Girlfriend's position??

Maro

My girlfriend bought a MTB last year, she is progressing well and has got to a level where she can ride well and quick enough but is a little nervous about how to handle the bike when both wheel are off the ground.

We spent an afternoon at Afan skills area where she made further progress and became more confident. What I couldn't understand is why she wasn't jumping further over the tabletops than others despite travelling at a similar speed. I was trying to look at her body position, purely for purposes of helping her of course . Then I wondered if she was hampered by the muscle memory from her 25 years of riding horses (to a high standard).

I know it's a long shot but perhaps there is someone here who has transfered skills from one steed to another and if they had problems.

cooldad

I used to race motocross many many years ago, before they thought of stadium type stuff with massive flashy jumps.
I was taught (by a national champion) to keep the bike on the ground as much as possible - you should either be accelerating or braking, and you can't do either without wheels on the ground.
I tend to flatten jumps, using my legs to absorb the jump, and squash down into them instead of hopping over them. Habit. She probably does similar.
As a result on a bicycle I am hopeless at getting off the ground (or just a pussy).

cooldad

ps I thought this was going to be a Crudcatcher type thread, about reverse cowgirl or something.

rockmonkeysc

Sounds like her problem is that she's just riding off the the jump in a good position but not popping off the lip.
She should be compressing the bike in to the take off and recoiling back up to a central, upright position at the lip. If done right it can easily double the distance of a jump.
look at any pictures of pro riders jumping and you wull see that they are stood quite tall on the bike and nicely central, thats what you need to aim for.
Most importantly, never pull up on the bike.

veronese68

cooldad wrote:

ps I thought this was going to be a Crudcatcher type thread, about reverse cowgirl or something.

I'm sure you aren't the only one, I was hoping for pictures.

bigmitch41

Pictures :P

pesky_jones

cooldad wrote:

I used to race motocross many many years ago, before they thought of stadium type stuff with massive flashy jumps.
I was taught (by a national champion) to keep the bike on the ground as much as possible - you should either be accelerating or braking, and you can't do either without wheels on the ground.
I tend to flatten jumps, using my legs to absorb the jump, and squash down into them instead of hopping over them. Habit. She probably does similar.
As a result on a bicycle I am hopeless at getting off the ground (or just a pussy).

This would get my vote.

Maro

Thanks guys, I'm very familiar with the techniques described by CD and RockMonkey. I think I know what she needs to do but I'm not sure why she just isn't quite getting it or how I can better describe it for her.

Will try to find a pic to post haha.

cooldad

Why not just let her ride the way she wants.

Maro

I do, we have a group ride at BPW next month and one of the other women is currently having lessons, my Mrs. has gotten a little competative about it and asked me for a few tips.

Her riding is good but she stands just a bit static and she slows down to roll over bits that I would launch off of in order to miss bumps/obstacles, she only slows down because she is unfamiliar with having the wheels off the ground, I'm also helping her ride through berms with more confidence.

pesky_jones

cooldad wrote:

Why not just let her ride the way she wants.

Perhaps that's what he's trying to do?