I spent over an hour today at the local skills park going off the one foot drop. It all happens so fast I feel like there's no time to shift my weight and extend my arms and then match the plane of the landing. The one time I did an exaggerated weight shift I literally did a manual off the drop, landed rear wheel first and almost ended up in the bushes. For context; new rider as of this spring, 49F, tall and kinda uncoordinated. I want to get the movement dialed so I can progress, but I don't know how to do that when these short drops are over in like .2 seconds.
by Ok_Scallion3555
8 Comments
IMO you don’t look dangerous. I would say keep up the reps. Do something slightly bigger. You seem to know the routine, you need to get on a big enough drop that it safe, but uncomfortable, and keep hitting it until every single run it’s comfortable. Your body will learn.
Then find one a little bigger, do the same thing, rinse and repeat.
It can help to practice at varying speeds. At lower speed you need exaggerate the body movement more, while at higher speeds you don’t have to do as much. A 1 foot drop like that is great practice since it shouldn’t be too consequential if you mess up and let the front wheel drop prematurely. Once you’re more comfortable and have some muscle memory then moving up to bigger drops won’t be as scary.
If the drop is too small to practice technique, move up to a bigger drop! Doesn’t look like you’re doing anything sketchy off this one, you’re good to progressÂ
Don’t worry the drop understands you.
try a bigger drop and do the same thing. Drops are 90% having the right speed. 10% is push your bike towards the angle of the landing
Go slower
As long as the landing isn’t too gnarly, all drops are the same. A 6″ curb can be the same as a 12″ feature. My advice is to practice smaller, then move up.
Your goal is to land both tires at the same time.
This is why I cringe a little bit when people say to practice dropping off curbs. There isn’t enough height to actually figure out the technique. I agree with the other comments that said to find a bigger drop, maybe two feet. Something small enough that you can roll if you need to but big enough where you can get some real air time. And yes, varying speed, especially going a little slower, is great for learning.