Aidan Bishop - XC, DH, Performance, General MTB

Aidan is our resident speedy coach. Not only do we say he has electric legs, he has the background to back that up!

He's raced pretty much all disciplines of MTB since 1989 (yes, he's not a young gun!) being a Pro Elite Downhill rider for 10 years (and Senior National Champ in 1996!). His rider CV is littered with some pretty heavy silverware and he still races on Enduro, XC and now CX circuit. He's also current (2023) British Masters 4X Champion. 

Aidan can coach you from your first pedal strokes to your first black gap jump and everything in between, but his special sweet spot lies in helping riders increase speed, line choice and find those marginal gains in your riding - as well as helping you clear your first table.

Choose Aidan for:

• General MTB coaching from beginner upwards
• XC
• Downhill MTB
• Jumping
• Jumping further

Qualifications:
British Cycling Level 2 Coach
British Cycling Level 2 MTB Coach
First Aid Trained
British Cycling Safeguarding 
Enhanced DBS

Book Aidan

Jeni Sanderson - Women's, Core Skills, Progression, First Air, Gravel & CX

Having started on the road, Jeni was; let's say "encouraged" to try racing Cyclocross one season and has never looked back to the smooth tarmac now preferring the rough stuff! 

Alongside racing CX and XC (with a few downhill races thrown in!), Jeni spends most of her time on the bike now chasing her daughter on her bike and regularly complains that it won't be long til she needs an e-bike to keep up with her!

Outside of training for events, Jeni mainly just enjoys riding for her mental health and with friends to jump on the opportunity for social time outside! She loves encouraging riders to explore faster and expand their skills and is one of those irritating friends who always has a tip or trick up her sleeve to improve your riding. 

Jeni enjoys working with those new to off-road and exploring the core skills of MTB and Gravel riding alongside intermediate riders looking to take their core skills a little further. As a female coach, it's also a passion of Jeni's to get more women riding bikes off road. 

Choose Jeni for:

• General MTB coaching from beginner upwards
• Female beginner/intermediate riders looking to work with a female coach
• Increasing confidence in core off-road and MTB skills
• Introduction to skills such as drops, berms and linking skills
• Intermediate riders looking to fine tune skills and improve speed and ability
• CX & Gravel riding
• Ladies looking to improve drops and get wheels off the ground for the first time. 

Maybe choose another coach for advanced Jumping and gnarly air work! 

Qualifications:
British Cycling Level 2 Coach
British Cycling Level 2 MTB Coach
British Cycling Level 2 CX Coach
British Cycling FunMTB Leader
Outdoor First Aid Trained
British Cycling Safeguarding 
Enhanced DBS

Book Jeni

Matt Carey - XC, CX, General MTB

Matt started mountain biking way back in 1990 on a Raleigh mustang which makes him one of our dedicated grown-ups!

Matt prefers exploring all kinds of off-road terrain rather than the hard-core, techy mountain bike trails and actually enjoys going up as well as down! With that in mind he loves riding, racing and coaching XC MTB and Cyclocross!

Matt has been coaching for over 10 years and is one of our most experienced coaches across multiple disciplines being qualified to coach MTB, CX, Road and Track - (although we ask him to leave his skinny, slick tyres at home when he comes to the forest!) and has coached beginners through to world champions! What this does mean is Matt understands speed, marginal gains and the other aspects of racing bikes such as fitness, endurance and training like the back of his hand. One of his greatest assets is being able to analyse a rider and drill down into the finer details, to facilitate greater improvements.

Matt loves working with all levels of riders but leaves the likes of the jumps and highly technical trail riding to some of our other coaches who prefer the point downhill more of the time!

Choose Matt for:

• General MTB coaching from beginner to first air.
• XC riding - finding extra speed, climbing, descending
• Cyclocross Coaching

Qualifications:
British Cycling Level 2 Coach
British Cycling Level 2 MTB, Road, Track & CX Coach
First Aid Trained
British Cycling Safeguarding 
Enhanced DBS

Book Matt

Chris Cockrill - Downhill, Enduro, Airtime

Chris is our downhill racer bod, having raced at an Elite level for many years.

Chris started his mountain bike journey here in Swinley Forest over 20 years ago, bombing around on his Kona coiler back in his mid-teens and has come back to his roots to coach with us. 

He loves the inclusiveness of mountain biking - being able to push riders to their limits one day and then have a chilled ride out with friends the next - whilst still having the same amount of fun on the bike. 

As a coach, Chris loves helping riders, no matter what level they are, to reach their goals and improve their riding in which ever way they are looking for.  

Chris particularly offers the greatest value coaching in helping riders build confidence and speed, which ultimately means more fun on the trails!

Chris is able to coach everything from core skills to gap jumps and beyond!

Choose Chris for:

• General MTB coaching from beginner upwards
• Downhill MTB
• Jumping
• Jumping further
• DH & Enduro Race Coaching

Qualifications:
FireCrest Mountain Bike Skills Instruction & Coaching Award
Outdoor First Aid Trained
British Cycling Safeguarding 
Enhanced DBS

Book Chris

James (Sully) Sullivan - General MTB, Core Skills, Drops

James "Sully" Sullivan still rides his bike like he's 4 years old - no, not with stabilisers; but with a real love and that unbridled joy you can only find on a bike!

Sully always says "You can't be sad when you're out on your bike with your friends"!

Sully absolutely loves seeing new riders fall in love with off road riding - and his attitude as a coach is nothing but fun and contagious as he believes you learn more when you're having fun. 

Choose Sully when you're a new off-road rider or a rider looking to improve core skills and correct poor technique. Sully loves to explore the forest in his coaching sessions too, so you're bound to learn more about the forest. 

Choose Sully for:

• General MTB coaching beginners & Core Skills, 
• Progression to drops & first jumps
• Parent & Child & Kids coaching

Qualifications:
British Cycling Level 2 Coach
British Cycling Level 2 MTB Coach
British Cycling Level 2 CX Coach
First Aid Trained
British Cycling Safeguarding 
Enhanced DBS

Book Sully

James Watson - Beginner & Core Skills & MTB Progression

James is one of our bionic men because we think his right leg is now made up of mainly metal!

He has been riding MTB for about 18 years and loves riding trails and bike parks but his greatest love lies in the more natural environment - exploring off piste (not at Swinley of course!) and sessioning the loam line in The Summit! 

Have completed some pretty long distance and gnarly off road routes he says some of his best memories have been on two wheels and the camaraderie and social aspect is a huge part of his life.

James loves nothing more than taking it back to basics and stripping a riders style down; working with them on what they could do to make them a better and more confident rider. 

James is your coach if you want to fine tune your 'wheels on the ground' technique.

Choose James for:

• General MTB coaching from beginner to first air.
• Fine tuning and progressing your intermediate MTB skills
• Parent & Child and Kids coaching

Qualifications:
British Cycling Level 2 Coach
British Cycling Level 2 MTB Coach
British Cycling FunMTB Leader
First Aid Trained
British Cycling Safeguarding 
Enhanced DBS

Book James

Toby Leyland - Core Skills, Progression & XC performance

Toby is our endurance and XC race specialist but is equally at home coaching kids and beginners.

Currently Toby is focussed on XC Stage Racing and events nationally and internationally.

Choose Toby for:

• General MTB coaching from beginner to first air.
• XC riding - finding extra speed, climbing, descending, improving performance

Qualifications:
British Cycling Level 2 Coach
British Cycling Level 2 MTB, Road & TT Coach
British Cycling Level 3 Road & TT Coach
British Cycling Level 2 MTB Leader 
Outdoor First Aid Trained
British Cycling Safeguarding 
Enhanced DBS

Book Toby

Tristan Taylor - Gravel, MTB Core Skills & Progression

Tristan loves bikes. It's that simple.

Having ridden for over 4 decades (he's older than his youthful good looks show) and being a resident in Swinley for the past 2 decades he spends a lot of the time riding the MTB trails and the gorgeous fire roads Swinley has plenty of. His riding diaries are full of happy memories of riding with friends, customers and folks from the bike industry - and he really knows Swinley inside out as an amazing space and one he's super proud to be a part of the fabric of.

Tristan feels his coaching sweet spot is in the combination where road-meets-off-road-which-meets-mtb! Having completed gravel events since before it was cool and taking mtb principles into riding with drop bars or less challenging mtb terrain to gain off road confidence, speed and skill. 

Choose Tristan for:

• General MTB coaching from beginner upwards
• XC riding
• Gravel Coaching

Qualifications:
British Cycling Level 2 Coach
British Cycling Level 2 MTB Coach
MBCUK - Technical Trail Leader
First Aid Trained
British Cycling Safeguarding 
Enhanced DBS

Book Tristan