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Brian Danz

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

Brian has been riding and instructing for over 15 years. He has a love of teaching beginners and a knack for breaking down skills into simple terms to make them manageable to newer riders as well as refocusing those with experience. He brings a strong understanding of the anatomy and physiology of the human body to his lessons, and his background as a yoga instructor lends a unique, relaxed, and fun style to his teaching.

Home Base

Portland, ME

Other Gig

Service Manager & Instructor at the Portland Gear Hub // Owner & Aerial Drone Pilot at Arrow-Straight Enterprises

Favorite Type of Terrain or Feature

Steep rock rollers in dense woods

Favorite Post-ride Food or Drink

Plantain chips & hazy IPAs (after the protein recovery drink, of course.)

Favorite Riding Tip

Get off the saddle and get more weight over the front wheel

Favorite Riding Partner

My dog Arrow, of course! He’s an excellent trail dog and can go all day long. The best rides are when the pack of dogs outnumbers the pack of humans!

How did you get into mountain biking?

When I was 14 – freshman in HS – my friend and I joined the school cycling club… we hated riding the road, too boring! So we saved up and bought real mountain bikes, bar ends and all, and started our own club. It still exists at the school 20+ years later!

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

I wouldn’t live in any one place. I’d travel constantly!

Follow Brian on Instagram @rideportlandme.

Want to ride with Brian? You can usually find him instructing at one of our many clinics in Maine and Massachusetts

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