My only mtb these days is a 100mm travel hardtail, I mostly ride road and gravel, and i'm terrified of getting hurt. I've long since abandoned any aspirations of hucking anything, im a 100% wheels on the ground rider, hell, I even prefer riding up hills to down!🤣

Jumping, nope. Doesn't bother me tbh, I rarely ride trails with proper jumps.

Drops - I'm fine up to a certain height, maybe 3ft, above that my head takes over and I have to either push myself to do it or chicken out. Again, not a huge issue as I rarely ride trails with massive drops.

Yeah but no but yeah but…
I can fly off things if it doesn’t require any technique.
I can’t actively “jump” like you need to be able to in order to clear some scary gaps.
I’ve broken too many bones now I think, and I’m not flexible enough to make the bike do much. More of a hang in and hope situation really.

Using speed and sheer will? Yes.

Using technique? Errm… Correct timing is my issue.

Edit: seems I’m not the only one.

I'm a (fat, old,) white man. So answer is no.

Wish I could though, I need to try to unlearn a lot of bad habits I think.

K

Jumping no - way too scared of getting hurt.
Drop-offs - yep as long as not too scary or technical - straight lines etc.
I'm more scared of big rock gardens and slabs tbh. I have a completely irrational fear of rocks...yet I love Laggan. Go figure haha

Small gaps, drops, friendly looking stuff.. yeah fine. Big stuff...nooooo. But I rarely go to anywhere with big stuff anyway, so no real issues.

I am crap at jumping. I have had many coaching sessions where at the end of it I am clearing a gap or a table, and then 2 weeks later I find one on a trail and I am back to square 1. Drops are not so bad for me, I have got over the fear associated with anything up to around 3 foot with a decent landing area. Anything like that drop on GBU at FoD that you can see from the push up stills throws the fear at me. I know I can do it, my head just won't let me and in some ways, yes, this does effect my riding enjoyment (not enough for it to be a problem though)

Absolutely…

… not as well as I thought I had when I watch it back on video.

There’s a considerable lack of serious jumps where I live but lots of technical obstacles, skinnys, see saws and the likes. I’m ok at that stuff but a bit puckered throughout. Kids are now wanting to push things further and further so trying to help them and improve myself.

Small jumps and drops, stuff you just fly off, aye no bother. Anything that requires skill or technique, not so much...

Doesn't bother me at all. Riding bikes is fun.

Whilst I'd love to get better at jumping I just don't have the time these days to go out and practice over and over. I'd much rather cover ground than session some jumps with the time I do manage to get out on the bike.

Drops, with a straight simple lead in where speed overwrites technical skill, yep.
Jumps…..nope. At least not on purpose and it never ends well!
I do keep thinking about going on a jumps course, well, skills in general. But just don’t get to ride enough these days to make it worth it.

Yes but, no but.

I used to be half way reasonable. Rode Chicksands regularly, could hit most of the stuff in the Surrey Hills OK. Did some holidays in Whistler and sent some proper scary stuff.

Then 10 years ago I moved to the Peaks. I'm a much better tech rider than I used to be, especially on stupid steep stuff, but have done very little jumping. More recently (lockdown) a lot of the newer cheeky trails are sprouting some pretty committing gaps in the middle of the steeps, and it's properly annoying me that I can't ride the entire trail clean. But now at the fat end of my 40s I'm a bit more circumspect about hitting the f***it button.

Doesn't help that I ride on my own 95% of the time, so unless I'm 100% sure I can do something out of the ordinary I tend to play it safe, plus there's no one to follow in!

I'm fine on most stuff, but don't really like large (>30') high speed doubles as the consiquences of getting them wrong is just that much higher. Whistler is great for me as nearly all the trails are fairly low consiquence - the revised dirt merchant might have a couple of 20' drops, but they've got big knuckles, long landing zones and its just a whole tonne of fun, compared to france where you have a needle-accurate landing with a shakey run-in.

I'm also getting older (40) so don't push things super hard these days, I got a dj bike a few years ago and don't mind popping down to the dirt jumps near me (again, the speed is way lower so consiquences are managable), cant trick for s..t though

Doesn’t help that I ride on my own 95% of the time, so unless I’m 100% sure I can do something out of the ordinary I tend to play it safe, plus there’s no one to follow in!

This too for me. If a new gap has appeared that looks a bit scary then I will have issues if there's no one else to follow in. But if the gap allows me to jump off to the side first, then I will have a few goes to get the speed right then do it. If it's commit or nothing, and I am on my own...then it's usually a no-go.

No. As a 'roadie' by 'trade' nah. I'm not riding gnarly stuff enough. Drops I can just do, but nothing big at all. I injure myself enough on the road bikes, much to MrsF's disgust.

Wheels on ground for me, just don't have the skill.

Little ones yes sort of. Big jumps no way.

There's a photo somewhere in one of the mid/late 90's mags of me about 5-6 foot in the air, looking cool AF going over a jump on my XC race bike, head down, arse up, narrow bars and 63 mm of elastomer sprung plushness. Think it might have been an NPS round.

Reality is that i'd completely misjudged the approach (i was leading, which was unexpected), and the difference between pre ride and race pace had caught me unawares and i was completely out of control and expecting to die on impact. By complete fluke, i didn't.

I think i can count the number of times i've been properly airborne (over about 18") since then on both hands.

A bit. Sensible size drops, and I actually think a decent edge is as important as a good run out.

Tabletops, yes as there's no consequence of coming up short. Small doubles/gaps, but only once I've had a look at them, rarely on sight.

Similar to many of the above really. Hardtail bike doesn't help improve my confidence as you get a little less forgiveness if you come up short or heavy.

Jumping no, not really- I've been on jump technique days, regularly go to bike parks etc.  But no, I still am firmly in the can't jump category.

Drops I don't have a problem with if they are up to a curtain height or a necessary trail feature. But again nothing with a gap I guess.

Does it bother me? A little, hense the jump technique day, as i used to be able to up to my 20's. But now, in my 40's I seem to have lost what ever skill I had at jumps.

I feel like I can jump with correct technique and will do anything up to the top end of beginner sized jumps, maybe a 3-4m table but have a real head game issue with the steep ramps of anything bigger. Like the jumps at the top of the FOD push up, I could do all but the last one. Same with popty ping at bpw. I'm not sure how to overcome this other than just going for it...

Drops I'm on a good rate of progression and keen to find something I'm not willing to do...

It's all about the jump or drop, i enjoy the likes of empuru at windhill, but not that good on the top of GBU, i struggle to get the pace and just never full commit for some reason, it's the same with drops, fast speed drops can be easier, but far worse if you fail, it's really risk and reward for me, last 5 years i've really been more about enduro, BPW, etc, but i'm starting to back off this stuff, going for more mellow stuff like Dowies and so on in FoD that is fun, but less risk of a trip to A&E 😂

Yes i can, however i normally bottle it.

Ive done a training day twice now, one public and one private 1-2-1 session, so I know I can do it, but i ride a lot on my own and dont hit big stuff very often so normally bottle it as my self preservation brain kicks in.

in honesty, no. At a trail center I MIGHT be tempted to "smash" it into a table top at what I think is an excessive speed, only to come up way too short and land on the flat. In the wild, nope. I might be tempetd to go over drops as long as they're not huge - but then again I might not. I'm not proud of it but then again I'm not ashamed either, I know my own abilities. I probably COULD do it with coaching but whether I think i can be bothered? probalby not, I enjoy the riding I do right now cheers

I'm sensing a theme here... This probably ties in quite well with the 'how old are you' survey question, given we're a forum of mostly 30-60 year olds I'm not surprised at the avoidance of doing stuff that hurts when you crash! 😁

happy to jump. not massive proline stuff, but most regular trail features.

but this is it for me: there is always tomorrow

But now at the fat end of my 40s I’m a bit more circumspect about hitting the f***it button.!

Nope, I'm fine on drops unless they're stupid big but I've never been able to time a jump - not a single one, hardtail, full sus whatever just not happening, whenever I do get airborne as a result of speed and terrain my first instinct is to get the front down and have never been able to break the habit. This obviously means that any gap jump is a massive no.

I'm a crap jumper, but I think I know what I'm doing wrong. Which is bad, because I know I will hurt myself in the process of getting it right

Yep, can do what I need to do. Yesterday racing down a (new to me) trail, rocky, techs, steepish but absolutely flat out, hit a blind crest and hucked a step down probably 8ft drop, 12 ft length over some rocks of death. I got more fazed by bike park doubles, but ok with anything up to 20ftish…

Edit: I’m just about to hit 44 btw

The last time I attempted proper jumps it was going so well until it wasn't.

I ended up breaking my right hand, a full face helmet, gave myself a concussion and ended up with some fairly colourful abdominal bruising.

I hit the deck so hard that despite wearing the full face helmet (that I broke) my cheekbone hit the floor.

I basically looked like I had been fighting when we went to A&E - something I was literally pained to confirm I hadn't been!

Would I like to be able to confidently ride a 4X track - yes.

Would I like to hit massive jumps - no.

Am I building a 4X bike - of course. (Azonic Steelhead Pro ~2007)

I'm with Ta11pau1 here. I'm not overly comfortable with the wheels off the ground. I think it's down to spending most of my MTB life on hardtails which I was happy with jumping on then moving to an FS bike it feels weird. Drops I'm OK with as long as I can scope it first and it's not too big.

Mid 40s here.  In more recent years I've been trying to push myself to do more drops and gaps, I feel my issue is more the mind games / bottle than lack of technique.  I'm much more inclined to send a much bigger drop which 'could' be rolled or a non-gap jump, than a smaller feature with more 'consequence' for not going full commitment.

Riding with a group of mates who are all a similar level has pushed us on (ie if one does it then it encourages the rest to keep up).  Most recently I've spent time at Tunnel Hill. where there's a variety of 'gaps' to be jumped.  I'm working my way through these at the moment which mostly require commitment at speed, ticked off another at the weekend which was a good feeling.

I also find that riding at a bike park you can really build throughout a day as you get used to the speed. Several runs at a trail and all of a sudden features that you were coming up short on or bottling, you can get the speed and eye in and fully commit by the end of the day.  I find that having been to the Alps and spent more time at bike parks has helped with confidence committing at speed.

As kids growing up we would build a ramp and get some mates to lay down behind the ramp which you would then jump over Evel Knievel style, on our Raleigh Grifters. As far as I can remember, no one ever got hurt and the record on our estate was 12 kids laying side by side!
We then all got BMX’s in our early teens/80’s and raced them for a few years where you learned a lot of bike handling skills which for years I took for granted. Jumping was as much as being as fast and fluent as it was for the rush but it was a necessity for being fast.
Now in my 50’s, living in the least hilly part of the country my wheels rarely leave the ground.

Can I jump?

2010 Me- "Hell Yeah, I've been riding DH bikes for 10 years and I've just done a season in Whistler. Freight Train, Dirt Merchant, A-Line, clean runs, no brakes, sending it to the moon all day long."

2022 Me- "Well, if I stand up too quickly I'll get dizzy and have to sit back down again. Also I have a mountain bike. It's in the garage covered in dust."

Drops I’m OK with as long as I can scope it first and it’s not too big.

Either this, or I find following a better rider fairly close and coming up to a drop that's big but well within my abilities, my brain doesn't have the time to compute and reactions take over and I just send it, never (touch wood) had any issues when doing this!

At 41, there is definitely an element of self preservation too for me, tbh that's not just on jumps and drops, it's on steep/techy/exposed stuff too. I'm not afraid to walk stuff if I feel it's not worth the risk.

Either this, or I find following a better rider fairly close and coming up to a drop that’s big but well within my abilities, my brain doesn’t have the time to compute and reactions take over and I just send it, never (touch wood) had any issues when doing this!

Ah, the tried and tested 'there's nothing too bad down this bit', last in effect down the final section of Race Track at DYFI (made it down in one piece).

Not really... i do drops better than i do jumps i guess... but i'm poor at both.

Does it bother me.... massively yes. But i think i'd needs days and days of coaching to get better at both and i have time, but don't really have the finances for it.

Handle bar height drops are about my limit. Yes they are riser bars! Mostly in urban/coastal situations so flat to flat and smooth paved surface. Jumps I'd love to be better at but there just isn't anywhere in my local riding to practice enough. Most of the jumps appear to have been dug by school kids who were bored one day and then found something else to do. There's some work on a small dirty jump spot near me but no progression up to it.

Can I jump?

No.

Can I leave the ground and return to the ground when the speed of my bike and the angle of the ground come together in perfect harmony?

Yes.

My mission this winter is to change that a bit and learn to actively jump - mainly so I can start clearing the tabletops etc that I currently case pretty hard.

I’ve been mountain biking since 1985 and I still can’t jump, wheelie or do any of the other tricks that seem to be the measure of one’s skills that the mtb press have always held up as a mark of being a ‘real’ mountain biker. As far as I’m concerned that’s a different sport really from what I do, which is ride up mountains and then down them.

As far as I can remember, no one ever got hurt and the record on our estate was 12 kids laying side by side!

We used to fairly regularly send a small core of the, errr, less smart kids to hospital on a semi regular basis.

Especially during the summer holidays.

at 41 i am hitting the biggest jumps and drops i ever have.

but thats not to say they are massive. it all depends on the jump, the path into it, the exit, the way its built. Some stuff i can look at and say 'i got this', some stuff i know its too far outside of my comfort zone, even tho i probably can do it. Once i do something once, my confidence is high and dont really have to think about it the next time i hit it.

Drops i am fine with. Unless they are proper big.

I did a steep rock roll at FoD on the weekend, which was a bit scary, but nailed it and felt a million dollars after it. Thats the kick i love getting, which doesnt happen all that often.

Like many, my regular trails arent populated with jumps, so i dont hit them all that often.

Along with most on here - started back in the XC 90s and didn't really do any jumping. Would've been great to learn back then! Only since being in my 50s and going riding to places like Rogate and BPW with my son have I been comfortable getting the wheels in the air. But the knowledge, not necessarily of how much it hurts to crash, but how long it takes to recover, plays the mind games that makes me bottle or reign it in on the bigger stuff.
It only bothers me at the time! Like the little gap jump near the end of Vicious Valley. I do everything on there and then cos this man made ramp appears, I'm like oop, no and off the side of it. Don't matter though, Still love it. 😀

Yes i absolutely love it. Best rush ever. Did a few at chatel and morgins this year that were verging on orgasmic 🙂

I like to do jumps, but I'm shit at jumping. I'll have a go at most table tops, probably won't clear them.....but even the ones I can clear comfortably, take the middle out and turn it into a gap and I'm taking the chicken line every time!

Drops i'm hit and miss with. I know I can do them, as the technique is the same, but I bottle big ones.

I don't ride anywhere near enough of that sort of thing any more though, so confidence is usually low. I don't like riding on my own, apart from local stuff.

Like most on here, mid 40s, my jumping isn't great, but I love drops...

That letting going and popping off a lip of a jump just gets mentally and physically squashed as soon as I take off.  I think the fear of launching at an odd angle gets to me, not that I have (yet, see there it is again and I'm sat at a bloody desk at the moment!).

But give me a drop and I love sessioning them. Not gone off anything more than a couple of metres but I love that brief moment of flight!

I can jump when Jedi is stood at the take off encouraging me in the air.  But Tony doesn't seem to be at the lip of every jump I encounter 🙂

Having a teenage son that jumps for fun, however, means that I'm slowly getting higher, sometimes as much as 6" off the ground :-). Main problem is I follow him in and spend the time enjoying watching him send it and getting my timing to shit.  This is why I gave up BMX, crashing on the rhythm section because I watch him jump what I can only pump!

I will be getting further coaching next year in my quest to be laughed at less by my son 🙂

I can jump enough not to embarrass myself, but I have a feeling there's kids in the local club I help with that are going to show me up badly in the next 6 months. Just hope they're not expecting me to show them how it's done like I can with cornering and easy stuff 🙂

Just coming up to 55. I’ll hit most things that can be taken at speed, or have a reasonably shallow take off. Anything else, I’d rather not take the chance.

I don’t want to be off the bike recovering, especially as the older you get, the longer it takes.

Meanwhile…

View this post on Instagram

No, I can't. Yes, it does bother me, but only when I have to stop and step over a fallen tree or find the alt line round a drop.

I'm comfortable kn small jumps and small drops. Maybe 2ft drops at the most. Never really got into jumping when I was younger and often chickened out of trying. Was more interested in riding technical trails or the fitness side of things.

80s mountainbiker.  Would love to be able to do it but can only ever do it by speed and accident.  Tried to learn on a course but it really didn't do it for me and it was all a mess.  I understand what I need to do but it will just take the practice of a 12 year old and I don't have that level of time any more.

I started Dirt Jumping for the first time this year at 43 years old, have put a fair bit of time in and love it. Anything out on a trail just scares the sheesh out of me but am working on it.

I’m alright on tables but have a mental block with doubles.

This kid was at the track last time I was there making us all feel inadequate..5 and flying !!

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I Used to be able to jumps what seemed like loads of mates* on a BMX when I was a kid, just like that first inst clip up there!!

*Curly wurly's we're bigger back then as well though....

No and I have the scars to prove it

I can’t do either, never could, which is odd as I used to happily launch myself off of most things on a snowboard. Doesn’t overly bother me, which is fortunate since now I’m 50 I’m unlikely to ever want to learn!

I'm as already mentioned by a couple of people.

I live in the Peaks. My jumping isn't great but I get by. Drop-offs are fun.

But gnar makes me hesitate a bit. Not exactly because I'm not confident. But because I prefer to ride on my own.

Trying to send The Beast for example makes me nervous.

Because if I fark up then I'm potentially in quite a lot of trouble...

I'm okay on well-made jump lines that are mostly tables - can comfortably clear the supermorzine red or windhill red, but I'm rubbish at doing the sketchier jumps on off-piste trails. Especially ones with a sharp takeoff or immediate braking on the landing, that easily scares me even if I've done larger on an actual jump trail.

Like most on here, mid 40s, my jumping isn’t great, but I love drops…

Main problem is I follow him in and spend the time enjoying watching him send it and getting my timing to shit. This is why I gave up BMX, crashing on the rhythm section because I watch him jump what I can only pump!

I will be getting further coaching next year in my quest to be laughed at less by my son 🙂

I can relate to that: my son is a natural jumper, I don't know where he got those genes from! He started riding and within 6 months he was (and still is) so much better at jumping than me. Hi technique is spot on, but I can't get the timing and motion right, I know how to bunny hop, but I just mess up in jumps.

Another non jumper here, I don't mind the odd drop or dinky table, but beyond that I'md done. Jedi had me over a decent gap years ago but can't apply that a lot of time. Thinking a course at Dyfi might be more applicable to what I'd like to be able to do - i.e gaps and doubles of a reasonable size. I'm more cautious than I used to be with risk and stuff.

I’m ok at decent sized jumps, big doubles still scare me (but that’s what’s good about them), but I’ll do them if I can get a tow in. Drops are easier, I’ll hit pretty much anything. Mrs ColP wants me to dial it down a bit now as I’m 53.

We’ve had a place near Leogang for 10 years so you have to learn to jump or you’d run out of stuff to ride pretty quickly.
When I’m out their I ride with my 20 year old son and his friends and they are seriously good riders (one just won the Austrian whip offs), so it helps to bring your level up.
I think who you ride with is a massive factor.

Yes to what I guess is an intermediate level. Love it in fact can't get enough!

I am lucky to have a few progressive jump spots nearish to me which helps.

One of the best jumps to practice on is at Leeds urban bike park. There's a table under the trees next to the bridge jump line, which takes no skill and can be hit as hard as you dare. Can be landed to flat when you get faster/better without consequences. Then on to the bigger stuff and sets that need more technique!

If you're jumping an FS bike, suspension setup is important. Your average soft baggy trail setup really doesn't help. It will make your bike sluggish and hard work to get off the ground at all, without high speeds and brute force. Try a FS bike and compare it to a HT/rigid on a proper pump/BMX track, it's like night and day!

Fast rebound on rear shocks equals scorpion OTB. Combine it with a high seat and/or stopping the back wheel with your arse (29'ers are worse for this) and you have signed your own death warrant!

I don't heal fast enough at my age to even consider trying to learn to do it properly. I did all my stupid shit climbing in my 20s. I watch Friday Fails to reinforce my decision.

As per most, I'm comfortable with drop offs, but not jumping. I live close enough to Hamsterley to get there a handful of times a year and have a blast down the red route, where the drops are fun and the margin for error is quote high. If I get any air by virtue of going a bit fast I can handle that, but I wouldn't actively jump any of the features. The only drops I sometimes struggle with are those on steep natural trails where there is a risk of running out carrying too much speed - if I'm on my own I trend to walk those and err on the side of caution.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The clue is there 😁

As others have said though, it depends on the jump or drop and the situation as to whether I do it or not. Much more confident in bike parks where it's all pretty safe, natural stuff is much more cautiously approached unless I know it. Saying that my biggest ever crash was at Afan after someone had 'kindly' left a tree stump on the landing of a drop I used to fly off without even thinking. Took me over 6 years to even contemplate doing that one again even though I'd done bigger and more dangerous stuff in between.

Thought I was able to do jumps but turned out I was only doing the old weight back technique for drops, so 3 or 4 years back spent a good few hours practicing until I got to the Eureka moment when it clicked and can now happily clear doubles and tabletops without "just" being dependent on speed. So mid fifties and clearing stuff I never thought I'd ever hit. Still get nervous and find it hard to break the brain \ brake finger interface on really big kicker jumps. Now if only I could do a decent manual 🙂

52 going on 5 and I love jumps. I'm shit at them though. Love drops too, but I'm much better at them.

The rush from clearing a new jump or drop is the primary reason I ride.

I'll hit any size table but I have a bit of a mental block when approaching gaps; I'm terrified of coming up short and can't seem to get over it, even when I know I can clear bigger tables and stepdowns.

I did a steep rock roll at FoD on the weekend, which was a bit scary, but nailed it and felt a million dollars after it. Thats the kick i love getting, which doesnt happen all that often.

I love that sort of stuff too, where was it? There's one at Staunton I've got my eye on now I know where it is, along with a decent sized slab drop.

Airtime = Twisting Time for me.

I do drops for fun and thrills. But not horizontal long distance.

Actually, I was getting new passport style photos done recently and the photographer kept trying to get myle to drop one shoulder. Said I was holding myself asymmetrical. That might be why I twist. Sourcing from my curved spine no doubt.