Sunday, February 11, 2007

TIPS: Jump skills useful even for XC riders

I think there probably comes a time in every cross country guy’s life –- particularly those of us who were one-time BMXers –- that we decide we’d like to re-experience the adrenaline of getting air time in the saddle 9even if it's not "big air," and last week was that time for me as I discovered a wonderful little place just down the street from home. However, after nearly three years of straight XC riding with little more than bunny hopping, it wasn’t immediately obvious how things had changed. Let me rephrase that: it WAS immediately obvious, but only the second I landed.




Eric practices hucking drop-ins


Obstacles
A cross-country rider typically does his best to minimize air time, to flow with the ground and to lightly skim over hurdles to maintain speed. Using the body and the bike to smoothly absorb shock and glide past those things Mother Nature intended to slow us down is the key to success. However, these first few jumps revealed that this is not a hard and fast rule; that properly launching yourself and can effectively land you smoothly BEYOND those obstacles that may otherwise slow you down if you can think fast enough to spot your landing zone prior to lift off. As you can see on the video, the habit of “flowing” over/down obstacles was hard to break (first drop).

Suspension
A higher-impact oversight was not pumping a bit more air into the rear suspension for the harder hits. This resulted in the rear shock bottoming out and some slight damage to my rear hub after a dozen jumps that was fixable ($20 at a local shop), but it rendered the bike functionally unsafe (unless you like walking long stints of single track back to the car with your bike on your shoulder or having your rear wheel rip the back end apart down a killer downhill section). Again in the video (second drop), you can see that the landing was level, but the rear shock got crushed without enough air in it.

I’m not a pro, but just some dude enjoying the adrenaline and learning the hard way. Please feel free to use the comments section to augment –- or refute –- what I wrote.

Bottom line
1. My use of the term “jump” is really inaccurate. More accurately, these were “drop ins,” and they’re a good way to ease in to jumping your bike while remaining very practical for XC use. It’s essentially riding off the edge of a steep incline.
2. Some obstacles are better absorbed and others are better avoided altogether. With practice, you’ll learn how to identify which is which and how to handle both.
3. First off, know your bike and what type of max impact it’s built to take. When practicing drop ins or jumps (meaning you’re gonna take a lot of big hits in a short time span) protect your bike by giving your shocks a bit more air. Drop-ins are a great way to warm up to actual jumps because you perfect the landings first!

Tips
On launch: Get your weight back and pull up onthe front of the bike.
On landing: Ensure your wheels hit level or rear first and get your weight slightly back (to compensate for your body being forced forward on impact).


I’m not a pro, but just some dude enjoying the adrenaline and learning the hard way. Please feel free to use the comments section to augment – or refute – what I wrote.

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