TIPS: Jump Skills Part II- Pro Drop In Techniques

My last entry covering jumps talked a lot about starting with drop-ins. However, learning how to properly handle drop-ins for real while riding is a technique that will not only increase speed and confidence for XC riders, but it will also minimize wear and tear on your bike. (Like the high-impact landings that loosened my rear hub.)

I stumbled upon a terrific (and free) online instructional video illustrating professional drop-in techniques last night that you’ve got to check out at Decline Magazine. It’s the first in a planned series put out jointly by Fluidride and Twenty-20 cameras.

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.

TALES: Rain can’t dampen a good ride

When the thick, oily mud jammed between some of our wheels, frames and brakes this morning finally forced some to a complete halt, I couldn’t help but feel ecstatic that this was my fourth ride of the week (including my first-ever night ride with my new Jet Blast HID). Friday night was the first real rain in three weeks and many of us had been flocking to the trails – day and night – like fisherman to rivers of running salmon. It was the longest dry stretch I can remember in the past 2 ½ years.

That said, the mud, luckily, was near the end of what was an otherwise terrific day to be riding. Blurred Vision, One-Way Hills, La Luge and Paintball were just slick enough to keep us on our toes without repeatedly ripping the front tire out from under you, and the Mother of all Downhills was miraculously dry.

Our group got split up over where the linkup point for La Luge was, but all-in-all it was a great day, and we continue to get more new riders on the trails.

Had some camera issues, but at least you can check out some of the photos and a couple of videos down One-Way Hills (plus a great video of Jason admiring some shrubbery from close up).



Adrian Shreds One-Way Hills



Jason Tackles One-Way Hills



One-Way Hills Tackles Jason