tips for a dirt jumping jong

we had a thread on the old powmag, and maybe another one here too about the basics for hucking cliffs. That thread helped me alot, and so I thought it would be a good idea to have one around for mtn biking.

The trails near my house have some pretty sweet dirt jumps and some small ones to get started on, and as my biking skills progress I want to start hitting them with some style. I rode through a few times yesterday and realized that jumping a big ass mtn bike is way different then when I was 13 jumping my bmx bike. It felt like I had enough speed for the jumps but was getting pretty tiny air and felt like a goon.

Looking for tips on how I should take the jumps, should I have my weight back? forward a little? centered? I figure its like hitting a tabletop on skis where you need to pop off the lip to get air, or is it just about having enough speed?

The thread about taking cliffs helped me alot because I knew that if I committed, popped, drove hands forward, and absorbed the landing I would do alright and helped me start hitting drops on skis even if they weren't that big.

Basically I'm looking for something to focus on when I hit them instead of "oh shit! I am going to eat it so hard!"

also, what protection do you guys use? right now I just have my helmet.

On a related note, when you're taking air on a bike and you aren't clipped in, how do you keep your feet square on the pedals / keep the bike from falling away under you? I noticed Sunday when I popped off a little air (I mean, really little, may 18" max) that there was definitely some separation between feet and pedals when the bike landed. Anything bigger and I'd be screwed.

1st off John Cowan(26" dj big wig) has a Kona video out wich is basicaly how to dj. it's pretty good, and has some good tips, though concentrates largely on tricks rather than just flow.

Bike set up - ideally you have a bike just for dirt jumping but realistically you probably are using another bike. think small frame, and not much suspension. FS is cool for casing, but can suck up energy and speed wich is bad in tight rhythms.
Shorter stem
slightly narrower bars than DH are optimal
roller tires and high pressure
stiff suspesion
platform pedals

Safety gear - DONT LEARN TO JUMP WITHOUT FULL FINGER GLOVES AND HELMET! knee shin is also very important, if you got more wear it. even jeans and a long sleeve shirt can save skin.

Start small and learn to speed pump. On some jumps that you are already comfortable on start to hit with more speed and really concetrate on the landigs. you should pull up slightly off the lip, but just enough to make the landing given yout seped. regardless of how much air your catching you want to be centered on the bike and hitting the landing bick with your front wheel first. as you get more precise with your speed and air you will notice that your front wheel is starting to really hit the tranny smoothly and when you do this right you will accelerate on the landing. - once you mastered this you'll have the skills to pump speed in the rhythm set.

Next is relaxing on larger jumps - when your ready to catch a little more air and have masterd your speed, you will want to be more comfortable in the air. bigger jumps are all about speed so watch other riders closely to see there aproach speed. following is another great technicque to judge speed. if the other rider is comofrtable follow them right off the jump. chances are you'll go a bit too fast your first time and back seat and tight off the jump. this is called "dead sailor". dont go for a perfect landing right away just relax and land backwheel first and absorb the hit. practice this for a little bit until you can start to hit the landing smoothly.

once you've mastered both of those you should be ready to hit some real lines. again it's all about judging speed, so watch other riders very closely and follow if possible. ask other riders what the line is like once your ready and don't second guess yourself. stay relaxed and concentrate on keeping your speed and really pumping your landings. work the set one jump at a time until you get through the whole thing.

thats pretty quick run through.

if you feet come off it's called a no-footer ;)

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Originally posted by Big E
On a related note, when you're taking air on a bike and you aren't clipped in, how do you keep your feet square on the pedals / keep the bike from falling away under you? I noticed Sunday when I popped off a little air (I mean, really little, may 18" max) that there was definitely some separation between feet and pedals when the bike landed. Anything bigger and I'd be screwed.

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Skills man. You just gotta have mad skills.

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Originally posted by CS
Skills man. You just gotta have mad skills.

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Thanks, you've been a big help. Really.

Hev, you think it's best to start off on table-tops?

I always freak out on gap jumps. I've hit some (relatively) sizeable tables, but I can't get close when it comes to gappers. You think they instill confidence or hinder progression?

if available tables are a great way to refine your skills without much risk. the problem usually is that your progression quicky dead ends because you don't find too many really large tables or table rhythm lines (unless your at whistler or woodward) because they require so much dirt to build. this is actually about where fondigley is at. his skills are coming togethor but he's just not sacking up and doing the line I know he can. again this is where folowing someone is a huge confidence help.

btw, CO rider Ross Milan(Yeti) won the WV mountain cross last weekend. you go and watch by any chance?

Hev gives good advice. I learned to DJ last summer, and am still a n00b, so take what I say with a grain of salt.

I think I spent much too much time on tables, and not enough sacking up and hitting gaps. If you're pretty comfortable hitting tables nearly as big and the same shape as a gap (steep takeoff and landing), then casing the gap is probably not going to be that bad. After one or 2 casings, if that, you'll probably have the speed dialed to hit it right.

This took me like 2 months to figure out :).

Riding with someone is key. Even better if they're better than you. I rode most of the summer by myself and didn't really progress until I started riding with someone.

Good luck. Hitting the landing of a DJ right, where it's so smooth and you accelerate out of it, is one of the most fun things I've ever done. Finally felt myself pumping landings again yesterday, and I'm stokered.

Wh00t.


J-

Thanks hev...makes sense. Yeah, Al mentioned he's been trying to step up to the big gappers. I gotta come out there some time and check out the park.

Unfortunately I didn't get up there for the MTX race. I heard that was the best part of the weekend. I have seen the course, it's pretty sick. Definitely looking forwarding to getting in there and honing my jump skills on some of the smaller stuff.

I did watch the DH finals on Sunday. We stayed up high on the course so didn't get to see the guys get muddy, but got to watch some of the good drops.

[sorry for the hijack, ripley]

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Originally posted by Big E
Thanks, you've been a big help. Really.

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Anytime.

Ok, on a serious note regarding flats and catching air with 'em. It's like any other new thing and you have to take baby steps. You are so used to having the rear of your bike follow you with clipless, that you probably (like me) never learned to bring the back end up with your hands.

Start by practicing on the ground with simple bunny hops. Pull the front wheel up, then pop with your legs, rolling your wrists forward at the same time. This should have the effect of pushing the front down and pulling the back up, not to mention keeping your feet on the pedals. Once you get this down, just do the same thing while riding/jumping. Hopefully what I just said makes sense.

Regarding dirt jumping, I wish I could lend some advice, but, alas, I suck at it. My only advice (given from personal experience) is don't float too far forward and land straight on your front wheel. Bad news. Some day, I want to be cool like hev and hit the big suckers with style.

awesome tips hev!

I have seen your pics and I dont know if I will ever get the nuts to hit jumps that big, but thanks for the advice, everyone else too.

Yeah, I am ready to sac up, my comfort level has increased. I just need to make it down to the park. But I will say the large table top I built helped my confidence in realizing I can make the distance, and will not fall into the gap. I don't know why I ever thought I would land in the gap, but something in my brain says I will, damn you brain.

I did manage to make some improvement this past weekend. I went down to the V in Aurora, and they had some nice lines and I hit some of the biggest gap jumps yet. Then we hit Arbor on the way back to Boulder and I was beat. 5 or so hours of dirt jumping in the sun can hurt you.

Hev, I am sacking up to racer main at least the next time I am at the park, I got to.

Oh and Hev told me the other day to let the bike flow and not try to muscle it around so much and the line would just come together. So I did some of that on Sunday at the V and it really helped. It just felt so good when you can flow and not case or land ubrubtly.