[redFoxx]

Hello to all the hucker-ettes and -dudes. Sometimes when I'm going over a drop, I'll get the weird feeling that my bike is dropping faster than I am. What can be causing this? Is my position somehow too vertical over my bike? Are my feet not firmly on the pedals? Am I too far forward? What's going on????

It doesn't happen all the time and I can't discern any difference in what I'm doing between the times it's right and the times it isn't. My landing feels fine in that I have both wheels down at once.

But, I'd like this to stop because it's hard on the knees when they feel like they're getting stretched by the ligaments. :hot: Anyone else have this problem?

It kinda puts me off on going bigger as I'm afraid I'll really lose hold of the bike.

 

[SilentJ]

Full squish or hardtail? What kind of drop? Level take-off to tranny?

I have this happen when I get lazy and don't pre-load enough (read: at all) on my full squish. It could be a ton of things, though. Maybe your timing is just off when the bike drops and you pre-load as your rear wheel is going off the edge?

I just bought Westcoast Style - Freeride Fundamentals for the GF and myself because she's just learning and I'm sure I have developed some bad habits that I need to kick and not teach her! It's seems very good through the first couple lessons. I'm sure almost anybody could learn something from watching it.

 

[redFoxx]

Full squish or hardtail? What kind of drop? Level take-off to tranny?

I have this happen when I get lazy and don't pre-load enough (read: at all) on my full squish. It could be a ton of things, though. Maybe your timing is just off when the bike drops and you pre-load as your rear wheel is going off the edge?

I just bought Westcoast Style - Freeride Fundamentals for the GF and myself because she's just learning and I'm sure I have developed some bad habits that I need to kick and not teach her! It's seems very good through the first couple lessons. I'm sure almost anybody could learn something from watching it.

I'm on a Transition Trail-or-Park hardtail and going off of a drop. I think it does have to do when I'm tired or lazy and not being active enough about my position. I think I'm just letting my speed carry me over and not preloading much.

I actually took a clinic from one of the women in that video and have the videos! Still, no matter how much you watch a video, it doesn't explain all the possible combinations of messing up you can do...

 

[biggins]

are you clipped in?sounds like it when you were saying your ligaments get stretched out.

i have found that when dropping if your bike is coming out from under you it is because you are coming off of it with your legs to straight/stiff. crouch alittle in a more aggressive position before dropping that way you have a little downward movement if needed.

 

[redFoxx]

Nope, I'm on flats. I think they're getting stretched because I'm trying to keep my feet to the pedals!

Good idea on the stance though. I was thinking I got lazy and wasn't in my usual frog position.

 

[biggins]

Nope, I'm on flats. I think they're getting stretched because I'm trying to keep my feet to the pedals!

Good idea on the stance though. I was thinking I got lazy and wasn't in my usual frog position.

for some reason i jus tread it and it seemed like clipless i ride flats as well. try the more aggressive attack position and be sure you are obtaining it early enough before the drop to be stable.

 

[redFoxx]

Yeah good ideas. Another thing I know I do is stare down at the drop - for some reason I seem to be mesmerized by looking down in it and this perhaps raises my stance. I know I need to look ahead.

Well I'm hoping to go again tomorrow if it doesn't rain.

 

[rainbow_smoke]

point your toes down some so the pins on the pedals resist droppingout from under you, as seen in freeride fundamentals (westcoaststyle II)

 

[Qman]

Some of the ladies in our clan took the Spokeswomen camp at Whistler last weekend and they were saying that the instructors were telling them: "Boobs over bars"
I guess the tendency was to get behind the bike too much or lean back so that was their saying to try and help them correct their stance.

 

[redFoxx]

Some of the ladies in our clan took the Spokeswomen camp at Whistler last weekend and they were saying that the instructors were telling them: "Boobs over bars"
I guess the tendency was to get behind the bike too much or lean back so that was their saying to try and help them correct their stance.

That's funny, I hadn't heard that one before. I think I feel more comfortable being back, but not just leaning back though.

 

[binary visions]

Nope, I'm on flats. I think they're getting stretched because I'm trying to keep my feet to the pedals!

It may be a vicious cycle because of that, now that I think about it.

For whatever reason, you're going off the drop and get this small, half-a-millisecond feeling that you need to keep your feet on the pedals. So, your instinct is to push down. Which pushes the bike away from you and makes the feeling worse.

That's just a guess, but it's entirely possible. The physics, of course, are that the bike falls at the same rate that you do, so you don't need to push down at all. Maybe if you try making a conscious effort to not push down? You don't want to pull them back, of course, but you don't need to push either.

Let us know if you figure it out

 

[redFoxx]

Well okay, I'm back to report as it didn't rain! Yay.

Went to the Flow Park and did an hour's worth of drops and jumps, including the one I was talking about above and it was all good. I was very conscious of keeping the elbows out, knees bent position for bodily suspension, and perhaps this is the key. Since I don't have rear suspension I think I have to be in a perfect position for landing, using my body as cushioning...on my Norco I could be sloppy and it would be easier landing.

Maybe it was the case last week that I was getting lazy or tired - I know that with this kind of riding you have to stop when you begin getting that way, it's not like in a XC ride where you can be sloppy and it's okay. Now I need to step up to the bigger drop I have my eye on and see if I can do the right thing there. I always dread having to step up, wondering what it'll be like. But it must be done!

 

[freeridenchk]

Some of the ladies in our clan took the Spokeswomen camp at Whistler last weekend and they were saying that the instructors were telling them: "Boobs over bars"
I guess the tendency was to get behind the bike too much or lean back so that was their saying to try and help them correct their stance.

I was considering this advice I just read for the past 5 minutes and looked at pics of people, and myself hitting quite a few different types of drops. I don't agree! I find for many drops, especially ones that are downhill into them with steep landings you would go over the handlebars! if you concentrate on this saying your arms would be very bent and you would be leaning over your handlebars. Being a little more backseat, w/ arms more straight and legs bent is definitely the way to go. Drops with flat takeoffs it would be appropriate but only because you pull up a bit with your arms, especially if you aren't carrying a lot of speed. I wouldn't concentrate on "BOOBS OVER BARS" or you may end up with FACE IN DIRT!

 

[redFoxx]

I was considering this advice I just read for the past 5 minutes and looked at pics of people, and myself hitting quite a few different types of drops. I don't agree! I find for many drops, especially ones that are downhill into them with steep landings you would go over the handlebars! if you concentrate on this saying your arms would be very bent and you would be leaning over your handlebars. Being a little more backseat, w/ arms more straight and legs bent is definitely the way to go. Drops with flat takeoffs it would be appropriate but only because you pull up a bit with your arms, especially if you aren't carrying a lot of speed. I wouldn't concentrate on "BOOBS OVER BARS" or you may end up with FACE IN DIRT!

I was thinking the same thing and have been studying pics and videos. The riders are definitely in the back seat for the most part which is what I always try to be and then push my arms out straight to guide the bike. I kept thinking that was bad advice or maybe taken out of context. The only time I can think of to do that is when taking a dirt jump and you want to pop the front end up to get air! Anyone have any comments who was actually there at the class? I do alot of drops to flat and I'm even more back and crouched so I can land soft.

I haven't heard this in any of the classes or clinics I've taken, including the one up at Whistler with Daamiann....

 

[redFoxx]

Last night my bf and I took a private class from Simon of Fluidride, a local downhill shop here in Seattle. We met at the Flow Park where we go to practice our jumps and drops. We practiced drops for two hours, getting a thorough grilling in the different techniques of taking drops. It was awesome and he is a great teacher, able to break down exactly what you're doing, when it's right and when it's wrong. He also takes videos and we can see how we look.

I asked him about the feeling I got of losing my bike going over and he explained it quite well although I may not translate what he said very well. It has to be with my being out of trajectory with my bike, generally from some kind of preloading in which I am higher in the air and my bike is lower so I am out of sync with my bike as we go over the drop and it feels like it is dropping out from under me. He doesn't teach hucking or preloading as he feels this is unnecessarily harsh and there is less control, especially when you need to be set up for a turn. He had us practice standing tall coming into the drop and then just about the edge of the drop, going down into a lowered, hips back, knees bent, arms forward position and letting bike drop down which decreases the height of the fall. It's just a real smooth, soft landing when done right. I've experienced this on my best jumps but never knew the mechanics. With this type of technique you do have to have alittle speed going into it, as you are not going to do much to go over so you want your wheels to land pretty close together.

I ended up doing some new drops on a harder line and am totally psyched about that. It was a rush to feel more air coming down, that's for sure. But once you get the position, it really takes care of you.

 

[weimie]

Wow...good for you! Taking a class from someone who knows what they're talking about is so smart.

I wish the resorts around here like Keystone would build smaller jumps and drops. They build these HUGE drops to transition that are soooo scary to hit. Of course everyone says "oh it's so easy, you can do it" but I've never done something more than 3ft. Why can't they build some 2-4 footers to flat or transition to give the scaredy cats something to practice on. I'd be more willing to try the drops if I could work my way up to the big ones :mumble: sorry for the rant.....

 

[redFoxx]

Wow...good for you! Taking a class from someone who knows what they're talking about is so smart.

I wish the resorts around here like Keystone would build smaller jumps and drops. They build these HUGE drops to transition that are soooo scary to hit. Of course everyone says "oh it's so easy, you can do it" but I've never done something more than 3ft. Why can't they build some 2-4 footers to flat or transition to give the scaredy cats something to practice on. I'd be more willing to try the drops if I could work my way up to the big ones :mumble: sorry for the rant.....

I feel your pain; however, I was envying you the dirt jump park you were on in your pics. We are lucky in that the Flow Park is close to our condo and we can go there during the week after work. It has go-arounds, easy and mid level lines. Not everything is a gap, and there's plenty that drop to flat if you can't hit the tranny, it's okay.

However, you might think about making your own. We took another one of Simon's classes and he had those plastic jumps you get from Toys r Us and you can fashion them with tabletops or gaps. He's made quite a few to teach the beginner and intermediate riders. Or, if you have a yard and can build some which is something else we would like to do.

 

[weimie]

Yeah....we usually spend a couple hours during the week up at schools jumping stairs and any kind of transition we can find or out at the dirt jumps. I get the airtime feeling but I want smaller drops to transitions to practice on before moving up to the 5 - 7 footers. Don't know what it is about the transition drops that scare me but they do.

But then again...how else do kids learn to ride that stuff....they just do it. Like you were saying on the plastic ramps and stuff. Practice, practice, practice.

 

[redFoxx]

I know, the drops were the scariest for me too. It's not seeing the landing that I hate, and then sometimes you have to make sure you clear any kind of gap there might be to hit the tranny. My eyes are always drawn downward to the pit below and that is the worst thing to do. I always have a scared sh**less moment when I have to take that step up to doing something new like I did last night. But I couldn't lose face in front of Simon when he said I was ready for it!

It's funny, now when we're driving I'm just always looking at terrain and seeing what could be jumped and what has a good tranny.

 

[weimie]

It's funny, now when we're driving I'm just always looking at terrain and seeing what could be jumped and what has a good tranny.

I do the same thing

 

[redFoxx]

It's so bad we're looking for a house to buy and we're evaluating the house on the yard and seeing which ones have nice rock drops and room for building.

Now the next step is how does my practice in the Flow Park where everything is groomed and predictable translate to actually jumping and dropping in the wild, ha ha.... We'll be finding that out when we travel to Kamloops, B.C. in a couple weeks for a DH vacation!