Adam Muys, Cycling BC BMX Head Coach
For the past six weeks the Abbotsford indoor track has been open. The BMX club held many practice nights and races and many great times were had under the roof. The track is now closed and flattened for another season, with only six more weeks until outdoor starts. In the last six week I had the pleasure of coaching athletes ranging from 5 years of age to adults learning to ride for the first time.
Early on in the indoor build I was able to help out with the Cycling BC BMX Development team. Development Coach Mischa Partridge lead the camp while I was able to work with the younger athletes and help Mischa in his development as a coach. The young athletes worked on building their skills in Bunny hop, jumping and manualing, as well as stepping up the competitive side with some speed training on the first straight.
The following day, Mischa and I ran the Future Champs camp for BMX. This camp was for athletes 11 and under. We had a great turn out for the camp with 30 young athletes. Over the course of the day we were able to teach the riders the basic skills for BMX. The athletes worked through the skills and stepped up their game on the track.
The BMX Provincial team had a training camp on Valentines day before the BC Cup. The athletes worked on setting goals for the season, as well as setting goals for each practice. On the track they worked on their track skills and first straights. Members from the provincial team also joined in on the national team training session twice a week through-out the indoor season.
The Provincial mountain bike team came to the indoor for some skills training on the BMX track. The XC and some DH athletes worked on pumping, bunny hopping, jumping and manualing on the BMX track. We then talked about how these skills can be used on the trails to help them be more efficient and faster. After the camp the athletes then took the new skills to the trails and were amazed at how much it helped.
Lastly, I ran a few adult camps over the course of the indoor period. The adult riders worked on the basic skills for BMX, working around the track. One of the highlight camps I ran was for the staff and board members of Cycling BC. It was a lot of fun working with them and showing them how fun it is to ride around the BMX track and how the skills learned on the track can be use in the other cycling disciplines.
Indoor is always a special time of year. I really enjoyed my time at the indoor track working with the different groups of athletes. At times it was a good test my coaching abilities and I feel I learned a lot about coaching. Looking forward to a wonderful outdoor season.
