Skills training in Dalby Forest for mountain bikers

Cycling is enjoying a boom in Dalby Forest which has 55km of designed trails

Young people are being encouraged by the Forestry Commission to improve their biking skills in Dalby Forest.

Purple Mountain, the firm that runs the bike centre in Dalby Forest, near Pickering, has become the first outlet in Yorkshire to be accredited by the Mountain Bike Instructor Award Scheme to run Right Track awards.

Young people aged between 11 and 18 years old can now use the 55 kilometre trail network in the forest to gain specialist training and progress through five levels of instruction, earning certificates along the way.

Alan Eves, Forest Management Director with the Forestry Commission, says:

Purple Mountain bike centre in Dalby Forest runs the Right Track awards

"It's one thing creating the trails, but we also need to offer opportunities for bikers to polish their skills and develop better technique, while becoming safer riders too."

Cycling is enjoying something of a boom in the area after Dalby Forest beat off stiff international competition to win the right to stage the opening race in the 2010 World Cup Cross County Championship in April, the first time the competition has visited North Yorkshire.

Two years ago the woodland became the first UK venue to stage a forest finish for the Yorkshire leg of the Tour of Britain.

The new Right Track scheme, which is aimed at schools and youth groups, allows young bikers to upgrade their skills and even follow their own dreams of stardom.

It can be designed to dovetail with NVQ and syllabus studies and counts towards pupils' records of achievement.

Vicky Griffin, who runs Purple Mountain in Dalby, says: "Honing techniques like gear selection, braking and tackling drop-offs are all covered, with the top level of the Right Track awards introducing competition riding."