DONUTS & BIKES: The Mountain Bike Coaching Podcast
DONUTS & BIKES - The Mountain Bike Coaching Podcast - will help transform your riding or coaching while delighting your taste buds! The hosts, Paul Howard (GSMBC President & Education Director, ZEP MTB Camps Owner & Head Coach, PMBIA Founder & Past- President) and Kristian Jackson (Senior Lecturer at Appalachian State University’s Department of Recreation Management & Physical Education, Trail Boss Rocky Knob Bike Park, GSMBC Coach Mentor) are two of the top-tier, industry leading mountain bike coaches and instructor trainers, with over 40 years of collective experience. Listen in as Donuts & Bikes pairs all things MTB skills and coaching, along with a feature donut on every episode. Get your ride and eat on and bite into Donuts & Bikes!
If you like what we do and want to support the show, please feel free to check out our patreon page at www.patreon.com/donutsandbikes where listeners can choose to donate only a few bucks per month. The proceeds will go directly to helping us create engaging and valuable content, for you, the listeners.
Episodes
28 episodes
Adaptive Mountain Biking: Finding Belonging on the Trail
Every rider deserves the freedom of the trail.Adaptive mountain biking reminds us that riding isn’t defined by ability—it’s defined by opportunity, access, and belonging.In this episode of Donuts & Bikes, we’re jo...
Lift As We Rise: The Women Leading Mountain Biking’s Next Chapter
Lindsey Richter and Katie Holden are reshaping the story of mountain biking—from the trails to the coaching ranks. Their journeys trace the rise of women’s freeride and the growing movement to make the sport more inclusive, supportive, and ment...
Unlock Your Full Potential: Multi-Sport Coaching Insights with Jeff Chandler & Simon Holden
Unlock Your Full Potential: Multi-Sport Coaching Insights with Jeff Chandler & Simon Holden | Donuts and Bikes PodcastIn this episode of the Donuts and Bikes Mountain Bike Coaching Podcast, we’re joined by two giants in...
An Insight Into Expert Coaching & The GSMBC Level 4 Course
The Global Syndicate of Mountain Biking Coaches (GSMBC) Expert Coach - Level 4 Course stands as the pinnacle of mountain biking education, underpinned by two decades of research and industry deve...
Can We Ride Like Jackson Goldstone and Gracey Hemstreet?
Can We Ride Like Jackson Goldstone and Gracey Hemstreet? | Lessons from World Cup MTB RacersCan everyday mountain bikers learn to ride like World Cup pros Jackson Goldstone and Gracey Hemstreet? While their speed and...
How to corner, find the flow and make it feel rad!
Want to get faster in corners? Maybe braking is the key.In this episode, we break down the real role brakes play in cornering and how better braking can actually help you go faster. Paul and Kristian dive deep into ...
Neko Mulally – The Goal is the Same: How to Go Fastest from Start to Finish
Interview with Neko Mulally – The Goal is the Same: How to Go Fastest from Start to FinishThis week, Kristian and Paul sit down with the one and only Neko Mulally — professional downhill racer, bike designer, comme...
Donut Hole 1: What can Mountain Bike Coaches Learn from Mountaineering Guides?
Donut holes are the “missing piece” at the center of the pastry. Our Donut Hole “Mini-sodes” are short, bonus content that focus in on a single idea. This first one asks the question “what can mountain bike coaches learn from Mountaineering Gui...
Performance Factors & The Difference Between Pros vs Joes
Getting better at mountain biking is all about performance. Often in mountain bike coaching, we focus on skills as a target to improve performance. While this approach may be effective in some cases, technical skills may not be the factor holdi...
Coaching vs. Instruction: The Next Evolution
Are mountain bike coaching and instructing the same thing? How are they similar? Why are the different? Does it matter? If so what does this mean for the mountain bike industry? In this episode Paul and Kristian take on this questions to discov...
Cornering Part 3: How Rotation Can Help Accelerate Performance
Berms, turns and cutties... cornering is rad so listen in to part 3 of our series on cornering to help get you 'learning ya turning'! Cornering can quickly become complicated due to the variety of skills, biomechanical movements, terrai...
Endos, Stoppies, Nose Manuals, Nose Pivots & Euro Turns: Are They Simple Tricks or Core Skill Builders?
If you’ve ever wanted to nail down your endos, stoppies, nose manuals, nose pivots or euro turns, then this episode is for you! In this weeks episode we dig into why everyone should learn these tricks (maneuvers) and just how much they can tran...
Become a Better Rider or Coach by Listening To Your Inner Child & Different Mindsets
Are adults just big kids? The answer, as always, is yes and no. Adults present some specific challenges in the way the learn as compared to kids. In this episode your hosts focus on three important ideas to help your understanding of how to coa...
Riding & Coaching into your 30's, 40's, and Beyond
How can we keep coaching and riding into old(er) age? In this episode, your hosts reveal that they are not youngsters, while also divulging a few clues on how they've managed to keep the stoke for riding and coaching over the decades. This disc...
How can we use Connectedness to better coach kids?
Working with kids on bikes can provide some of the most rewarding moments for coaches. These times can also provide daunting challenges and seemingly endless frustration. In this episode, Paul and Kristian discuss some insights for successful y...
How to race and why everyone should give it a go!
It's World Cup Season! Racing is back and we wanted to use this opportunity to discuss why lining up at a start gate is about so much more than wanting to stand on a podium. In this episode we explore the myriad of unseen ben...
Cornering Part 2: Using Creativity to Build Your Skills
Cornering is a perennial hot-topic for coaches, riders, You-Tubers, and even Podcasters. Why is it such a popular subject? Well, simply put, it’s one of the raddest things you can do on a bike. Being good at it involves a refined application of...
Confidence & Fear Part 2: Industry Panel!
This week we continue the conversation and dig into this fascinating riding and coaching topic with some of the PMBIA's rad US Instructor Trainers.Shanna Powell, Meredith McFarland, and Harlan Price join us in a 1920's farmhouse on the ...
Confidence & Fear - Can We Manage These Just Like Other Skills?
Can we learn how to improve our confidence just like we do our position or braking skills? Can we learn how to deal with fear, anxiety or stress, just like we deal with training our muscles to get stronger? Can we really change how we react ...
The Evolution of Jumping, Why & How Everyone Should Learn!
Paul and Kristian jump on the mics to discuss why jumping is an important skill for all mountain bikers and how learning to jump can transform all areas of your riding. The hosts chat through their own backgrounds as riders and discover they we...
Learning to Coach from a World Cup Racing Career - A Conversation with Claire Buchar
Becoming a World Cup Racer involves much more than learning to be a good rider. Coaching at the highest level is more than just teaching. Claire Buchar knows these things. She shreds harder post-World Cup, rides smoother than most, ...
Can You Learn To Manual From A Podcast?
You asked, and we brought it to you: a manual episode!Join us as we breakdown one of the raddest things you can do on a bike. Here, we separate a basic "puddle manual" from the "BMX manual" and focus on learning the simplest versi...
Drops Part 1 - Techniques & Methods for Progression-based Learning
Learning to drop can be intimidating. Learning to teach drops can be even more fright-inducing. But it doesn't, and more importantly, shouldn't have to be that way.In this episode, we how examine how good coaching is good risk managemen...
Cornering Part 1 - The Myths, The Fundamentals, The Details!
Cornering: the piece of our riding we can always improve and seemingly can never 'perfect'... the holy grail of mountain biking! In this episode we discuss some of the myths and pitfalls riders can fall into and dive into some of the details be...
Improve How You Learn and the Fundamentals of Coaching
How does the learning process interact with our work of coaching riders? What are some of the core practices of coaching mountain bikers? In this episode, we begin to unpack answers to these questions. We dig into some of the ways people learn ...