By Harry Herne

The inaugural James Williamson Junior Development MTB Camp took place in Canberra on the 25th November- 27th November. The camp was in honor of James who wanted to help young riders reach their best potential in mountain biking.

The camp was with Southern Highland riders and CORC riders aged from 15-18 and with different skill levels. There were around 22 riders at the camp with 4 coaches. On the Friday we arrived at the Bush Capital Lodge in Canberra and helped to get things organized and introduced ourselves to the other riders. We had dinner and then the coaches talked to us about what we would learn about on the camp. The coaches Dylan Cooper, Niki Fisher, Shaun Lewis and Jenni King made everyone feel welcome and answered any questions we had.

6 am on the Saturday morning we all rose from our beds to attend an amazing breakfast and then the camp was underway with a core and stretching session conducted by Jenni King who put us through some pain. After the stretching we all got kitted up and learnt how to set our position on the bike. This was an interesting exercise as many riders’ positions were wrong. Then the riding got underway. Shaun and Dylan took care of the boys and Niki and Jenni looked after the girls. We went around Lake Burley Griffin and practiced drops and riding up ledges.

We all then met back at the lodge and had a 5 star lunch before we headed out again to Bruce Ridge where we split into groups and took off for the rest of the day. We practiced switchback climbs, descending, cornering, climbing, jumping and how to choose the right line. When I was watching Dylan and Lewie I thought how Jimi would have loved to be able to have helped out.

When we got back to the hotel, we had another amazing dinner followed up by a talk by Jenni about nutrition and training. We also had a chance to learn about bike maintenance and how to change a tube. After that, everyone was tired and so we chilled out watching movies.

Sunday came around quick and we all wanted to know what we would be doing today. It started off much the same as Saturday with breakfast and then a quick core and stretch session. After that we kitted up into our new amazing ‘Willo’ jersey and rode to Majura Pines where we split up into the boys and girls group. The boys had a tough day ahead as we were told we had to climb nearly to the top of Mt Majura. The coaches told us the best way to climb. Most of us made the summit without stopping and had the awesome downhill to look forward to. The decent was a technical single-track with some tight corners, drops, rock gardens and roots. And we learnt the best way to attack the trail. We were able to attempt it a number of times and improved each run. We then rode some flowing trails to another section of track, splashing each other with the puddles. At the trailhead, we were told not to pedal and to stay OFF the brakes the whole time which was interesting. Once we got back to the road the race was on to the lodge to have lunch and to then go back out to Bruce Ridge for a final ride.

I would like to thank Meg, Leanne, John and Mark for providing us with an awesome weekend, and Dylan, Lewie, Niki and Jenni for the help they provided us with over the weekend. It’s a shame that James was not there but he was in our hearts the whole time. It was a pleasure to be part of his legacy and to be able to ride with his name on our jerseys.