Forum menu
I've always been a wheels on the ground kind of rider but I can happily ride tabletops and small drops. But got a bit stuck yesterday.
Did an XC race and they had put in a small wooden kicker. Not something I would normally ride but it was on the A line and quicker. I "got over it" in practice (Imagine Chris Froome Jumping and you get the idea). I managed it for the first hour of the race but gradually got worse and took the B line on the last two laps when I simply didn't have the strength to muscle through it and thought I might come a cropper.
https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/warehouse/v1.0/publiccontent/fd670f40-d56f-4104-89b7-a4893b7221fa
It wasn't big at all but unlike natural table tops and drops I'm happy on, it had a kick (hence the name!) and tended to send me rotating forwards. It was a flat landing which didn't help. My "technique" was to pull up on the bars as I took off to stop the rotation. I couldn't really put much more thought into technique while riding at threshold and eventually gave up with that line.
Any good guides on how to tackle these. I can find videos on jumping but that isn't much help. If it's just a ramp I'm fine, its the kick up at take off that seems to make things go wrong.
Cathro's series on Pinkbike is probably one of the better ones:
Very good explanation of body position, and the dynamics of jumping.
I'm useless and have been riding forever - landed on my head last time at BPW over a tabletop - on the warm up trail. I think I'm gonna do a skills course
For some reason, this rock at the bottom of Stanage Plantation never phased me though - this must be well over 10 years ago though
[url= https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52022740578_af0a7a0de8_b.jp g" target="_blank">https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/52022740578_af0a7a0de8_b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://www.flickr.com/gp/85252658@N05/0168g7 ]2022-04-23_12-12-51[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/85252658@N05/ ]davetheblade[/url], on Flickr
If you have enough speed then the best way of doing a little kicker to flat is just like doing a british bunnyhop, so pressing down until the front wheel is near the edge of the lip, then just jump up, basically a bit like a box jump, just orientated for your position on the bike. That tends to be the basic one to do this style of jump for me, and avoiding any t-rex motions, i.e. bringing your arms up into your chest, that's just asking for an OTB with the wrong timing!
Small kickers like that you more or less need to hop off the top as they are so short.
Best way to learn jumps/kickers os to practice with flat pedals. You'll get the hang of it simply based on feedback from the pedals (ie keeping you feet on them)
Are you white and male? If so that might explain it.
Are you white and male? If so that might explain it.
hahahaha
That video is great. Will need to go find some jumps to practice on. Couple of ideas to try. Does mention a few things that are good about the type of jump, at least that wasn't just in my head and the technique does change.
@TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsSTR every time I see that rock I think about you!
Yes
Great video
Practise is what will you help you here, so get out on the bike and practise hitting kerb kick outs with an american bunnyhop technique or find a local BMX racetrack or pump track and go there on your MTB and practise hitting them in different ways like pulling up using an american bunny hop or trying to squash them...never ever do english hops when jumping!
I learned how to jump at first by manualling off kerbs so that both wheels hit the ground at the same time when you land. The technique for doing this slowly is to haul back on the bars and throw your weight backwards, which is NOT what you do when jumping. If you learn to do it fast though, then all you have to do is to hold up the front wheel a tiny but which stops it dropping first. From there it's easy to see it as unweighting the bike in a controlled manner. You have to get your weight central and it's basically the motions of a jump where you read the terrain and time your movement accordingly.
Then you can move to slightly bigger drops and once you get the hang of it you can start putting in a bit of extra jump if you want so your back wheel goes higher than the lip. This allows you to choose how far you end up going - if you are going slow but want to go further - then you jump more. If you are going fast and don't want to go too far then you just unweight a little bit. Or if you are going really fast and don't want to go flying, you can jump a little early.
Just remember that it's not the bike that's jumping, it's you - and the bike is just following you. The key (for me) is to put that little un-weight or jump in, as this puts you in the right position to control the bike.
When landing you need to be able to place the bike on the ground at the right angle with both wheels landing at the same time rather than just fall, which is also something you can learn on a curb.
Re the small kicker in that picture though - they are harder, because both your wheels aren't on it at the same time. So your front wheel is going up when your back wheel is still going along, this means that then end up just being a bit of a boost for what is basically you doing a bunnyhop. A tabletop at a bike park is a quite different, as it neatly scoops you up in to the air and all you have to do is control your angle.
But I still firmly believe that when you put in a little spring yourself, even a tiny bit, it automatically puts you in the right position to control what happens next and not become a passenger.
Go see Tony Doyle at UK Bike Skills… he’s known as “Jedi” for a reason. You’ll definitely be jumping after a skills session with him.
every time I see that rock I think about you!
Stanage was the first time we rode together wasn't it?
Have you tried flapping your arms as you launch?
I’m mostly shocked at the fact a course designer thought a kicker to a flat landing was a good thing to do.