Is Chris Carter’s Method Groovy?
Ben, our Bushranger’s president and I were invited to come and try the “Groover Method” on Friday afternoon to see if it might be something useful for the GoGIRLs (Get Into Riding Ladies MTB riding group). I was happy to attend as I am always looking for tips to improve my riding and then pass these on.
Chris began with a backstory on how he came to develop the concept and already I could relate as I personally knew many riders who had injured themselves quite badly and have had to have considerable time off their bikes. No-one likes that!
He began by explaining the Core Rules. What Chris was saying all make sense. I had some light bulb moments. You know it when you get it just right, you flow from left to right and you get in the groove! Ha ha! But when you don’t it can be disastrous! I think I have a permanent scar on my left shoulder from when trees have just crept up on me!
First we practiced cornering down hill and I did a great job showing the boys how not to do it, getting out of control and hitting the root where we were practicing on the way back. Ben just looked fast! Perhaps that’s why he’s the president.
Anyway, some time later, something clicked and I had the bike under control and suddenly I was accelerating out of the corner. I was thinking, “THIS IS AWESOME”!
I believed I was a pretty good rider but Chris showed me what I already knew, that I still had a lot to learn. He shared lots of cool tips and I was happy to show that girls can bend from the hips easier than boys so we have an advantage there. The time went fast and soon it was over. I could see that beginners to the advanced could learn from Chris’ MTB Tips.
I went home remembering what he said,
“Practice some of the Core Rules as you ride and you will notice an improvement.”
So the next day it was a GoGIRL ride at the Sugar Bag Trails and we came upon Nessie, a skinny made of metal with two bumps. I applied Chris’ Core Rule Number One and to my surprise and the witnesses there, I rode it like a pro. Tania yelled excitedly, we got that on video! Was it beginner’s luck or something else? I’ll leave that for you to decide. But I thought it was pretty groovy!