It’s the last blog post of 2008 and it is time for me to sit down and take stock in what I got done and what I want to do next year. On a personal note I did not get to travel as much as I would have liked to (I only got out of Grand Junction once this summer!) but it was still a good year for my riding progression. A got a lot better at dirt jumping, something I have never really worked at, thanks to the infamous Air Supply trail up at The Ranch here in Grand Junction.

Consisting of 6 varying size doubles, a big wall ride and a bridge drop option, Air Supply showed me how much fun flying through the air can be when you don’t feel like you are going to die. In fact, I was able to clear the 40 foot gap jump which is by far the biggest thing I have ever jumped!

We kept adding features to the trail and the last thing we built was a weird wall ride between a double. You’re supposed to jump up (the take off is angled towards the wall which is angled back towards the landing), lean your bike over to catch the wall so that it can redirect you, and then pull off the wall and gap another bike length to the landing.

All in all there is a lot going on in a very short period of time. I tried it twice – and crashed twice. So cleaning that wall ride thing is near the top on my mountain bike goal list for next year.

During the second attempt I actually cased the wall and destroyed my rear rim. Luckily the guys at DT Swiss (which is located around the corner from my facility) hooked me up with a new rim. Thanks Paul!

It was also a rather productive year as I introduced the wildly popular MTB DB Combos 12 Week Program (www.dbcombos.com) to the mountain biking world and also released an update to the world famous Ultimate MTB Workout Program (www.ultimatemtbworkout.com). It also had some hit-and-miss moments as I have been trying to get a regular blog and podcast set up in order to take this newsletter into the “Web 2.0” world.

All in all, it has been a been a fun and interesting year for the MTB Strength Coach and I’ve got plans to make next year even better for all of us. Over the next few newsletters I am going to be revealing some new features for next year. Earlier this week I unveiled my DB Combo of the Month Feature. You will find a video demo posted here of one of the combo drill we are using in the facility this month for conditioning.

Next week I am going to be revealing another regular feature for 2009…but I am not going to tell you exactly what it is yet! I am teaming up with someone else to turn the world of mountain bike training upside down by doing what no one has ever done before – address absolutely everything that goes into being a better rider in an integrated manner.

Well, I hope that you continue to find this blog informative and helpful in becoming the best rider that you can be. I never rest in trying to figure out better, more innovative ways to bring 21^st century performance training to the mountain bike community and I appreciate all of you that have helped me build the MTB Strength Training System into what it is today.

Until next time…

Ride Strong,

James Wilson