I "thought" I knew what I was doin

[bradf]

Today I paid for a MX lesson. The first thing the instructor did after watching me was to call me over and ask where I thought my knees were. And were my legs fairly straight? And was my head over the bars? And why was me and the bike going two different directions in the air? Once he figured I was toast cuz I was floating about 2 feet above the bike when I hit. Well I "thought I had good form. I watched the video of myself, I sucked. I looked like a drunk monkey humping a bowling pin. So I got up on the balls of my feet, knees behind the pegs, bent over where I could almost see the front number and...I cleared a 50' table so cleanly I didn't feel the landing. I did this about 10 times. Wow, maybe there is something to form. Next I got to tackle a 30' table into a 30' double into a 50' double. I Just did what he told me to do even though it felt awkward and strange and my thighs hurt from squeezing the bike with my knees. I hit the combo and it kicked me almost over the bars. I hit the one spot on the take-off I shouldn't have hit. I moved over a foot and tried again. It was ugly front wheel first almost endo. 5 more times and 5 more adjustments until I held the throttle 3/4 in third and...I freakin nailed it, the whole combo. It was like I was just there for the ride it was so smooth and controlled. I did it again and again and it became rather boring. I watched the vid and I didn't know it was me. It was a different rider. Jumping is fun now. Seeing myself on the video sure was an eye opener on how bad my form actually was. Yer never too old to learn.

[Ondatrail]

Cool story

[wanaride]

I paid for an intro lesson a couple of years ago but we didn't touch jumping. I would LOVE to get a lesson like you described, one that actually taught me to jump. I can't even imagine trying the jumps you described, but I bet I could do them if someone who knew what they were doing would show me how.

I need to find a good instructor around here...

[bradf]

The Millsaps Training Facility is 15 minutes away. Davey owns it now I think. There are tons of riders, some SX too, that winter down here and live out there. I got a young instructor who teaches little tykes and newbies classes. I aint very little but I sure be a newbie cuz I don't know nuthin about proper MX. I was determined to jump because I have always been a-feard of it but now I have to ride the MX track or nothing. When he told me to do something he described exactly what would happen if I did it exactly right. And I learned what happens when you close the throttle on the face of the approach. He thought I did some great recoveries when I hit the gas to straighten it out, I think that was panic throttle but it does work. I know I would have folded the stock KDX forks the way I hit a few times. I still have this anxiety cuz I can't see the other side (where I will land). Some of the jumps you can't do half way then increase speed, it's all or nothing because you will pancake if you go too slow. In a few weeks could be a 90' table top I'll take in 4th. But I must first learn using rear brake to nose down and throttle to get the nose up during flight. And wrestling it up and down to correct mistakes. Corners will follow in a few weeks. There are big ol ruts in the corners too. I hate ruts. But there are no rocks anywhere to be seen in this part of Georgia. My get-offs were soft and painless. I also get to hit that kicker that sent my rear end up. I have to hit the throttle right when I go over it. They actually make them so they can practice doing that. There is so much to learn. But at least I'll be able to ride the track and be safe and have fun vs humping the bowling pin. Man I looked stooo-pid in the first vid. He said I was faster than he expected in the whoops. I rode a but load of sand whoops in the forest before it was shut down. That was the driving force for me to put the KX forks and RM Showa on.

[scheckaet]

Do you have any vid? Sounds like it was a great say at the track!

[Wazowski]

Keep it coming brad...love livin MX thru you. You should be able to answer a bunch of questions in this forum.

Keep us in th loop will ya?

Thanx

Waz

[thebleakness]

I really want to take an MX class. Destry Abbott teaches one in Phoenix and he'll take you out on the MX track if you want. It's amazing how proper form will make you a much better rider. Jumping is tons of fun as well, I bought a 450 because of it!

Oh man that thing is a dream in the air, effortless to get in the air and it just sails. I've done some big jumps on the KDX (stock conventionals) and I probably shouldn't be trying but I didn't have another bike to ride. The largest jump I've done so far length wise was this 90ft table a few weeks ago. Damn it was fun!

[Jeb]

Thanks for sharing Brad . . . I was considering getting my kids and myself into some Gary Semics training next spring (in Ohio - more local for us) and hearing about your success and satisfaction makes that consideration more appealing! I'm sure the "form" and techniques one learns for mx have their analogies in the woods - and like you stated, makes an mx track more fun and safe.

[bradf]

I now realize that just because I thought I was positioned correctly didn't mean that I actually was. There is the true "neutral" or "attack" position where not only your weight is centered on the pegs, but your knees, hips, shoulders, arms and head are in the correct position for the situation. They are supposed to shift according to the situation. My incident on the large table top was a great example. The "neutral position" I had used on the first slower approaches almost kilt me when I hit it hard to get to the next down slope 20 feet further past a level area. So the faster I approached the big table top the more forward I shifted. In the combo I held everything the same with the same speed. I never knew that feeling of flying and being one with the bike. Landing smooth is a great feeling too. I feel safer now because I can clear the doubles that you are supposed to clear. The choice is to clear them, roll them, or pancake into them. Half way = pancake. Safe = clearing them.

[thebleakness]

I think the scariest jump I've ever attempted was the large step-up at the end of the Bull Hollow MX track.

This is a video of Robbie Goolsby (one of the Goolsby bros.) hitting and clearing it. He was hauling ass...
http://s33.photobucket.com/albums/d93/j ... e033-1.flv

To give some prospective to that jump, here I cam rolling it...


And here I am almost killing myself while landing it...


The one or two times I actually cleared it and "stuck" the landing felt amazing, the float time on the jump was incredible. Not bad for my second ever time on an MX track IMO!

[scheckaet]

>|QBB<[/url]

I think the scariest jump I've ever attempted was the large step-up at the end of the Bull Hollow MX track.

This is a video of Robbie Goolsby (one of the Goolsby bros.) hitting and clearing it. He was hauling ass...
http://s33.photobucket.com/albums/d93/j ... e033-1.flv

To give some prospective to that jump, here I cam rolling it...


And here I am almost killing myself while landing it...


The one or two times I actually cleared it and "stuck" the landing felt amazing, the float time on the jump was incredible. Not bad for my second ever time on an MX track IMO!

Was that thing the real speed or did the video speed up the action???

[thebleakness]

Aside from my erractic camera movements that was the real speed. IIRC I was hitting it in 3rd gear on the fo'fiddy.

I watched Kyle Summers almost HIT the next jump (you can't see it) which is a loooong way's away. He seriously got another 50-60ft farther than the guy in the video. He's the only guy I wasn't able to take a picture of, darn it!

[2001kdx]

It looks fogiving at least... I's try it