Just A Bump In The Road
You may be feeling pretty proud of yourself since you’ve got your riding
technique down pat. You can fly around the track like superman, through deadly turns and the muddy bogs. The embarrassing
crash and burn episodes are almost non-existent. But just because your physical therapist has forgotten your name, it just
means that the learning curve isn’t quite as steep as it was.
You must now delve in a bit deeper to keep putting the razor to lap times.
Read on and improve your game!
Fine Tune your Body English
Body English – it’s not just for playing pool. Your riding form
absolutely demands it. For instance, imagine that you’re approaching the top of a hill and preparing to go airborne.
What’s your body English? Do you tend to lean back a bit? If so, wrong move! It’s very important to assume a forward
position; focus on putting your weight over your bike’s handlebars.
To prepare for touchdown, every jump is configured a bit differently, of course.
But there is one general concept to keep in mind here: your side to side position has a great effect on your stability when
you hit the dirt. Keep your weight on the outside of both your saddle and peg. This will set you up for a major traction bite
and this is what you want to get your forward momentum going. This is a prime spot to go on the attack and you need every
advantage.
The Take on Brakes
One mistake that rookies tend to make as they ride up a jump is release their
brakes too late. What’s wrong with this approach? Your suspension will rebound when you let up on your brakes and you
don’t want this to happen at lift off. Instead, concentrate on doing your braking before you start up the hill and have
almost all of it done at the halfway point. Finish off with a feathering at the crest. This takes a bit of practice to perfect
because it takes so much forethought. But if you focus on it, every hill, every time, until you get it down pat. Then it will
come naturally and you can put the focus on other aspects of your technique.
Dealing with Mid-Corner Jumps
Mid-corner jumps or bumps are a special challenge when it comes to keeping
your momentum going. Air time will cost you plenty here and it raises the possibility of taking a spill. You can minimize
air time by getting your butt off the seat right before the jump; think of how a jockey posts in the saddle. Just say no to
seat bounce effect!
