Corrent landing procedure

Mynameisdann

Was just wondering if i could get any advice on Landing procedures i.e from jumps/dismounts
Should i be positioning my body in a certain way and should i be tensing my legs/gripping the bars heavily or just loosen up and take the hit?

Cheers

P-Jay

loose! let your legs/arms soak up as much as possible, better than any fork / shock.

I always try to land rought both wheels at the same time, unless I'm trying to show off! ha ha.

Mynameisdann

Okay cheers, yeh halfway through a messabout yesterday i landed near vertical frontwheel pointing to the sky, so think im going to go and have abit more practice

MacAndCheese

I try and land loose and angle my bike to the same as the down slope but with a bit of bias to the rear (easier said than done sometimes!) watching the pro's on the videos they quite often land front first,but I get the fear of going over the bars!

jairaj

Usually you want to try and match the angle of the bike to the angle of the ground so both wheels land at same time. So if landing to flat, you want bike horizontal, if landing on a transition you want to try and match the same angle.

and yes always stay loose, while in the air extend the arms and legs a bit ready to soak up the landing.

mrfmilo

Always stay loose and try and land on both wheels, if not the front one very slightly. I extend my arms/legs just before landing as to absorb the impact

wobbem

Usually don't have time to think about how to land, it happens so quickly I'm already down, what amazes me is that I've become unclipped, the bike hasn't landed on me and yet again my head never hit the ground. I usually have to go back to where I lost it and figure out what happend, most of the time its hitting a low stump I never saw. :roll:
Last week I was giving it death along the canal back from a 70Km ride, there was a chav in front of me wobbling over the whole track talking on his mobile phone, I yelled out I was passing but I guess he never heard me and swayed out, my bar end got caught in his cables, my bars wrenched round and over the top I flew - flat out toward the canal edge with a railway girder supporting the bank , in slow motion I felt myself think no and twisted to land in the canal, not very deep at the edge so was bloody lucky to come out only soaked with a few cut and bruises. Very much ashamed with my self I picked my floating bike out of the water and chased the div down- who hadn't even bother to stop.
Very impressed to see that my bike floats though.

thel33ter

If you stay on the bike you landed fine, even if you land stomach first on the saddle, hit the next jump, scream, roll 10 metres on the front wheel, get back on the saddle and rail the next berm. I must admit is was a bit messy, but I didn't crash.

chedabob

thel33ter wrote:

If you stay on the bike you landed fine, even if you land stomach first on the saddle, hit the next jump, scream, roll 10 metres on the front wheel, get back on the saddle and rail the next berm. I must admit is was a bit messy, but I didn't crash.

I came off a dropoff, didn't brace myself hard enough, ended up sat on the mudguard. I carried on pedalling and managed to get back on the seat I wish my mate had his camera on because it was magical. Shame I snapped the mudguard off though

submityournentries

every time i seem to go within 3 feet of a jump my front wheel tries to touch the sky and my feet decide they prefer the ground and part company with the pedals. i fear all i can really do is keep trying until i can keep in close company with my bike.

Mynameisdann

hah, i had a few blasts at it today and i can get the front to touch the stars but the back wheel stays planted, its like i got to the top of the jump and pulled a wheelie

submityournentries

exactly the same. however im planning on going and finding some jumps on like tuesday or wednesday and just hitting them over and over until i can get it right.

thel33ter

submityournentries wrote:

exactly the same. however im planning on going and finding some jumps on like tuesday or wednesday and just hitting them over and over until i can get it right.

Clipless helps for this... until it all goes horribly wrong, which it will, cause jumping is a terrible idea and normally ends up being painful. :roll:

Northwind

Just remember, wheels not face.

Also remember, not every landing is the same, what works for you might not neccesarily be the same as everyone else, and unless you're that Danny Macaskill off teh internetz or that Josh Bender, you shouldn't neccesarily pay too much heed to what Josh Bender and that Danny Macaskill off teh internetz do. Big exagerrated tail landings don't transfer all that well to trail riding.

Personally I aim for a slightly nose- in landing but no big bias, since the front wheel does the controlling... Land hard on the back and you pitch forward which is a good way to lose control, land too squint on the back and you can get thrown right off balance, but land squint on the nose and you'll just ride it out, the bike will want to ride back under you rather than out from under you. Course, land too nose first and you're going over the bars most likely so don't do that either.

But in practice, I'm generally happy with wheels not face.

Mynameisdann

yeh wheels not face seems like a good starting point i think my biggest problem is not being able to get my backwheel airborne :P

thel33ter

Mynameisdann wrote:

yeh wheels not face seems like a good starting point i think my biggest problem is not being able to get my backwheel airborne :P

Roll along a pavement and try picking the back wheel up, do this by tilting your feet forwards and pulling up, then when doing a jump try something similar.

Anonymous

Northwind wrote:

Just remember, wheels not face.

See, that's where I've been going wrong.

My plan is to bury my face into the ground, with the more pointy and sharp rocks the better

Anyway, I've done that enough times, along with landing on my ribs and doing the superman pose shredding up my arms in the process (as I did last week). I need to learn how to do all this properly.

Thing is though, I know the theory. I just need the practice.

thel33ter

Northwind wrote:

Just remember, wheels not face.

They start early these days

Mynameisdann

thel33ter wrote:

Mynameisdann wrote:

yeh wheels not face seems like a good starting point i think my biggest problem is not being able to get my backwheel airborne :P

Roll along a pavement and try picking the back wheel up, do this by tilting your feet forwards and pulling up, then when doing a jump try something similar.

ive been trying that and finally learnt how to endo, not tried it without the front break though i think i might need to borrow a bike to try that, my frames abit to small for me and its got flat bars so i am literally face firsting everytime i stand up let alone when i am aiming to further forward

popstar

My first serious attempt at jumping nearly ended up with dislocated shoulder, carried way too much speed for that given jump. Now, after changing bike and some little riding I finally got back to it. It kind of pumping the bike through the roots but in a slow motion type thing. Can't explain really, but hopefully soon after skillz course with -Sensei, I will be allright. Well, you know -you don't explain or tell people how you do love ... to your bike.

Anonymous

If you're landing on a transition or a downslope, try and land both wheels at the same time, or even front wheel ever so slightly first.
If you're landing flat, push the rear wheel down to meet the ground, and absorb the impact with your legs.