With some of the most progressive outdoor access legislation in the world and stunning landscapes, many riders come to Scotland for mountain bike adventures. Maybe a first foray into mountain biking or a desire to upskill and explore, to leave their comfort zone in a safe, supportive and fun way – our leaders and leadership training help guarantee this.
DMBinS, Scottish Cycling and British Cycling work in partnership to create and develop new mountain bike leadership awards. Responding to the needs of the mountain bike community and with our network of Tutors, these awards are delivered across Scotland to those aspiring to become mountain bike leaders and role models within their communities.
Over the last couple of years, we have co-developed with British Cycling the new Fundamentals of Mountain Bike Leadership Award (or FunMBL for short). Focusing on accessible leadership skills that simply feel right when applied in the outdoors, we have created an award with leadership at the core.
We have cut back on the technical side of things, focusing on robust preparation, strong familiarity with routes being used, and clear principles to enable you as a leader, to take an individual rider-centered approach. We think it's a cracking award, hugely accessible, and above all, fun.
This Award came on the back of the Night Leader Award. Most needed here in Scotland because of our winter daylight hours (or lack of) this Award superseded the MBLA night leader module and was updated to reflect technology and a growing understanding of the impact of night and darkness on our circadian rhythms, human wellbeing, emotions and the inherent desire of our bodies to try to sleep at night. Importantly it is also insured.
These are exciting times for mountain bike leadership here in Scotland and across the whole of the UK. In the pipeline is a refreshed take on leadership across all of the British Cycling Leadership Awards. Following on from the leadership principles in the FunMBL we are taking Vision, Challenge and Support to new heights, looking to INSPIRE at Level 2 and reinvigorating that golden thread of leadership that we want to see front and foremost across all of our awards.
And there's more! Working with the team at Glenmore Lodge and British Cycling, a bike packing award is under investigation. Watch this space!
For more information just follow this link: Mountain Bike Leadership Awards
Our workforce, tutors and leaders are amazing. We are confident in our training and assessment processes but we know that there is little in the way of formal, directed support after qualifying.
So with Glenmore Lodge, our National Outdoor Centre, we have begun the journey offering tailored development opportunities for our leaders to continue to learn.
We are all learners, just at different levels and we want to support that. The first stage is a small pilot conference. (held in November 2021 at Glenmore Lodge)
We will learn from this, creating coherent and industry-specific learning opportunities for all, riders, leaders and tutors going forwards.
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