Sharing your favourite trails is a wonderful feeling – and something that can really improve access to the outdoors for your friends, club mates, students or the wider cycling community. Whether you’re already familiar with the idea of mountain bike leadership or looking to find out more, we can support you to gain a qualification that will enable you to lead groups of riders for a brilliant day on the bike.
Together with Scottish Cycling and experts in the outdoor industry, we have developed a course that combines online learning with face-to-face training and assessment to give you all the skills you need to lead mountain bike rides. Though you might already be a regular on group or club rides off-road (and therefore wondering where this award fits in), there are a few important elements to the qualification that will both empower and protect you for future activity:
- Learn leadership principles and skills from the most experienced mountain bike tutors in the country.
- Get the most out of your route planning with a dedicated module.
- Keep rolling with the knowledge to fix simple trailside repairs.
- Be prepared with plans to manage accidents and emergencies – plus you’ll undergo first aid training in order to qualify.
- Get protected with leader insurance.
The course is ideal for anyone who wants to lead groups using mixed road and off-road environments. This might include rides that are already taking place but require development and insurance, or perhaps you are looking to organise activity for your school, college, activity centre – or simply a group of friends. Your remit would be to lead on terrain that ranges from the urban fringe and gravel tracks through to open countryside, woodland and most trail centre blue routes.
What does the course include?
- 3-4 hours of elearning via British Cycling Learning
- 16 hours training and assessment course with a British Cycling Accredited Provider
How much does the course cost?
Indicative course costs are £205-275 which will depend on your choice of provider - some providers include food and accommodation as part of the course. Course price is inclusive of:
- Access to online learning
- All training content, tuition and resources
- Assessment
Groups looking for whole course bookings should contact providers directly for costs and availability, as well as to determine if a course can be delivered from your location.
What do I need to be able to register
- The minimum age to attend a course is 16 (Scotland) or 17 (England and Wales) years old. Note, you will only be able to lead independently once aged 18.
- You must be able to ride a mountain bike (or another appropriate bike for the terrain) comfortably on roads with some traffic, off-road and mountain bike trails up to blue grade, be regularly riding and have an appropriate level of fitness
- Complete a logbook to evidence your recent rides. We recommend a minimum of ten rides of at least 1 hour and five rides of at least 2.5 hours duration (inclusive alternatives are available by request) over the last six months. We have a downloadable Logbook that can be saved electronically or printed if needed.
What else do I need to do to achieve the Award?
In order for your award to be accredited in addition to successful completion of your Fundamentals of Mountain Bike Leadership, you are required to:
- attend and evidence a two-day outdoor First Aid course
- undergo and evidence safeguarding training appropriate to the country they are leading in
Safeguarding Requirements for Scotland
These can occur after your Fundamentals of Mountain Bike Leadership course.
In order to benefit from British Cycling's Insurance for Coaches, Leaders and Instructors, in addition to the above you are required to be a current British Cycling Member.
Upcoming courses
Course booking links below will take you to the Provider delivering the course. The course is not booked directly with British Cycling.
*Enrolment and registration must be done before the day of the 'start date (compulsory pre-course learning)' shown below.
| Provider | Location |
Date Enrolment Closes (Compulsory Online Modules Begin) |
Assessment Dates | Online Booking |
| Glenmore Lodge | Aviemore | 19th April 2024 | 29th & 30th April 2024 | Book |
| Glenmore Lodge | Aviemore | 29th April 2024 | 9th & 10th May 2024 | Book |
| Manchester Cycling Academy | Shrigley Hall Cheshire |
1st May 2024 | 11th & 12th May 2024 | Book |
| Exmoor | Minehead | 6th May 2024 | 17th & 18th May 2024 | Book |
| Pedal MTB | Coed y Brenin | 20th May 2024 | 1st & 2nd June 2024 | Book |
| Glenmore Lodge | Aviemore | 22nd May 2024 | 1st & 2nd June 2024 | Book |
| Cycle4Adventure | Chopwell Forest Park - Newcastle | 27th May 2024 | 8th & 9th June 2024 | Book |
| Wye MTB | Cannop Valley | 28th May 2024 | 10th & 11th June 2024 | Book |
| Pedal MTB | Coed y Brenin | 22nd July 2024 | 3rd & 4th August 2024 | Book |
| Exmoor | Minehead | 16th August 2024 | 29th & 30th August 2024 | Book |
| Wye MTB | Cannop Valley | 27th August 2024 | 9th & 10th September 2024 | Book |
| Pedal MTB | Coed y Brenin | 23rd September 2024 | 5th & 6th October 2024 | Book |
| Exmoor | Minehead | 11th October 2024 | 24th & 25th October 2024 | Book |
| Wye MTB | Cannop Valley | 29th October 2024 | 11th & 12th November 2024 | Book |
| Pedal MTB | Coed y Brenin | 25th November 2024 | 7th & 8th December 2024 | Book |
| Plas y Brenin | Capel Curig | 3rd February 2025 | 15th & 16th February 2025 | Book |
| Plas y Brenin | Capel Curig | 10th March 2025 | 22nd & 23rd March 2025 | Book |
If there is no course available nearby, please complete our short form to express interest. This will help us to plan for future courses and let you know when a nearby date has been added.
