The Fear...

Ultra Lord

Hurts. Requires Money. And is nerdy.
Moto whips help. Jumping steep jumps straight is scary as fuck, bringing the bike up into you and moving it around to match the tranny helps.

Gotta stay loose and calm. No dead sailoring people!
And steady progression is key, which means having your own trails that you built is what you want. You can make things progressivelg steeper as you progress, which limits the hurt.
And have a smaller warmup set, nobody likes jumping cold.

I would not reccomend going from dh style ski jumps straight into 10ft tall bmx trails with vert upramps.
 

foxpuppet

Eats Squid
I always wonder how those BMX guys do it, obviously doesn’t translate on an MTB. Need the right bike for the right style jumps.

I can’t jump for quids on my Bike other than a little whip out from time to time, yet can hit the jump line on Front Valley at Perisher no issues on my snowboard. Theres something so forgiving about snow that even when you come up short it’s ok. Coming up short on the bike means so much more carnage.


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pink poodle

気が狂っている男
I stood at the base of bmx jumps like that recently and fuck me they were huge!

Are we talking steep launches on trails, so you're already cooking when you hit them? Or more steep like on a dirt jump? For me on the steeper jumps I go back to my basics - push the bike into the jump, compressing into it. Then bring the bars up as I come off the ramp to reduce the likelihood of the back end rising up and putting me into a scorpion of death. When I feel the rise maxing out I'm pushing the bars forward towards the landing and bringing my feet up with the tail of the bike, this levels me off and I line up the lander. If I'm feeling like a boss this is the moment for a trick...speed plays a role in trick selection - never x-up at high speed!!! When the landing comes up drop the bars down to line up the angle and extend the landing gear a little past halfway. It's good to have the legs out on landing in case you need to suck up more than the bike can on impact. My arms kind of perform an "S" progressively through the jump. The technique has slight variations for different styles of jump, but has mostly universal application.
 

Ultra Lord

Hurts. Requires Money. And is nerdy.
I always wonder how those BMX guys do it, obviously doesn’t translate on an MTB. Need the right bike for the right style jumps.

I can’t jump for quids on my Bike other than a little whip out from time to time, yet can hit the jump line on Front Valley at Perisher no issues on my snowboard. Theres something so forgiving about snow that even when you come up short it’s ok. Coming up short on the bike means so much more carnage.


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26’ ain’t dead!!!! Does a dj bike count as a mtb? I think so
:eek: dude can ride.
 

foxpuppet

Eats Squid
26’ ain’t dead!!!! Does a dj bike count as a mtb? I think so
:eek: dude can ride.
Is that really a mtb? Looks like a big wheeled bmx.....

Sure can ride though, Ive always had it in my head though that DJ bikes had suspension forks.


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slowmick

38-39"
Finally watched fox puppets vid. That is me on international at Buller. the more times i do it the more it freaks me out. Doesn't help that i watched my young cousin ride it on his DMR trailstar when he was 19... I'll have too get lessons from John U some day.
 

Andy_Ryder

Likes Bikes
I've lost a lot of confidence recently after my big OTB when my front wheel clipped a rock in the trail and having the Bell Super 3r chin bar crack and open up my chin 5+cm's long incl. 3 broken teeth.

It has been 6 weeks and 3 days since the accident. I had plastic surgery on the chin and you cannot even tell what happened (goatie helps as well).

Teeth still giving me grief, but could be worse. All able to be capped, but one needing root canal it seems.

I got back on a bike a couple of weekends after I got out of hospital because I refused to let it stop me riding, but I have lost a lot of confidence, even on trails I used to ride really fast on and know every berm, drop and technical section like the back of my hand.

I do keep telling myself that my accident wasn't from doing anything out of my skill set, it was just unlucky I didnt see a rock in a trail I had never seen before... but all I think about most of the ride is coming off now. I second guess myself and I reckon this could lead to more injuries whereas before you'd just ride straight through sections, now you end up braking and risk throwing yourself over etc.

I am 39 now and have been riding bikes since I was a really young kid, incl. racing BMX.

I bought a Fox ProFrame and wear it pretty much full time now. It breathes well and I hardly notice I have a full face on. Now summer is getting closer we shall see how I feel then about the full face.

Getting older sucks a fucking dick.
 

born-again-biker

Is looking for a 16" bar
^Yeah, I'm thirty nine years done too. Still got plenty of go in me, but nowhere near as fit & aggro as I used to be.
Wish I was still twenty sumthink.

I can't help you with the psychology of your fear.
I suspect that crash will always have an effect, but it will reduce the more you keep riding.
The important thing is to fully, completely understand why you crashed....in detail. Then you can correct/train your technique etc (in theory, anyway)
But really, I'm sure you know crashing is part of the game. Even Richie Rude & Aaron Gwin & Nino Macqurkinsquirter crash.

I have a new, more terrifying fear these days.
The fear that my new bike will never arrive!
The fear that the world is stuck in a perpetual shipping delay & I'll be in the box by the time the LBS calls.
Shit, I reckon I'm forgetting how to ride a bike. :mad::mad::mad: :(:(:(
 

pink poodle

気が狂っている男
Ypu spring chickens...I turned 40 recently and have barely got out on the bike enough to remember how to ride! But you bet I spent the birthday on trail hitting as much as I could. The best peace of advice I've got is to ease back in and build the confidence e back up. That crash was huge @Andy_Ryder! I remember the pics that were up here. I busted my front teeth on a water slide when I was in primary school. I didn't let that stop me riding water slide...it just takes time and perseverance to remind yourself that you can ride.
 

pink poodle

気が狂っている男
I like the idea of fairy floss better than foam chunks. Even that sounds hard on my old body.
Fly down and book in for a weekend of intensive training on my specially designed skill building trails. Mid-week weekends are more recommended.
 

foxpuppet

Eats Squid
There’s a new step down at one of the local trails, it was mellow before and most would consider it mellow now that it’s been improved but also enlarged. I approached it about 5 times earlier last week and just couldn’t commit. I had a crash a while back on a similar sized step down but much more rocky and the setup before is almost the same.
Went back Friday arvo and bagged it, so easy once done meant I went back up and hit it over and over just to get it into my head that it’s easy and should not be a concern.



Young pinner hitting the same drop.


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Mr Crudley

Glock in your sock
This probably belongs here.
Still haven't got back to conquer my fear of this one. Almost 3 months later!
Don't blame you, land that one wrong and it gets expensive. I think the hardest part is letting go of any fear to go down any steep rolloffs or jumps. If you go half way then it gets ugly. It is tough one and I'll admit that as much as I love a poppy little kicker of a jump, I will bail for B-Line if I'm not with it. Someday's you have those conquer all moods and other times it is B-lines only with warm milk and cookies.
 
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