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.
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 !!
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.
