Mountain bike leader training

Not sure if this is the right area to post it but it seemed the most fitting, I'm a very keen mountain biker and 'cross racer and also a trainee teacher, sustrans Ranger and sailing instructor and have been toying with the idea of training as a mountain bike leader and setting up a wee business taking beginners onto Dartmoor and running them through the basics for a small fee. I'm a student and seem to currently have a lot of time on my hands so this seems ideal just to scratch a few more pennies. Anybody had any experience of this or done a MBL course? Twitter'd Ed Oxley (the great rock) and he suggested SMABLA Any experts on insurance for this type of venture? Or should I just stick to riding my own bike and stop procrastinating?

G

Do it, it won't be cheap as you need allsorts of other qualifications.

I'm donig my L1 in two weeks but won't be able to go further for a few years as we don't have the right terrain locally (prohibitiveley expensive this living on an island shit).

Best of luck.

yeah, go for it

for SMBLA you need to join Scottish cycling & course costs on top, great course though, did mine with cycleactive in the Lakes.

need outdoor first aid qualification too, check with SMBLA if the one you do will be valid, ITC one is iirc

Don't discount others, e.g. MIAS or even the Go Ride L2 MTB via BC, tho that last route is much pricier & will take longer.

^ p.s. an advantage of BC route is it makes it easier for you to do their CX specific coaching qual at a later date should you wish.

It's not too difficult as long as you're dealing with adults. Currently there are other factors involved in dealing with children although there are rumours that this will be binned by the government - a bad move. This all depends on definitions of "adventurous" and "remote".

It will take a bit of research on your part to decide which qualification route to follow as BC have just muddied the waters by abandoning their support of the SMBLA scheme in favour of their own. You'll need to consider the sort of terrain each one covers and how well recognised they are by insurance companies.

Insurance at the moment costs about £400. You will need your own insurance on top of what's provided under the terms of your scheme to be completely covered for personal liability.

For anyone that cares, I have decided to take the plunge and go down the SMBLA route. Does anyone know if you have to do the 'trail cycle leader course' before you do the 'mountain bike leader course'?

Holders of a Trail Cycle Leader Award can progress to Mountain Bike Leader, with a further 2 days training and one day assessment.

Was chatting to a guide I met riding in the Peaks, reckons BC and SMBLA are consolidating their awards. He isn't upgrading TCL to MBL as he reckons he might have to repeat the process again after any changes... might be worth digging a bit to check if this is indeed the case.

I did the MIAS leader qualification a few months back.

Gabe, drop me a line, I can put you in touch with the guy who did my training.

I did the MIAS leader qualification a few months back.

Gabe, drop me a line, I can put you in touch with the guy who did my training.

James, what level did you do? Any ideas hom MIAS differs from SMLBA? I read somewhere that SMLBA is more widely recognized, anyone care to shed some light on this?