Personal mountain bike instruction in Southern California with Mark Langton. Beginning, intermediate, advanced. Customized private instruction.
I found the sport of mountain biking back in 1983, but I’d been riding in the hills on bicycles all the way back to 1969. We raced our modified Schwinn Stingrays on downhill tracks in the hills behind Agoura, pre-dating the BMX and mountain bike craze by at least a couple of years, and trail-building by cyclists by several more!
I got into mountain biking due in large part to Michael Thomas of Michael’s Bicycles in Thousand Oaks. From the very first ride in Caballero Canyon (Dirt Reseda), I was hooked, and there was no looking back. A couple of years later I took up racing, and in 1987-1990 I was a Yeti factory sponsored rider, attaining the rank of Expert in both the downhill and cross country. Nowdays I’d rather just ride the fantastic trails we have here in the greater Los Angeles and Eastern Ventura Counties.
An interest in journalism led me to a position in 1987 with Mountain Biking
magazine, and for over seven years I helped edit the magazine during
the mountain bike boom. I was also very fortunate to have covered the
races and ridden with some of the very best mountain bikers in the
world, including John Tomac, Ned Overend, Greg Herbold, Cindy Whitehead,
and Cindy Devine. At the same time, land access advocacy began heating
up, and I found myself shoulder to shoulder with others in the Los
Angeles area who wanted to keep trails open to mountain biking. We
formed the Concerned Off-Road Bicyclists Association, and I served on
the Steering Committee for over 13 years. In 2009 I joined the Board of
Directors and in 2010 became president.
In 1987 I began teaching mountain bike skills for the Learning Tree University. In 1992 I helped CORBA implement the Introduction to Mountain Bike Skills class, which I still teach today. All of my racing and riding experience, along with seeing the best racers in the world, has enabled me to develop a teaching style that quickly identifies areas where you can improve. This is the essence of MountainBikeSkills.com.
I believe that mountain biking is a lot like golf, tennis or skiing. There are biomechanical movements that are not necessarily intuitive to the rider. However, just a few minor adjustments in technique can make a huge difference in your control and proficiency. If you want to get better faster, you need to know the fundamentals of mountain biking technique. Whether you’re just getting into mountain biking or have been riding for years, I guarantee you’ll learn some valuable tips. And once you’re ready for the more advanced skills, I’d be happy to show you those, too!
Mark Langton
