Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Ski Jumps

The best thing about riding a motocross track is the elevation change.  This gives you more dimensions to the track and allows you to “spice up” some obstacles.  One of these obstacles is the ski jumps.  Most of the time, you find these jumps right before a downhill and there is no real lip or face.  This sort of jump can be used to your advantage, if you do it correctly.

The most important part of this type of jump is approach.  You want to be in the attack position so you are ready for the upcoming drop.  Depending on the situation, there could be a lot of braking bumps, and being in the attack position really helps you get through the bumps without the bike dancing underneath of you.  Don’t forget to grip with the knees and look ahead.

As you are about to make the drop, you want to be slightly leaning back.  If you are leaning to far forward, your front end is going to drop because there is no lip to give you that “pop” and raise the front wheel.  It also helps to be on the gas, if possible.  If it’s not, stay in a higher gear so the engine braking doesn’t drag the front down.

As you leave the ground and make the descent, you want to make sure your front tire is slightly higher than the rear.  When landing down a hill, you don’t want to land front wheel first.  This throws a lot of your weight and momentum to the front wheel and you have a greater chance of going over the bars.  So, land rear wheel first and be on the gas.  Most down hills are going to be rough; so, getting on the gas when you land gives you forward momentum through the rough stuff.  It helps to jump a little further than everyone too.  This isn’t normally the case with average jumps, but in this case, when you jump further, you keep your speed and momentum up.  Plus, you have a chance to jump past the slower riders’ bumps.  These jumps are usually low visibility, so make sure you know what the next obstacle is or you could end up like Doug Henry (i.e. broken back).

Source: http://www.mxtrainingblog.com/riding-techniques/ski-jumps/

Gaylon Mosier Rob Herring Erik Eggens Shayne King

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