Our friends, Ashley and Melissa at Riders Edge Suspension along with nine other women, had the opportunity to head up to Silver Star for an Endurocross skills clinic with Lexi Pechout. For those of you who don’t know who Lexi is, she is the Canadian who won the 2014 AMA Woman’s Endurocross Championship. She was at Silver Star at the end of September to teach others her craft. I stopped in at Riders Edge to chat with the Ashley and Melissa to get the lowdown from the day. Needless to say, they had a great time and learned a pile!

The course was open to ladies of all skill levels who wanted to move past their individual plateaus.

What They Learned

Lexi started with a focus on bike set up. There are often tweaks that can be made to people’s bikes that will make their riding both more comfortable and more effective.

The next lesson was body position. Without the correct body positioning, it would be difficult to initiate turns, weight the pegs properly, accelerate, decelerate, and negotiate obstacles.

Then came the obstacles. Loader tires, logs, and plank riding. Ashley noted “Getting over the intimidation of the obstacles, getting out of one’s head, and picking up after the crashes are hard but great skills learn“.

The addition of break slides, pivot wheelies, and 180 turns made for a busy and eventful morning.

The lesson of the day? Look forward, setup for the next obstacle, and think three steps ahead!

Next Year?

Ashley and Melissa highly recommend the course and were happy with the skills they took away. There is no official plan for next year, but the hope is that Lexi will be back to lead us again. Ladies if you didn’t have the opportunity to attend the clinic this year, or guys, if you have a lady friend who you think would enjoy this clinic, be sure to keep your eye out for next year. We will do our best to keep you posted.

~ Andrew Thompson, Vernon Dirt Chimp & Contributing Author