In association with NWCC Fat Tire Sundays, NWCC & GHORBA are jointly offering a FREE mountain bike skills clinic and pre-ride opportunity at Rocky Hill Ranch, Smithville, Texas. Professional coaching will be provided by Expert mountain and road Cat.1 racer Paul Chandler.

The clinic is being held at Rocky Hill Ranch on 16 October, 2005, starting at 11 am. Paul will spend some time checking out your rides and working on basic skills before we head out for a guided tour of the Rocky Hill Ranch mountain bike course. The clinic is open to newbies and experts alike.

This will be a special outing because the 24 hours of Rocky Hill race will be finishing as we start our clinic. You will be able to see the dazed, confused and generally insane people who ride mountain bikes for 24 continuous hours - the race starts on Saturday at noon and finishes on Sunday at noon. We will start our ride when the 24h course is clear. There should be a great festive atmosphere at the ranch this weekend.

This year's TMBRA Rocky Hill race, the last one in the fall series, will be held on October 30. It will differ from previous races--the course will run backwards! Yes, you will go down Fat Chuck's Demise and do The Wall in reverse -- it should be great fun.

Don't worry newbies: RHR is not so intimidating for beginners, but it can still challenge the experts.

The clinic is FREE to all current members of NWCC and GHORBA. Not a member? Then join one of the clubs - $25 to join GHORBA or $20 to join NWCC. Worth it just for this clinic. We'll take your membership on the spot. Not sure which club to join? Join them both -- it's money well spent!

Since Rocky Hill is a private ranch there is an $8 land access fee ($6 for juniors) which is a token gesture to keep this prime mountain bike course open and well maintained.

Refreshments will be provided, but we will repair to the Rocky Hill Saloon for burgers and beer afterwards -- on your own tab for that!

• For more information about RHR and directions, see http://www.boomersrockyhill.com/
• For more information about Texas mountain bike racing, see: http://www.tmbra.org/

Please RSVP to me so I can get some idea of numbers: khighfield@...

I will setup the NWCC tent away from the 24hour race activities - park your vehicle near the tent. Looking forward to seeing you out there.

Kevin Highfield

NWCC mtb race team captain