[Closed] BPW drops course, has anyone done it?

Can't help on the specifics of that course but will say the half day works quite well. Do a morning course then you have an uplift ticket for the afternoon to practice what you learnt.

I found the organisation pretty poor for the course I did (instructor didn't turn up, replace come later but was very inexperienced) then had very little response when I tried to reschedule the one I booked for the wife but I'd probably give them a second chance as the location is good

Done a different course and was pleased with the coaching & organisation.
Plenty of other riders I know also had a good experience. Sounds like you'd benefit so go for it.

I would second the advice to do a morning course. I did the cornering course and found it useful.

On a side note, I was riding BPW for the first time in 4 years last weekend and the size of some of the red drops did make me a bit worried. However when riding them they were not as bad as they looked.

Hope you enjoy your course.

I’ve done the drops course at BPW and it made me stop being scared / hating any drop I couldn’t roll into actually enjoying them.

The way they teach is pretty easy and it’s pretty basic, “adopt this body position and very little can go wrong and you’ll almost never go OTB” once you’ve ‘mastered’ that, which might have more to do with someone with credibility telling you what you probably already know you move onto slightly variations of that for slightly different drops.

The course was held on the top half of Wibbly Wobbly which, not by mistake, has a row of 6/7 drops of slightly different types that’s easy to session. The first one you work on looks massive (to people who don’t like drops) but actually isn’t and is completely rollable, once you can send that confidently the rest is a breeze.

Great feedback, thank you everyone, will go for it!

Iv'e done the 'dropzone' course at BPW. Thought it was very good and boosted my confidence before a trip to Moab.  I suspect the course varies depending on the participants, we started on some of the red qualifiers at the top (can't remember names) then spent time sessioning Hot Steppa (nothing big but some look awkward if you aren't keen on drops) and finished with a full run down (I think) Wibbly Wobbly.

Went to BPW earlier this year and didn't notice much in the way of drops on Hot Steppa so it must have worked😀

Had a pop at 50 shades after tickling some of the other blacks. Did the first drop, crashed, but was fine, thought that was the big one! Got to the next one and had to carefully lower the bikes down and climb down it, okay I thought, this is not for the likes of me, it is shitting massive.

Following the advice I got here I did the course this weekend: Couldn't be happier, the technique I was taught was the one I was more or less doing, very different from what I was taught in another coaching session and did not make any sense, it would probably have led me to a crash sooner or later.

We started in Hot Stepper, there is a drop near the top that is rollable on the right but not rollable on the left. We sessioned the rollable drop on the right until we nailed the technique.
We were then asked if we were comfortable moving to the bigger one, I wasn't, but the other participants were, so .... I changed my mind and did it too..we sessioned it 5-7 times.

Then we moved a bit further down where the trail has 3 lines in parallel, the left one is barely noticeable but has a very nice huge (to me) drop. Again we were asked if we wanted to do it, I said no, the others said yes, so I changed my mind and sessioned it like 5 times.

We then moved on to two easy ones, after a tight switchback, that could be hit pretty fast. Nothing scary.

I thought the course was over by then...but then we moved onto the last drop (I believe) of 50 shades of black. Same story, 'no', 'yes'...'ok I 'll do it too'. We just did this one once, and it felt easy to my surprise.

We then spent the afternoon doing all the reds with a friend, I think there wasn't a drop we didn't hit.

Finished the day absolutely knackered but with adrenaline levels topped up!

Pleased to hear it went well, a bit of technique + some confidence works wonders and that’s usually what a good coaching session gives you.

Out of interest, who was the instructor? Going for a course there tomorrow.

What were the two different techniques you were taught Spaniardclimber?

@endorium Sorry I don't remember his name, I'm really bad at names, tried to find if the coaches where shown in BPW website as I remember his face, but they aren't.

@seb84 In my previous coaching session I was taught to just pull up. At this course I was told to push with arms when front wheel was about to leave the lip, and then push with legs (although I think I do them simultaneously), this accelerates the bike. To be clear: it's not a manual nor a manual motion, this is way easier and less likely to go wrong.

“In my previous coaching session I was taught to just pull up.”

This must have been one of the worst MTB coaches in history. Either they explained it wrong or you misunderstood but regardless they did an appalling job.

I know...I was running clipless pedals by then, that might have been the reason for getting taught that technique.
I was also taught to use the same technique for jumping...it didn't feel right so I never used it.
You can imagine how I was taught to bunny hop..

Just to clarify, by pulling up I mean the english bunny hop.

Yes, the only way that pulling up will get you airborne on a bike is with Willy Wonka’s skyhooks, as used on the Great Glass Elevator!