Since the Station fire, I've been pretty unmotivated to ride, but today hit some jumps at the whoops and had a blast. I'm a solid rider, but never jump and don't really know what I'm doing. A few questions for anyone who does: Entering a jump, are you centered on the bike, or bit back/bit forward? Does your position change in the air, or are you just making adjustments to keep balanced? Do you keep all weight on the pedals, or some on the hands? Do you pop at liftoff, or let the bike do the work? What are you looking at during the jump? Landing? Beyond landing? Thanks. I don't even know if these are the right questions, but they were the things I was wondering on the ride back.
in the same boat as you so no advice here. however, my buddy and i ride there a quit a bit. my buddys pretty good so next time we ride we should do a session. i feel like ive learned alot off of him by just watching. love that place. any pics?
If you want to learn some great techniques on jumping, drops, etc. Pick up a copy of Mastering Mountain Bike Skills by Brian Lopes. It helped me step up my riding game tremendously. And its only 20 bucks.:bang:
loose , centered somewhat, spot your landing, as for pulling up it depends on the type of lips , most of the stuff at the whoops you dont need to pop off of to hard
First off, I applaud you for asking. Most try, are afraid to ask, and then give up. Rockinthecasbah pretty much covered your questions, but I'll go a bit further. Be relaxed. That is the most important thing in my opinion. A relaxed mindset and body leads to great dirt jumping and riding overall. Also a low center of gravity on the bike is huge. Look at any BMXer jumping. They are all in really close to the bike. The lips at the whoops kinda sorta do the work for you to get over them. The pop depends on your riding style. Other spots take more work with technique and pumping and whatnot, but at the whoops it is really a mental game. Know your speed and let er' go... Start with the lower table line. Learn the mechanics of compressing the lip, poping the lip, checking speed... And once you get that line keep at it till you are 100%, but not for too long otherwise you'll get too used to the super-easy stuff. Then head up to the big line! Same deal. Keep at it over and over again. Start just hitting #1 over and over again. If you got #1 smooth, then you have #2, and if you can line up for #3 and get that, then #4 is cake. As far as what you look at in the air? Depends really. If you are in a rhythm, you will want to not only spot your landing but spot the next jump so it's a thoughtless process once you land. Makes for a longer transition in between the jumps. Just remember, it's all in your head. You know you can, you just gotta do it.
centered and relaxed. just try to be as comfortable/natural as possible. trial and error is the best way to learn. it changes slightly. you want to let the bike angle down for the landing (assuming its a table or double, ect) so your position changes slightly to allow this to happen. also depends on how steep the face of the landing transition is but when riding trails like Kenter you want to land precisely and carry as much momentum as you can into the next jump. centered depends on the face/lip of the jump. a well shaped jump will do the work for you. spot your landing
That's how I learned how to jump-- by reading the Brian Lopes book and watching that Bikeskills.com video over and over. They also have a cool vid about pump tracks. Finally got it right this past weekend at Snow Summit, actually! I will say one thing, when you hit it just right, you know it-- it feels right on the take off and the landing. When I did it perfect the first time, it wasn't a very big jump, but just enough for me to sail a few feet and know I had done it correctly. Boy, did I ever have a smile on my face after that! Spent the rest of the day aiming for everything I could and practicing over and over. Edit: Just wanted to add that I wasn't actually jumping dirt-- I was doing it off of rocks and drops. Same technique, though. Good luck! It's so much fun!!
