DeNOOBing ourselves-Technical training in the rock garden

 On Monday evening it was that time of the week again... a rookie and even some experienced riders came together beneath the legendary sculpture of the whirlwind brides and the sun in the "Felsengarten" Hagen (the rock garden). We exchanged some friendly talk, and then it was "shred mode on". We did some static and dynamic off-bike muscular exercises to warm up, and then we did some riding exercises.

 The defined surrounding of the location is ideal for beginners to slowly and controlledly try out bigger tasks. I had shown Andrea to ride a staircase and stopping on it, balancing on the staircase, beforehand, and she did it very well. I had made a schedule for the training, but only Andrea showed up who needed tutoring, and she already was farther than I intended the program, so we did something else: I tutored her how to lift front and rear wheel, which  ultimately led to her first bunny hop.

 Andrea also rode the stair up and learned how to lift the rear wheel out of harm´s way.

 Soon the formal training part was over, and we simply did some shredding, having fun with the unusual architecture. By the way, it was Hartwig, the father of my ex - girl - friend and all-time-best friend Anna, who designed part of it all as an ARRRchitect.;-) Thanks, Hartwig, those rollers are greatly appreciated!;-)

 This is Bear Lee catching some air. We were actually quite finished, even if riding on one spot only, but the exercises fatigue you out quite soon, especially the jumping, turning in the air, hopping and the like wear you out fast, for there´s a big amount of body tension involved. Bear Lee had been sick the whole week, and this was his first time riding. He did extremely well for that!

 I was most pleased to meet Toto again. Toto´s a really laidback and friendly guy, a competition pistol shooter, and I learned he broke the German record with the ordonnance pistol. Congratulations on that! he has a calm and friendly air about him and is always ready to help weaker riders. He knows quite a bit on pharmaceutics, medicine and anatomy, too, and his knowledge of the martial arts is frightening!;-)

Being older and having seen his share of events, both good and extremely bad in his life, he has always offered me valuable counsil, and I value his opinion above many others. Thanks, Toto!

 And, if you keep in mind, he misses half  a biceps on one side and a shoulder blade on the other which he somehow lost ;-) in a frightening crash at a downhill race, and his body is mincemeat due to ...wait.. is that twenty years???... of hardcore riding, it is a right miracle that guy rides the way he does!

We had a lot of fun, the weather kept stable for a change, we had some great chats and the right balance of jokes, mischief and serious and interesting conversation, and, last but in no way least, we did some serious shredding and gained much more self-confidence and riding skills.

Thank you, folks, it was a great evening!