Does it count?

Johnny Napalm

I've been trying to get into the habit of jumping, nothing big at the moment...in fact the stuff I attempt an 8yr old would be ashamed of doing, if I'm honest.

Anyway, I went over a small jump yesterday, lucky if I got above 3ft off the floor, and accidently pulled by bars to the right in mid-air. I managed to straighten them before landing. Needless to say, I papped myself, but can I count this as a bonafide trick...albeit an unplanned one?

On a serious note though, getting air is one thing that has always freaked me out, and it's something I should've mastered by now, but I always shy away. I've been trying of late, and I think I've managed to get my weight set correctly so I don't nose-dive (although it's not too bad if I do from 3ft up is it! :oops: ), but sometimes I tend to feel the pedals kind of kick me off them at the point of hitting the jump. I realise that this is due to me not absorbing the jump as I hit it, and I don't always do it, but it's frustrating when I do, which then leads to me almost soiling meself.

I've noticed the best attempts are when I'm relaxed and don't over-think it, but I can't seem to consistently do this.

Should I just accept that I'm a bit old now for such shenanigans, and pack it in, or is it worth the perseverance?

butcher of bakersfield

Make sure you have your seat down low. Otherwise that won't help your balance, or your feet staying on the pedals, at all..

Aside from that, practice makes perfect. It's easy to forget as you get older, with all your responsibilities and whatnot, only getting out a couple of times a week, that the kids you see cruising over these jumps have been at it for hours every single day....for the past however many months/years.. It's easy to underestimate what goes into it.

Anonymous

I'm a riding god
But seriously, I've never been a confident air merchant, mostly because there were never any decent jumps round here, and nowhere we could build them. Since playing around in llandegla, I've become pretty confident in the air these days but there's still some days when it just doesn't come together, so to speak.

cat_with_no_tail

You're never too old for shenanigans!

Keep at it.

delta5

Cat With No Tail wrote:

You're never too old for shenanigans!

Keep at it.

++ pp-p-potaa-toe!

Shaggy_Dog

Totally counts as a trick

toby_winkler

I once went to drop off a curb and accidentally did a backflip. It counted.

joshtp

do. your a fail of a rider.




na... fair play mate... keep going... I never thought i'd be able to whip... untill I did a huge one by accident on a windy day... now I whip every jump!

paulbox

When I was a kid a group of us built a mahoosive jump down the park for our BMX's. I went flying at it and nearly completely lost it but managed to recover and land it. I was the first of our group to do a "tabletop".

dan shard

Good work, just make sure you straighten you arms before you land to make sure your weight is back and you wheel is straight

(Dont completely straighten your arms though, you dont want to dislocate your shoulders )

Anonymous

joshtp wrote:

now I whip every jump!

I'll whip you in a minute.

toby_winkler

yeehaamcgee wrote:

joshtp wrote:

now I whip every jump!

I'll whip you in a minute.

You haven't got a good whipping in you.

joshtp

Anonymous

actually, I used to be called Mr Whippy. But unfortunately being Welsh meant I had an aversion to strong sunlight, and this happened.

toby_winkler

yeehaamcgee wrote:

actually, I used to be called Mr Whippy. But unfortunately being Welsh meant I had an aversion to strong sunlight, and this happened.

R.I.P Mr Whippy

jay12

best thing to do when landing or when going to do the jump is to relax and be ready for your arms and legs to absorb the landing(they are better and have more travel than any fork on the market...)

also what you did is called a T-up, work on it and you'll be doing X-ups soon

Johnny Napalm

I tend to specialise in F-Ups!

nickel

I did exactly the same thing the other day, unfortunetly I didnt straighten up the bars in time and before I knew if I was skidding on my front across the ground, first mtb ride for 3 months and i've bent my mech hanger, balls.

Johnny Napalm

You've bent your mech hanger and balls?

ilovedirt

I'm crap at jumping as well, but i'm trying to work on it, the way to do it is just to approach the jump with confidence and enough speed and to keep the front end up, if you can do that, then you're more than likely to pull it off! I'm currently working up the balls to hit a big step down on one of the local downhill tracks... reckon I'll hit it next time i'm there, it's just a question of speed and balls!

Doubles though... I don't like proper doubles!

nickel

Johnny Napalm wrote:

You've bent your mech hanger and balls?

lol! No thankfully the balls are all good :P

butcher of bakersfield

ilovedirt wrote:

Doubles though... I don't like proper doubles!

Doubles are mental.

I spent a lot of my youth playing on jumps of various kinds. Even hit some pretty big ones. But I always worked my way up to it. Little jump. Little bigger. Bigger. Bigger! Getting scared but I'll go a bit bigger! Over a period of weeks, or even months, you'd eventually find yourself floating over, Sometimes going too big!

But doubles. You have a near vertical takeoff. And a near vertical landing about 5 feet away... Not much room for error! Sod that. Even the little ones. Do or die. I'll not bother, and live, please.

jay12

ilovedirt wrote:

I'm crap at jumping as well, but i'm trying to work on it, the way to do it is just to approach the jump with confidence and enough speed and to keep the front end up, if you can do that, then you're more than likely to pull it off! I'm currently working up the balls to hit a big step down on one of the local downhill tracks... reckon I'll hit it next time i'm there, it's just a question of speed and balls!

Doubles though... I don't like proper doubles!

step downs are pretty easy. usually you don't even need that much speed for them, depends on the landing though. and you only need to pull up a bit. good luck in doing it!

agreed, i'm not a fan of big dj doubles. too much room for error and it's hard to guess what speed to go. i'v done some pretty big doubles before but i prefer tabletops, step downs and drops and hips are also fun as you can get good whips on the go