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Ninja Mountain Bike Performance - Skills Clinics, MTB Jump Ramps and Bike Stands

Bernadette Merriman

2,173 REVIEWS – 5 STAR RATING ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Bernadette hails from Brevard, North Carolina where she’s lived for 17 years. She didn’t throw a leg over a bicycle until 2007 and fell in love her very first ride! A week later she bought a bike and went out riding whenever she could. Over the years she’s been lucky enough to ride technical terrain right out her back door forcing her to learn a variety of skills, especially roots and rocks both in dry and wet conditions.

Home Base

Brevard, North Carolina

Other Gig / Job / School

Real Estate Agent

Instructor Certifications    

Level 1 Terra Method

Favorite type of mountain biking terrain

I really like it all! Rocks, roots, wet, dry, slab, loam, exploring new trails, and really any feature that can be fun!

Favorite post-ride food or drink

The closest food truck and a chilled beverage is always enjoyable!

Favorite riding tip

The key to learning and progressing is to stop comparing yourself or your progress with those that you ride with. We all learn at different rates and there is no right or wrong time to learn a new skill. Surround yourself with people you feel comfortable with and stoke each other up, obviously because keeping things fun is important too! Take the time to stop and session but remember each ride is your own. If you don’t feel like you are ready to try something new, follow your intuition and do it when you feel the “green light”. That usually comes with building your skill set and knowing when you are ready to try the next building block. This is how I came to teach and honestly I love working with beginners. The stoke is so high and the need for building blocks is where it all starts.

Favorite riding partner?

I love getting to ride with my daughter Greysen who is 10. The trick is that I don’t push her, she has the freedom to tell me when she’s ready to try something new and it’s been a fun journey watching her learn and grow her skills. (P.S. I may make her go ride bikes sometimes, but she is the one who says when she’s ready to ride something challenging 🙂

How did you get into mountain biking?       

Some girlfriends asked me to ride about 11 years ago, I borrowed bike two sizes too small, and got hooked that very first ride.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live and why?

I’d maybe live in the PNW for a little while just to ride bigger features and gain some new skills by riding something new. However I live in a pretty magical place and love the trails offered in my own backyard.

Follow Bernadette on Instagram @bernadirt.

Looking to ride with Bernadette? You can usually find her instructing at one of our many clinics in North Carolina!

Enrolling in the Intermediate/Advanced clinic was the best thing I’ve ever done to improve my speed and ability on the bike.

Hands down, enrolling in the Intermediate/Advanced clinic was the best thing I've ever done to improve my speed and ability...
Ninja Mountain Bike Skills
5
2014-03-19T14:31:49-07:00
Hands down, enrolling in the Intermediate/Advanced clinic was the best thing I've ever done to improve my speed and ability on the bike. I am so much faster on singletrack and through technical sections/jumps that even if people are more fit than me, I still keep up with them (and kind of love watching them do a lot more work than they need to). Richard and Kris are fantastic and break things down in a way that makes sense and is manageable. By the end of my first clinic, I was jumping off ledges and power climbing up sections that I couldn't drive a car up. You could buy a $5,000 carbon bike and do 10,000 ft rides every day, but you will get the best return on any investment you make in your riding by attending a Ninja Skills Clinic. ~ Regina J.  

Great clinic, just what I needed!

Great clinic. Just what I needed to better know how to handle situations on the trail to maintain speed/momentum and...
Ninja Mountain Bike Skills
5
2014-03-19T14:47:22-07:00
Great clinic. Just what I needed to better know how to handle situations on the trail to maintain speed/momentum and be more efficient. ~ Harper M.  

This will not be our last Ninja training clinic!

My 14 year old son and I (I'm 43) went to the Intermediate/advanced skills clinic at Malibu Creek State Park....
Ninja Mountain Bike Skills
5
2017-05-04T08:16:07-07:00
My 14 year old son and I (I'm 43) went to the Intermediate/advanced skills clinic at Malibu Creek State Park. We both race and ride at a very fast pace. Getting faster for us is about making sure our fundamentals are solid and we can continue to use those fundamentals to smooth out our flow to increase our skills and confidence. Richard has a way of breaking down all the information to make it very understandable and usable. My son and I have been to other skills classes before and knew what to expect, mostly. Richard was able to coach us to better form riding high speed flat corners! We brushed up on and cleaned up some less helpful habits. We really worked to understand the how and why behind some skills that we already had but didn't know we that we did. All in all we had a blast! Richard was fun and informative. Taylor was helping Richard out for the day. It was fun to watch her demo some skills at speed. Her input throughout the day was informative and light hearted. It was a fun day on the bike with some great people and coaching. This will not be our last Ninja training clinic! Thanks for everything Richard and Taylor! ~Eric Zubick

Overall, the camp exceeded my expectations.

I have, like many cyclists, been riding bikes since childhood.  Feeling like I hit a plateau in my technical riding...
Ninja Mountain Bike Skills
5
2017-06-05T14:40:55-07:00
I have, like many cyclists, been riding bikes since childhood.  Feeling like I hit a plateau in my technical riding skills (because I had), I began searching for a mountain bike skills camp.  I wanted to attend a camp that would push me to be a better rider, but I needed it to be in a great location on actual trails.  After a fair amount of searching, I decided that spending a weekend at a Ninja Mountain Bike Skills camp would be perfect.  It didn't hurt that the camp was in Big Bear. The condensed review: It took only a few hours of trail riding with Richard and Daniel to drastically change my riding for the better. The long review: The camp was broken into morning and afternoon sessions, separated by an amazing lunch on each day.  The morning sessions were, in general, based on technique and riding isolated technical features.  The afternoon sessions functioned more like a capstone; we rode incredible trails, like Fall Line and Skyline, and put our newly-learned skills into action. Richard and Daniel were attentive to both the class as a whole as well as each individual.  The pacing of each individual lesson (I'm a teacher, so I viewed each piece as a lesson) was wonderful.  There were constant checks for understanding as well as incremental assessments of our skills on the bike.  We were never once, all weekend, bogged down in repetition, nor were we rushed through a skill or concept.  I was blown away by the sheer volume of skills that were taught in such an easy-to-grasp manner. Of course, we were not standing by our bikes the whole time listening to a lecture: we were actively riding while Daniel and Richard looked on with critical eyes.  Richard was clear in his introduction...

G2 Bike looks forward to many more of these clinics in this area.

Ninja Mountain Bike Skills is a warm and friendly environment to learn new skills and hone ones you already know....
Ninja Mountain Bike Skills
5
2014-03-19T14:32:41-07:00
Ninja Mountain Bike Skills is a warm and friendly environment to learn new skills and hone ones you already know.  It's a non intimidating environment where mistakes are welcomed so corrections can be made.  I own G2 Bike is Aliso Viejo and this clinic has been ran out of the Aliso Woods area and when I interviewed the clients they had all but great things to say.  None arrogant instructors and easy to follow steps. The biggest bang for many was meeting new area riders at their skill level, gaining confidence, and getting the bike set up and fit properly.  G2 Bike looks forward to many more of these clinics in this area.  Thanks Richard for all you do for the MTB community! ~ AJ S.  

That was time well spent – thanks Coach Richard!

That was time well spent – thanks Coach Richard! If you do more clinics, I’d recommend them to my friends...
Ninja Mountain Bike Skills
5
2014-03-19T14:48:13-07:00
That was time well spent – thanks Coach Richard! If you do more clinics, I’d recommend them to my friends regardless of their speed level… ~ Patrick K.  

I’m so glad I made the decision to be part of the Mulberry Gap 3-day clinic.

I'm so glad I made the decision to be part of the Mulberry Gap 3-day clinic. Richard and Randy are...
Ninja Mountain Bike Skills
5
2017-05-04T08:17:07-07:00
I'm so glad I made the decision to be part of the Mulberry Gap 3-day clinic. Richard and Randy are really skilled at breaking things down, very patient and kind. They were very attentive to what each of us needed individually while maintaining a no-pressure, fun vibe. The place is beautiful, rustic and offers a great opportunity to unplug. It's the seemingly little things that make a big difference in your riding, and I feel like I gained some useful insight about not only being on the bike, but set-up and nutrition as well. ~Susan Tully
5
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Ninja Mountain Bike Skills

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