By Evan Chute

The RPM squad recently attended a downhill race camp with Gene Hamilton of BetterRide.net, a mountain bike skills coach. The camp was geared towards folks like us (that race downhill) and had a great focus on the core skills of downhill and mountain biking in general. I've know Gene for quite some time and he's a great guy with a lot to share, having trained many top pros over the last 10-15 years.

We learned tons about staying centered, proper turning technique, braking, pumping... all the good stuff! We were given a set of drills and theories to put into practice, and I'll have to say I think my riding has improved. Not a lot... at least not yet! But I'm already riding more confidently, and faster.

And who wouldn't wanna go fast?

The team is pumped and stoked for Nationals coming up, as we've all been working on our core skills and hungry for the WIN... I believe that Gene's camp is going to give us the foundation we need to take home some Stars n' Bars jerseys at SolVista!

So if you ever want to get serious about riding mountain bikes, or racing or riding downhill, I definitely would take a camp from Gene. He's got the core skills WIRED, and a good approach to teaching that includes a mix of "skills" work on flat ground, and practical application shredding on the mountain! Check BetterRide.net for more info on Gene's camps!