Learning how to ride your bike and improve your riding ability should be fun, not intimidating. As a lifelong rider, I have had many ups and downs in my own personal riding career. When you are first introduced to your trusty steed, you struggle with the basics like shifting properly or knowing just how much pull to give your brakes without going over the bars. As you get comfortable and start challenging your riding, you realize there are so many things a trail can throw at you!

For most people bitten by the trail bug, it is these challenges and frustrations that bring you back to the trail time and time again. There is no better feeling than getting over that log-crossing cleanly that has cursed you for years. Carrying enough speed (and courage) to carve a certain corner like a pro. Finally conquering that climb on a solo ride that has eluded you during group rides with your buddies. Or just finding that overall balance and comfort on your bike that inspires the confidence to go out and tackle technical terrain and more adventurous trail. So, obviously, many of us have been through the paces, so to speak, in learning about our own riding limits. Unfortunately, many people succumb to putting a definitive limit on their riding instead of looking at each ride as an opportunity to improve their abilities and make personal progress.

My own personal riding achievements, challenges, and overall passion for riding my bike collided with an old childhood friend of mine about 5 years ago. Ryan Thompson and I started hitting the local trails on a regular basis and realized we shared this common biking bond. The local trails led to longer more challenging trails which led to multi-day, big-mountain excursions to Harrisonburg and Charlottesville.  When we started riding again, we each brought 20-plus years of experience to our rides from various disciplines. Ryan came with his long history in trials riding, dirt jumping, and trail riding. I came with a history of downhill, singletrack, and big mountain riding. The best part is that every ride we have together we are influencing each other’s riding in a positive way. We continue to want to push our limits and work to better our riding skills to squeeze out the maximum amount of fun from each adventure. Our passion for riding comes from wanting to learn about how to command the bike. This desire has progressed into wanting to teach others the skills needed to find this same type of enjoyment from their riding.  Our new business, RideKore, was born from this idea!

RideKore came about from a fireside chat late one night in Harrisonburg after riding epic trails all day. The passion for riding, sharing our local trails with others, and teaching people how to maximize their ride couldn’t be contained any longer.  RideKore is dedicated to growing the number of skilled mountain bike riders in the Richmond metropolitan area by providing IMBA certified mountain bike skills instruction for riders of all ages and skill levels. We are also dedicated to helping each rider find success on their own terms and at their own pace. We focus on providing our instruction in a safe, supportive, and non-judgmental environment. At RideKore we are also dedicated to our community and establishing strong partnerships with other cycling related organizations in order to create a lasting, positive impact on the outdoor community.

Regardless of whether you’re a seasoned trail rider or just getting into the sport of mountain biking. We hope you take solace in the fact that there’s a service out there to help you on the journey this wonderful sport provides. Richmond is just scratching the surface in terms of the sustainable trail systems the city has to offer and if you’re reading this then you’re already part of the revolution.

Now let’s go hit the trails!