About
Little Fodders
A British Cycling registered Go-Ride Mountain Bike Club for 5-12 year olds.
Our main objective is that the kids have a load of fun on their bikes, learn some new skills and maybe even a few tricks! It also gives the parents some free time to ride the trails or maybe just chill out in the café!
Sessions last 2 hours during term time They run every Saturday and for members only.
We also run every Wednesday in the school holidays, which are open to both members and non-members.
There is a monthly girls-only MTB coaching session, which is open to both members and non-members.
MEMBERSHIP TO THE CLUB IS CURRENTLY CLOSED AND THE WAITING LIST IS FULL, we hope to reopen it in Autumn 2021.
We split our sessions in to 2 main parts:
1 .Skill session – focus on core mountain bike skills from effective braking, cornering, body position, line choice, front and rear wheel lifts, manuals and even jumping the bike!
2. Applying the skills on the trails – taking the kids out on the mountain bike trails and putting their new found skills into practice.
We do always need parental help and volunteers are always welcome, especially at the mini races we run for the kids.
The Coaches
Learn from experienced British Cycling qualified professionals.
Gareth Sheppard The Boss
Gareth is the General Manager at Pedalabikeaway. Prior to running the centre he was the Performance Manager for the British Cycling Team for 6 years, taking the team to London 2012 and countless World Championships and World Cups, and Welsh riders to the Commonwealth Games.
Gareth has been involved in the sport since the early 90’s and represented Great Britain at the World Mountain Bike Championships. He has coached a number of young riders over the last 7 years to success.
Gareth holds the following qualifications;
BSc Sport and Exercise Science
British Cycling Level 3 MTB coach
British Cycling Level 2 MTB leader award
Outdoor First Aid qualified
Child protection and CRB checked
Paul Parent, Coach and E-bike enthusiast
Father to 2 Little Fodders, Paul has been coaching the sessions since 2017 after qualifying as a British Cycling coach. He apparently has a full time job, but he can be found riding at the centre and drinking tea a lot!
British Cycling Level 2 MTB Coach
Clare
Clare pretty much lives and breathes cycling. She coaches, guides, teaches cycling and in her spare time…she bikes! She also runs a charity Wamba Community Trust that supports a remote community in central Kenya.
Nic
A member of Dames MTB, Nic got into coaching as her youngest was a member of the Little Fodders, he has now progressed to the PBA race team! She also coaches pre-school gymnastics and is partial to a spot of Salsa dancing.
Joe
Joe has been mountain biking pretty much since it was invented, and is now passing on his passion to his children who attend the club! He is also a guide and works for our sister company wyeMTB too.
Mark S.
Mark and his partner, Mel, are bike obsessed and when they are not working they travel around the world entering multi-day MTB endurance events. Don’t challenge him to long ride off, he’s like a duracell bunny!
Mark B.
Ross is in the army, so he’s pretty hard and the kids love him for it! He’s also parent-coach, and has been MTBing as long as Joe, basically they are very very old (school)!
Rachel
Rachel is a MTB journalist, an accomplished Enduro racer and runs the Boost Coffee Company with her partner. Basically she’s really, really cool!
FREQUENT ASKED QUESTIONS
Yes you can. Anyone taking part in the session will receive a 10% discount on bike hire.
The session will go ahead unless we deem it dangerous to do so. This will only occur in extreme temperatures or in the case of high winds/gales.
Yes of course, but the children are your responsibility until the sessions start and we request that you are back at the centre at least 10 minutes before the finish of the club. You do need to be contactable during the session, so please ensure you have your phone with you!
A bike! Bikes need to be in full working order, have 2 working brakes and off road tyres. Children need a helmet (complusary) and it is advisable they have a rain jacket, gloves and a water bottle with them.
They need to be a minimum of 5 years old and need to be able to ride a bike confidently without stabilisers or parental assistance! Once they turn 13 we find that they have outgrown the Little Fodders pathway and we refer them over to WyeMTB for their teen sessions.
Gallery
Pictures from the courses and on the trails
