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I am a bit like the OP in that I adopt the adage that jumping is easy it is the landing that hurts ❗
Like the OP I to have been riding for over 20yrs and do not see the need to get into this jumping malarky
Doing a dynamic risk assessment and not wishing to break myself again means I tend to keep my wheels on the ground wherever/whenever possible whilst still enjoying myself.
Even on a skills day there must be a risk that if/when it all goes wrong it can/will all end in broken bones and tears.
I have watched many a jump session and DH race but have also witnessed broken bones 🙁
Yup you definitely sound too tense to jump there 🙂 You've already convinced yourself you're going to fail.
I found the tip to keep wrists & heels down when approaching a jump makes everything a bit more predictable. I'm still crap though
Even on a skills day there must be a risk that if/when it all goes wrong it can/will all end in broken bones and tears.
the same can be said for crossing the road.
For drops I found the tip on bikeradar DH to 'keep your hips vertical relative to the BB' makes a big difference too.
trektser, the risk is minimised through certain controls i use
Whoever asked about redhill, it is open.
@duncan - thanks, that was james richards, right. he's also running some things in cannock this season, as well as his home turf of malvern hills.
@trekster - the risk of injury on a course is very, very small. the whole point of good coaching is that it is progressive, covering the core techniques in a safe and easy-riding environment then building up from there. the rate of progress to more advanced terrain is set by the progress of the clients, and the instructor's ability to gauge that progress, correct their techniques and move people forward safely.
@those people who cannot afford it - a day of skills coaching costs 95 pounds from us, and i'm sure similar elsewhere. Or book James in Cannock with a group of mates and it gets cheaper than that. At some point you cannot invest any more in your bike to make you better - you have to go to the source and invest in yourself. It's well worth it.
Cheers
Chris
muddyarsetony, high5 🙂
Wish I could afford a skills course, bit pricey for me even if they are good value.
spent a fair bit on a course with jedi. only saying to someone yesterday that is was amazing value. would have paid for only half what i learnt.
the value is not in the 4 hour course but in the riding afterwards.
I spent £100, i've ridden 100 miles since; £1/mile.
dead cheap.
Yeah, any other sport and people wouldn't think twice about being taught!
Me and my mate did an afternoon with Jedi last Friday. At no time did I feel I was being forced to do stuff outside of my comfort zone. When we were learning new skills or re learning ways to do stuff, Jedi made sure it was on terain we were happy with. He is good at putting you in situation where you can concentrate on the skill not where you are doing it.
Thats not to say we didnt ride anything interesting on the contary the trails were a lot of fun with drops, jumps and berms etc and some nice loose natural stuff.
The only jump that I was uncomfortable with, was a gap jump that we looked at at the end of the day and he made it quite clear that we had the skills to do it, but it was entirely optional if we were comfortable with it.
I would deffo recomend it, both me and my mate ride all over the place. Maybe not the best riders in the world but we are pretty comfortable on most terain, but we both got a lot out of the session. By the end of the day we were both riding smoother and a lot less sketchy in some sections 🙂
Best bit of it though, was we had a right laugh, riding my bike with my mate and Jedi on a warm dry day, it does not get much better 🙂
Bazzer
bazzer, thomthumb high 5. dont forget keep me informed of your progress as i said.
jedi - Membertrektser, the risk is minimised through certain controls i use
@trekster - the risk of injury on a course is very, very small. the whole point of good coaching is that it is progressive, covering the core techniques in a safe and easy-riding environment then building up from there. the rate of progress to more advanced terrain is set by the progress of the clients, and the instructor's ability to gauge that progress, correct their techniques and move people forward safely
Recognise this Chris?
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An 8yr old girl member of my club!!!
As a swimming teacher, a trainer for various bits of kit at work I understand where you are both coming from.
I still have the fear factor/lack of confidence(too old) which I doubt any coaching could ever overcome.
eg a mate of mine who does DH uplifts cannot understand why I am faster than him on any normal DH section yet will not do DH.
reasons;
1) I do not like jumping
2) cannot afford a DH bike and all that goes with it
3) He is currently suffering a really bad shoulder injury, another friend has severe facial injuries, another broke hos neck, another broke his back etc, etc....
oh god, i would never allow that to happen. tell me that wasn't a coaching day!
i don't push anyones limits. trekster, there's nothing wrong with having fears
I count [s]6[/s] [s]7[/s] 8 issues with the picture of the girl riding that section, all of them negative, with her weight being forward of the BB being probably the biggest one apart from the likelyhood of a washout into center stages gonads.
jedi - Memberoh god, i would never allow that to happen. tell me that wasn't a coaching day!
i don't push anyones limits. trekster, there's nothing wrong with having fears
Not a coaching day and her dad is the guy on the right. She is just brill on a bike. There are quite a few really good young uns.
My motto is "if in doubt, bail out"
i don't push anyones limits. trekster
Given my fear of landing(not jumping)how can that be overcome?
btw, chatting to EuroClive the other day(Forth)We ride the same trails but at different levels ❗
confiedence builds as the physicality becomes ingrained.
we ride the same trails? we all do. it's all singletrack 🙂
I made a bit of an effort last summer to learn to jump.
Getting my head around the "push in to the face of the jump" was the biggest change in what I was doing. Quite happy on tabletops now, and just warming up to doubles.
Cwmcarn freeride section on the xc trail is a good spot for progressing from small to medium sized tabletops.
Renton
when i do the "jump" i seem to be going off at an angle and landing funny which is pitching me off the bike!!
are your pedals level when you take off?
Apologies if thats already been pointed out, i only skim read the other posts.
Trekster I would say have a go with a skills session. You have nothing too lose apart from a couple of quid.
Its possible to overcome fear by starting very small and working up. You can start practicing drops on a curb. Once you have that sorted you can move up with confidence.
I never thought I would get into the whole jumping DH thing and although I am not very good I do enjoy it now. It also improves your trail riding a lot too.
Try going out in the road for an hour and practicing on curbs. If you ride from your door to trails, practice on the way there and back hopping on and off curbs etc.
Bazzer
95 notes is nothing guys. really genuinely nothing. think of golf coaching that people spend years at all for what £20/hr maybe? so thousands of pounds a year.
mx coaching days are all well over £100 IIRC, plus fuel etc. etc.
if the fella is as good as he says he is, then id go for it!
*edit - sorry i mean as good as everyone says he is...
who me?
Cheers bazzer
Part of the problem is a dodgy ankle, knees and bad back. Advised 20odd yrs ago to give up impact sports!!!! As said before the jumping is the easy bit, landing might not be so easy if either of the dodgy bits give up 😕
Tried to teach myself to jump last year, after 4 weeks or so I was progressing to small doubles, though I was regularly nose diving. Then I managed to hit one wrong, get sideways and land on the side of the transition breaking both wrists...I haven't been able to get my confidence back since.
Definitely would not recommend JFDI'ing.
Think I might go the skills course route this summer 🙂
my coaching session today led into jumping.
i cant even bunnyhop that much ,is there much hope for me , i also suck , big stylee
some peoples riding doesnt include jumping. mtbing is a wide kaleaidoscope (sp) of colours
This guy seems to give the best tips for jumping technique, but he has probably had years of practise.
love the video - ride fast, sit down with one pedal up and one down, line up your skateboards and be 6 years old. taught my kids to jump smoothly when they were 5 and 7 on a little dirt ramp we dug in my dads garden. doesn't have to be high or scary to look at basic techniques - in fact, if you start really small you get rid of all the nerves that can make you stiffen up. Then my little lad decided to show off his regular jumping skills leaping for a bar on the climbing frame at school and broke both bones in his right forearm when he missed - crazy.
chris@cycleactive