Cycling Ireland Dublin (10905)

The MBL Award is the highest level of the Cycling Ireland awards and is suitable for those who aspire to guide and lead in highly technical, remote and mountainous terrain.  It is designed for TCL’s who have gathered a large degree of experience and who are personally extremely proficient on a mountain bike.  On successful completion of the MBL assessment the participant will be sufficiently skilled in mountain bike leading to manage groups of up to eight riders on any legal terrain without limitation on elevation or remoteness. 

Duration and Format:    The Mountain Bike Leader consists of a three-day training course, followed by a two-day assessment.

Requirements

To attend the MBL Training candidates must: 

• be over 18 years of age.
• Logged 20 recent mountain bike trips, to be sent to CI at least one week before training.  20 mountain bike trips, on separate days, in a variety of weather conditions, of which:
• at least 10 rides cover routes of extended length (6hrs riding).
• 10 rides are on routes with high degree of technical difficultly.
• at least 3 rides are in remote terrain.
• at least 12 rides acting a leader or assistant group leader.

To attend MBL Assessment candidates must:

• Attendance at an approved MBL Training Course.
• Recommended for assessment by a registered MBL Tutor.
• Logged 10 additional rides over minimum of 30 days.
• Applied for MBL Assessment on an approved MBL Assessment Day.

Training 

MBL’s should be able to make appropriate leadership decisions and use good judgement in the testing conditions and highly difficult and dangerous terrain often found in the mountains.  MBL’s should be able to comprehensively risk assess the level of challenge a route provides and match experience, abilities, motivation and equipment of the group to the terrain and routes being considered.

A large part of the syllabus is also focused on coaching ability and MBL’s will be able to provide a professional standard of technical skills coaching for their clients in all mountain biking techniques.

MBL’s are qualified to lead under the following conditions:

• Any roads, trails or waymarked routes on which mountain biking is legal.  Any bike parks and trail centres on every grade of trail.
• Routes which are 90-95% rideable over their total length.
• Remote terrain without easy emergency extraction, at any elevation.
• Terrain matched to the skills and riding competencies of all standards of rider.
• Normal summer conditions, during daylight.
• Multi-day trips where the group does not need to be self-sufficient.  

The MBL Assessment

Standards in the MBL assessment are extremely stringent as the remit of the qualification is so wide.  Candidates should be highly proficient in all areas of the syllabus, as detailed in the course materials. An outline of the assessment procedures and criteria will be provided on the training courses.

Candidates will be assessed in the following areas:

• Log Book Experience and Evidence
• Clothing and Equipment
• Planning and Preparation
• Coaching Skills
• Personal Riding Skills
• Risk Assessment
• Navigation
• Countryside and Terrain Knowledge
• Leadership
• Fitness, Fuel and Hydration
• Mechanics

Certification

On successful completion of the MBL assessment the participant will be sufficiently skilled in mountain bike leading to manage groups of up to eight riders on any legal terrain without limitation on elevation or remoteness. 

The award is equivalent to the Intermediate Instructor stage on the Sport Ireland Coaching Adventure Sport Framework in accordance with the Coaching Development Programme for Ireland.