Unfortunate that the camera person kind of missed the set up, but you can pretty much tell what’s happening.
First of all any drop you survive is a good drop 😅 but there are some problems here.
The proper technique for a drop is to lower yourself down by bending the legs, then push the bike forward over the lip. That means that at this moment:
Your legs should be in a squat position and your arms should be extended straight out in front of you. Try to work on this lowering and punching motion. Ben Cathro’s videos recommend pushing the bike onto the landing at the same angle as the landing. My coach advises to always push the bike horizontally.
Either way, what you’re trying to do is minimise the amount of time the bike spends with the front wheel in the air while the back wheel is supported by the lip. My coach prefers to use the term “punch the bike” rather than Cathro’s “push the bike” because the punching motion indicates a fast almost explosive motion to get the bike over the lip.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about when I reference Cathro watch this video: [Stop Crashing On Drops | How To Bike with Ben Cathro EP 9](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJJAW0iNhUY)
Your absorption at the bottom was spot on.
maniccanuck on
3.5/10 which is about what i would get
Music_Stars_Woodwork on
Hard to see but it looks like you are trying to pop of the drop. You shouldn’t do that. You want to unweight the front wheel by sort of pushing the bike out in front of you as it goes off the drop. That keeps the front wheel from diving and helps land both wheels at the same time. It should feel and look very smooth.
NellyG123 on
The other comment about the take off push/punch forward is good, I don’t agree with their take that the absorption at the bottom was spot on however. You did a good job of absorbing the impact, but I’m not sure you had to go so low to do so, or have you head behind your bars.
One thing to have in mind is that these skill areas are great for doing bigger features than you would otherwise do on a trail, but if you have to be mindful to not deal with the big features in a way that puts you in danger on a normal trail. If there was any bumpy terrain after the landing you’d have no ability to absorb any impact or move your weight around, because you’re as tucked into the bike as possible.
If you had to go so low to absorb the impact because that’s just how much your body was pushed into the bike by the landing, it might be worth trying to mix a bit of strength training into your riding/exercise plan.
drumjoy on
You should be getting your butt back/pushing the bike forward at the top, not the bottom. The exaggerated and delayed sitting back at the bottom is both unhelpful and unnecessary for a small drop like that.
SquabCats on
Did your butt itch? Why’d you try to give it a quick scratch on the tire after you landed lol
Inevitable-Ad-9570 on
You’re doing way too much and overthinking it. This drop is the equivalent of going off a curb. You’re basically bunny hopping it then getting way back seat in the landing in a way that looks very forced. Just ride off smooth and in control and this drop will look much prettier.
The position you land in where you get super low and far back is pretty much never a good body position to be in. Try to stay more centered when you pump down low like that. Also getting that low for this drop is unnecessary. It takes you too long to get back into a good position for the next hit on a real trail
7 Comments
Unfortunate that the camera person kind of missed the set up, but you can pretty much tell what’s happening.
First of all any drop you survive is a good drop 😅 but there are some problems here.
The proper technique for a drop is to lower yourself down by bending the legs, then push the bike forward over the lip. That means that at this moment:
https://preview.redd.it/izw6389ocu7e1.png?width=284&format=png&auto=webp&s=1f53f2c8a75d23034e73c0c65abffe37503ca124
Your legs should be in a squat position and your arms should be extended straight out in front of you. Try to work on this lowering and punching motion. Ben Cathro’s videos recommend pushing the bike onto the landing at the same angle as the landing. My coach advises to always push the bike horizontally.
Either way, what you’re trying to do is minimise the amount of time the bike spends with the front wheel in the air while the back wheel is supported by the lip. My coach prefers to use the term “punch the bike” rather than Cathro’s “push the bike” because the punching motion indicates a fast almost explosive motion to get the bike over the lip.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about when I reference Cathro watch this video: [Stop Crashing On Drops | How To Bike with Ben Cathro EP 9](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJJAW0iNhUY)
Your absorption at the bottom was spot on.
3.5/10 which is about what i would get
Hard to see but it looks like you are trying to pop of the drop. You shouldn’t do that. You want to unweight the front wheel by sort of pushing the bike out in front of you as it goes off the drop. That keeps the front wheel from diving and helps land both wheels at the same time. It should feel and look very smooth.
The other comment about the take off push/punch forward is good, I don’t agree with their take that the absorption at the bottom was spot on however. You did a good job of absorbing the impact, but I’m not sure you had to go so low to do so, or have you head behind your bars.
One thing to have in mind is that these skill areas are great for doing bigger features than you would otherwise do on a trail, but if you have to be mindful to not deal with the big features in a way that puts you in danger on a normal trail. If there was any bumpy terrain after the landing you’d have no ability to absorb any impact or move your weight around, because you’re as tucked into the bike as possible.
If you had to go so low to absorb the impact because that’s just how much your body was pushed into the bike by the landing, it might be worth trying to mix a bit of strength training into your riding/exercise plan.
You should be getting your butt back/pushing the bike forward at the top, not the bottom. The exaggerated and delayed sitting back at the bottom is both unhelpful and unnecessary for a small drop like that.
Did your butt itch? Why’d you try to give it a quick scratch on the tire after you landed lol
You’re doing way too much and overthinking it. This drop is the equivalent of going off a curb. You’re basically bunny hopping it then getting way back seat in the landing in a way that looks very forced. Just ride off smooth and in control and this drop will look much prettier.
The position you land in where you get super low and far back is pretty much never a good body position to be in. Try to stay more centered when you pump down low like that. Also getting that low for this drop is unnecessary. It takes you too long to get back into a good position for the next hit on a real trail