called full-face helmet, a protective jacket and knee protectors is mandatory. After booking the course, you will receive information about where you can rent these items and bike park-compatible bikes (if required) for a fee if you do not have your own equipment: The MTB guide will be available to help you borrow any equipment you need - However, you should budget a low three-digit amount for the rental fees for a rental company and you will need a lift ticket (not included in the price).

E-Bike

During ascents and descents, most e-mountain bikes have different handling characteristics than conventional mountain bikes. You can take part in a mountain bike course with an e-bike, but the courses are not specifically designed for e-bikes. Unfortunately, frequent changes to the transport conditions by the lift operators mean that no clear statement can be made as to whether transport of e-mountain bikes in the bike park lift is possible or is refused by the lift operator.

Trainer

The team around the professional mountain bike guide Fritz Geers consists of mountain biker friends from the Harz region, some of whom have years of experience as local guides or are well-trained mountain bike riding technique trainers themselves. You can book the guides by booking an appointment online: Only on dates where the corresponding option "Riding Technique Course" or "Bike Park Intensive Training" is displayed as an available option can it be guaranteed that a guide with the appropriate competence will be available Driving technique trainer is available.

Fritz

Fritz Geers is a German extreme athlete and professional mountain bike guide from the Harz Mountains. He has already finished the Race Across America (4,716 km long) in 10 days 21 hours and 09 minutes, will be European champion in ultra cycling in 2018 and German champion in 24h solo mountain biking in 2016. You can find out more about Fritz on the other pages of this website. Fritz has several training courses and courses lasting several weeks to become an MTB guide in Germany, Italy and Great Britain. If Fritz is available for a course, you can learn from him about long-distance nutrition and mental preparation.

Give away a mountain bike course

A mountain bike course is a special gift for someone who enjoys being active in nature and is open to sporting challenges. You can give this experience as a gift for a special occasion by booking an appointment with the “driving technique course” option and ordering a voucher. The recipient will find a link on the voucher where they can find further information about their gift and contact the guide to coordinate details about the course. It doesn't matter whether the recipient takes the course alone with the guide or brings other friends with them.

Voucher

The voucher burned into a piece of wood is ideal for giving the course as a special experience as a gift. You can reserve an appointment when booking (online) and order the voucher next to the “driving technique course” option with the “Give a tour” option. You will receive the voucher by post within a few days. If you don't want to order the voucher to your own address (so that the recipient doesn't notice), you can enter a different delivery address in the booking process.

Bike rental

You will also find further information about bike rental in the booking process: It is possible to organize bike rental through partners. The MTB guide supports the recipient in the preparation with recommendations and local contacts and it is possible to start the course directly at a bike rental shop.

MTB tips

The recipient of the voucher has the opportunity to get further tips on mountain biking from the trainer during the course. It is important that you do not forget to book the “riding technique course” option when booking if the appointment is to take place as a mountain bike course. You can add this option - as well as other options - to individualize the voucher.

Booking & Reservation

To book, please use the booking system on the page linked below. You can select a date when booking, book the course by adding the options "Riding Technique Course" or "Bike Park Intensive Training" and then reserve one or more dates.

Open questions and answers

If you have any questions or problems, please feel free to contact us. You can find a lot of information about the offers on the website, but you can also contact us personally before booking if you are not sure whether an offer is right for you. Fritz or a mountain bike guide friend will be happy to answer most questions personally!

Individual offers

We would be happy to create an individual offer for larger groups, events and multi-day tours. Please state possible dates in your request and briefly describe what your ideas are. You can find further information about many offers on the other pages of this website. Unfortunately, requests without details cannot be responded to due to time constraints.