With apologies to Garret Morris, mountain biking has been very, very good to me. I found the sport of
mountain biking back in 1983, but I’d been riding in the hills on
bicycles all the way back to 1969. We raced our modified Schwinn
Stingrays on downhill tracks in the hills behind Agoura, pre-dating the
BMX and mountain bike craze by at least a couple of years, and
trail-building by cyclists by several more!
I got into mountain biking due in large part to Michael
Thomas of Michael’s Bicycles in Thousand Oaks. From the very first
ride in Caballero Canyon (Dirt Reseda), I was hooked, and there was no
looking back. A couple of years later I took up racing, and in 1987-1990
I was a Yeti factory sponsored rider, attaining the rank of Expert in
both the downhill and cross country. I still race downhill from time to
time, but I’d rather just ride the fantastic trails we have here in
the Santa Monica Mountains and Rim of the Valley Corridor.
An interest
in journalism led me to a position in 1987 with Mountain
Biking magazine, and for over seven years I helped edit the
magazine during the mountain bike boom. I was also very fortunate
to have covered the races and ridden with some of the very best
mountain bikers in the world, including John Tomac, Ned Overend,
Greg Herbold, Cindy Whitehead, and Cindy Devine. At the same time,
land access advocacy began heating up, and I found myself shoulder
to shoulder with others in the Los Angeles area who wanted to
keep trails open to mountain biking. We formed the Concerned Off-Road
Bicyclists Association, and as a Steering Committee member for
over 13 years it has been a privilege to work with some of the
finest and most dedicated individuals in the cycling community,
including Jim Hasenauer, Kurt Loheit, Peter Heumann, Rich Pinder,
and Michael Goodman.
In 1987 I began teaching mountain bike skills for the
Learning Tree University. In 1992 I helped CORBA implement the
Introduction to Mountain Bike Skills class, which I still teach today.
All of my racing and riding experience, along with seeing the best
racers in the world, has enabled me to develop a teaching style that
quickly identifies areas where you can improve. This is the essence of
MountainBikeSkills.com.
I believe that mountain biking is a lot like golf, tennis or
skiing. There are biomechanical movements that are not necessarily
intuitive to the rider. However, just a few minor adjustments in
technique can make a huge difference in your control and proficiency. If
you want to get better faster, you need to know the fundamentals of
mountain biking technique. Whether you’re just getting into mountain
biking or have been riding for years, I guarantee you’ll learn some
valuable tips. And once you’re ready for the more advanced skills,
I’d be happy to show you those, too!
Mark
Langton
