Jumping

For the past 12 years or so I’ve traveled all over the world and have ridden a lot of different courses, but all those courses have one thing in common. They all have jumps on them! So I’m going to do my best to try and explain how to jump in this blog.

The first thing you need to do is get all your pads together and a good helmet. There are many companies out there that make good pads. I always wear both elbow pads and knee/shin guards. Some riders like to wear an open face helmet, which is what you usually see the dirt jumpers wearing in the X-Games. And if that’s what you feel comfortable in then that will work. Personally I always wear a full-face helmet. I have seen way too many people lose teeth or smack their face wearing open face helmets so the more protection the better. Make sure that your helmet fits snug and doesn’t wobble around or slide back and forth when you ride. This is very important. If your helmet doesn’t fit right then what’s the point of having it on? As for your pads that's fairly easy. You want them snug, but not cutting off circulation or have any sharp plastic parts jabbing into you. Take the time to really try everything on before buying it.

Once you’ve got all of that figured out and you want to learn how to jump I would suggest going to your local BMX track. The BMX track is a good idea for a few reasons. One, there are plenty of other people there just in case you take a spill. Two, if you are just learning, most BMX tracks are groomed so you don’t have to worry about extra debris. And third, the jumps are usually built right. What I mean by that is that they are built nice and wide. They have a good lip (takeoff) on them and a safe landing, which are very good things when you are just starting out. Now I know that I race mountain bikes and I’m hoping you give jumping a try at a mountain cross race, but you’ve got to start somewhere and BMX tracks are a bit easier to come by than mountain cross courses.

Okay let’s get to the jumping. For the most part, tracks have pretty safe jumps with nothing too steep or too dangerous, but it’s good to go slow and see what’s on the other side before being Evil Knievel. That is something I always do before going all out on a course. I walk it first and then my first time down I just ride really slow and get a feel for both the lips and landings of the jumps. Some jumps can be really steep. What I mean by that is when you go up the takeoff of the jump it feels sort of abrupt and quick. The same goes with the landings. They can be steep, which means less room for error. The longer the landing ramp the more room for a bit of error. So when rolling through the jumps you can feel the difference sometimes and that is good information to take in.

In my opinion if you’re just getting your wheels off the ground for the first time I would suggest playing around on a tabletop jump first. A tabletop jump is a jump that is filled in. Some are tall, some are short, and some are long, but the one thing they have in common is that there is dirt in the middle of them. Dirt filled in the middle equals a pretty safe jump and a good place to start. Once you have scouted out the track and found a jump that you feel comfortable on I would suggest riding around the track a few times to get the feeling on your bike just rolling over the jumps.

After a few times around it’s now time to give it a try. When you’re heading towards the jump make sure your speed is sort of neutral. You don’t want to be sprinting at it and you don’t want to go so slow that you don’t catch any air. Take it nice and steady and be confident. I mean all that can happen is you fall down and since you’ve got all your pads on you’re good to go.

As you hit the lip of the jump keep your body in a neutral position. Not too far forward and not too far back. If you are too far forward you will probably endo. An endo is where you come down on the front wheel before your back wheel hits the ground. If you lean too far back you have a possibility of looping out, which means that you’re back wheel comes down before the front wheel and in that case you could end up on your butt! So the key here is to try to land on top of the tabletop jump with both wheels at the same time. When you’re hitting the lip you don’t want to yank up on your handlebars. Just feel the natural curve of the lip on your front wheel and hold it steady. When landing the jump whether you jump the entire thing or land in the middle remember to bend both your elbows and your knees. They are like natural shock absorbers so use them.

Something else that is very important is to STAY RELAXED. Don’t tense up. The more you tense up the harder it will be. Just try to stay loose and in a neutral position.

Jumping is fun and is a good goal to work toward. Whether you are a competitive racer or a beginner, once you learn how to have fun in the air, riding your bike is a whole different ball game.

So be safe and have fun!! If you have any good stories about jumping feel free to write in.

Tara