Ways to becomming a better rider

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bradf
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Ways to becomming a better rider

Post by bradf »

What have you done to improve your woods riding ability? Other than ride ride ride. Seat time alone does not improve ability if the same mistake is consistently made. Unlike having a coach watching form the side of the track in moto, it seems we only have bent/broken/smashed parts and bruises to let us know what doesn't work. Most riding buddies are busy focussing on their own line to see what stupid thing you have just done. A few things that I had to improve were looking past the front fender, correct body position while standing, and learning to use the clutch better. My clutching still sucks! Oh how I want an EFM!
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Post by canyncarvr »

Ride, ride, ride works purty good.

Most of it's mental. If you think you can, you might. If you think you can't, you won't. Stuff like that.

An adage that is good to remember: 'You will go where your eyes are looking.' Don't look at that stump to be sure you skim past it...look at the track around it.

And there's the old, 'Moh gas will save you 90% of the time. Brakes will save you 2% of the time. The rest of the time you're toast anyway.' Well..it goes something like that. You get the idea.

Keep a light grip on the grips. It's not too hard to develop a bad habit of hanging on for dear life. That generally doesn't help anything.

Keep up in the saddle! The KDX actually has one!

Toes on the pegs...not your instep. There's lot'sa rocks and snags wanting to break your foot off just waiting for 'ya.

Elbows up! Just get used to it. It's surprising how much that helps.

Grip with your knees...alot. It's something else that is surprising. You can keep a much tighter line if you don't let your knees flail around in the air.

As you say, a sight-line a good bit ahead is good. All the little junk that you tend to focus on up-close (Oh no! Lookit that rock!) will be handled by your suspension...if you let it. This is assuming your suspension actually works like it should.

Besides, you shouldn't be LOOKING at that rock unless you want to run right over it/into it anyway.

Trust your bike! Pretty much same as the above. Let all those thousands of $$$ you spend do their job!!

Most of the above are things that make me a better rider...when I actually do 'em! Some I've read, some observed, some I figured out myself (not that they're new ideas or anything).

But, a couple-three hundred miles a month is a big help!

Just have fun!

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Post by jafo »

Riding frequntly does alot for me. I ride every chance I get. Sometimes while riding I will sit there and look at different lines through a certain terrain, especially if it appears really dangerous. One I relly look at before jumping in is jumping fallen trees on hills. I don't know why but it freezes me cold when I get to one. I really watch my own technique over certain areas. I learn quick going over the same ground several times. I also ride with a guy that runs in Hare Scrambles and he kind of guides me and some other guys through the woods through all kinds of different scenerios numerous times at racing speeds usually. Yes I do keep up until he gets to some very technical stuff but I've learned alot just fallowing him around the woods. He'll point out different ways I could have done certain rides but for the most part he just let's everyone alone and we have fun.

I don't know if you could really have an instructor in those situations because every situation is different. I guess you could, it would kind of be like what I do with the guy I ride with I guess. I think alot of it is talent myself though. There are some people who just don not belong on a dirtbike. I don't know what it is. I've seen guys not make it out of a parking lot without getting hurt! You mix that kind of guy with a dirtbike, tree's and you got a recepie for disaster. I'm not saying they should'nt try, you never know till you do. But if you crash alot, thats a good sign maybe it's not for them.
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Post by farmerj »

I'm no expert. But I did learn something a while back that CC mentioned, which helped me a bunch - when you're seated, GET FORWARD toward the tank. Being somewhat tall (6'2"), I tended to ride toward the rear of the seat so that my legs weren't so cramped. Wrong! Weight up front really helps me pick a line and corner more aggressively and confidently.

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Post by Indawoods »

Watch and learn! Go out someday without your bike and watch some other good riders in an area you that you have trouble with. Watch them... watch how they react to the situations you have problems with. You can learn a whole lot. That's how I learned to compress the frontend before lofting over logs, the frontend comes up easier without much motor work and your speed isn't an issue when you reach the log or whatever. One thing you will find.... you never stop learning! :prayer:
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Post by jafo »

I've also picked a few things up from magazines too. They usually have some how to's in magazines on how to get over certain obsticals. Of coarse you will have to go out and practice them but they are worth checking out. Some are MX and some are Enduro lessons.

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Post by bradf »

I remember the day I learned how to compress the forks before going over a log. In one attempt using this I went from "not sure if I can make it" to " no probs". I showed my wife the technique and now she thinks she is a world class trials rider. I was on particular trail that was considered "quite gnarly" by the locals and I ran this 1/2 mile section 6 times in a row because I was not going to leave until I conquered it. I left a happy rider. The beer tasted extra good later that day. As a side note: Isn't it amazing how a good days ride makes the beer taste better?
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Post by Mr. Wibbens »

Something that helps me (when I actually go riding)

Is to ride with Carvr and his brother in law. They take me on trails I'd never even think about trying! But I'm usually following them, and I don't have a clue where we are so I have to keep following. I often stop and look up or down and say to myself "We're going on that?!!!" :shock:
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Post by skipro3 »

canyncarvr wrote:Ride, ride, ride works purty good.
Muscles remember. Muscle memory allows your concience to focus on other things so gain the experiance in your muscles. For example: How do you know where the snooze button is? Do you look at it? Do you turn on the light? Do you think about it? No. Your muscles remember while you mind is still a sleep. Speaking of muscles, physically train to increase stamina and strength. When you are beat and tired the bike rides you instead of you riding the bike.
canyncarvr wrote:Most of it's mental. If you think you can, you might. If you think you can't, you won't. Stuff like that.
Yes! Most people see the crash coming, because they expect to crash. Next time you are sure you are going to crash, tell yourself, "not here, but ovr there. " Then pick another spot to crash that won't hurt as much. When you get to that spot remind yourself you just made it past the crash. And that you do have control or else you could not have been able to choose your new crash spot. This gets your mind off crashing and instead gets your mind looking for outs when in a bind.
canyncarvr wrote:An adage that is good to remember: 'You will go where your eyes are looking.' Don't look at that stump to be sure you skim past it...look at the track around it.
The term is refered to as "target fixation" Works fot lots of things. When you ride fast through the forest on single track, don't look at all the trees but instead look at all the spaces between the trees. Like seeing a negitave of a photograph. Think about this: when you are late and driving your car in heavy traffic, weaving in and out, do you look at the other cars or do you look for the spaces and openings you can steer your car for? Do you know what type of car you just passed, or even what color it was? No, you are not focused on that, you are focused on the line, the opening, the gaps, the places that you can use to go faster. Use this same mental frame of mind when riding and trying to go faster off road.
canyncarvr wrote:And there's the old, 'Moh gas will save you 90% of the time. Brakes will save you 2% of the time. The rest of the time you're toast anyway.' Well..it goes something like that. You get the idea.
Another truth. If you are going so slow as to dab with your feet, you are going way too slow. Most trail crashes are because of slow speed manuvers. The gyro effect of the wheels and the momentum forward will carry you over many obsticals.
canyncarvr wrote:Keep up in the saddle! The KDX actually has one!
Even more than that, learn to ride standing. Most (90%+) should be done standing. This is so much easier on your body when your legs and arms work with the suspension instead of being driven by the suspension. When you do sit, it will probably be in cornering. Then sit and sit as far forward as you can. Really exagerate the positon in order to realize how much this helps in turning a bike fast.
canyncarvr wrote:Toes on the pegs...not your instep. There's lot'sa rocks and snags wanting to break your foot off just waiting for 'ya.
This also makes going between sitting and standing much easier
canyncarvr wrote:Elbows up! Just get used to it. It's surprising how much that helps.
With elbows up, body forward, on the balls of your feet, knees grabbing the tank, you are in "attack" position and feel one with the bike. With an attack mental attidude to accompany, you can look, feel and begin to believe you are a racer.
canyncarvr wrote:As you say, a sight-line a good bit ahead is good. All the little junk that you tend to focus on up-close (Oh no! Lookit that rock!) will be handled by your suspension...if you let it. This is assuming your suspension actually works like it should.
Most A enduro riders are as fast as they are because they are looking far enough ahead. Look past the next corner and imagine whet might be there. Most of us have not much problem following a fast rider, (until we make a mistake and fall back) because we don't need to look far ahead. Think again on how you drive your car, do you pay any attention to the lines? The dots, the road surface? Usually you are looking much farther ahead than that. Don't think so? Next time you are doing 65 down the road, look out the window at the dashed line and try and stay at that speed without looking forward. Driving in fog is also an example of how you are able to mentaly drive farther ahead than you really are. The more time your mind has to tell your body what to prepare for, the more time you will have for your muscles to remember the course and your mind to focus on the next obstical.

Trust your bike! Pretty much same as the above. Let all those thousands of $$$ you spend do their job!!
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canyncarvr wrote:Most of the above are things that make me a better rider...when I actually do 'em! Some I've read, some observed, some I figured out myself (not that they're new ideas or anything).
Back to the first line! Ride, ride, ride. If you are thinking about these things, the timing is off and you will struggle. Your body and mind must KNOW these things as absolutes. It is the unknown and fear of the unknown that forces us to hesitate and get defensive. Defensive is NOT aggressive and aggressive is where you need to be in order to become a better rider.
canyncarvr wrote:Just have fun!
Fun is when you are mentally in the game and enjoying your performance. So get in the game. Loose yourself in the ride. We ride in order to purge our minds of the daily grind, to become so focused on what we are doing that to slip mentally and think about work, the old lady, kids, etc is to falter.

Thanks for all these reminders CC.
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Post by canyncarvr »

I heard this a few weeks back. Was new to me...

Anyway, there are four distinctly separate modes of doing something:

1. Unconcious incompetence
2. Concious incompetence
3. Concious competence
4. Unconcious competence

Those are fairly self-explanatory...but briefly, it's like this.

1. You can't do it (or aren't doing it) and you are too stupid to know it.

2. You come to realize you indeed are not doing it.

3. By applying reason, sense and learnin', you come to a place you are doing it, can do it...but you have to think about it.

4. Now you can do it, are doing it...but you are beyond having to think about it to get it done.

Aha!

That (#4) is where you will perform at your highest level of competence.


Riding a bit over your head is a good learning tool, too. That is a two-edged sword of course. Too far over your head and you will become exasparated at the least and may well badly hurt yourself (and your bike) at the worst. If all you ride are 'safe' routes you have ridden over and over there is not much to be learned.

Where 'over your head' riding seems to work best (did in my case, anyway) is in the case of #1 above. I was too stoopid to even know I was in trouble when I first started riding in the dirt. Had I been a bit more learned in the sport I would'a soiled myself more than once! But, no...Marty (the afore-mentioned brother-in-law) rode all over the place...and I HAD to follow him cuz I had NO idea where I was (like Wibby said). I got way-lost more'n once! Yep...he rode off and left me more than once! Not on purpose...more like he couldn't believe I was sooooooo slow!

Something else that will make you better...the 'Neener-neener' factor.

We were sitting at the bottom of a trail, Marty turned around, went back up...made an unseen turn a little ways up. Ten minutes later he was back. He told me where he went...that it was a cool trail. I asked him if I could make it. 'Sure,' he said.

So, off I went. After I left, he said to his sister, 'He's going to $*** his pants!!'

Yep! It was a really nasty climb...even today I have no idea how I made it.....but I did.

**edit***
It seems I did leave out any part regarding soiling....or not... ;)
Last edited by canyncarvr on 05:19 pm Jan 10 2005, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by skipro3 »

canyncarvr wrote: 1. You can't do it (or aren't doing it) and you are too stupid to know it.
THAT'S ME!!!! Unconcious incompetence
I knew it wasn't my fault. Now if they could just make a pill I could take to cure me, all would be well. Where do I sign up for the financial aid? Social Security?
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Post by bronco95tgp »

Dang guys, those tips I think are going to help me a good bit! I have been riding with the middle of my feet on the pegs, probably because I get lazy and like to relax when I ride, and I also have been riding further back in the saddle, with traction in mind, but with my weight shifted foreword in the corners, my front wheel will track better? With my feet centered on the pegs, it also feels more natural to have my knees stuck out. I guess I really can use my horsemanship skills on my bike, I thought they were totally backwards! I cant wait to get into the woods this sunday and see if I cant leave my dad in the roost! I do stand up a good bit when I ride but with my weight still on the arch of my foot. When I am doing big hill climbs, I tend to sit down more mostly because I feel more in control and it is easier to feather the clutch when I am sitting, should I really focus on standing up in these situations? And should my knees still be snug to the tank while standing?
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Post by Indawoods »

Don't stand when climbing steep hills..... crouch and lean way forward or else you could end up on your back.... done it lots of times before I learned. You want to keep that front wheel planted as much as possible. As far as your knees go... depends on the situation. When you need to muscle through something... yes. I generally free float through most things because I can whip the bike one way or another very fast and avoid limbs, boulders and such. I always tuck my knees while cornering and jumping.
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Post by skipro3 »

In regards to climbing, I think it depends on the speeds you are traveling at. I keep my butt off the saddle in any case. A slip back on the seat and loopout the bike will go or else you will have to chop throttle and loose momentum. Observe trials riders. Heck, just look at a trials bike. See much of any seat at all? I can tell you they don't sit down when climbing anything. Of course they are going much slower speeds but still, the technique should remain the same. Observing good riders will telegraph much on what you should be doing while riding.
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Post by Indawoods »

True.... Trials riders don't have much of a seat... but they don't have hardly anything between them and the swingarm either. A seat height of maybe 15" vs. 35" is a big difference Ski!
So, they can be off of the seat and be lower than us sitting. Gotta think of the center of gravity here and not seat height.
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Post by skipro3 »

Good point.
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Post by canyncarvr »

re: standing

Makes a big difference when it comes to type of bike. I rode a 200exc for awhile. Standing seemed more natural than sitting! That bike is considerably more narrow than the kdx and it has a lower center of gravity.

..and the seat is downright painful!... on the buttocks.

Probably a matter of getting used to it, but standing on the kdx isn't nearly as comfortable.

imo......

re: leaning forward on hills

I'm generally looking for the balance point on that idea. Too far forward may work well for keeping the front end down, but it don't do diddle for traction.

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Post by Indawoods »

Staying forward and vertical with the rear wheel is the ideal position, this keeps the weight on the rear wheel without allowing your front wheel to raise. (center of gravity)
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Post by skipro3 »

I modified my KDX to be more comfortable riding while standing. Mainly it was with the bars. My bars are forward and I do mean forward. I use air bleeders on my KX forks and my bars are far enough forward that they touch. Needless to say, adjusting the rebound is not possible, except for my other adjustment; my bars are raised up quite a bit too. So with taller bars and more forward position on the bars, I am almost forced to stand up and reach out over the tank to ride. When I sit, the feeling is not nearly as natural as a stock bike.
I encourage everyone to experiment with control placement for their ergonomics. It makes loads of difference in bike and pilot performance.
Because of the weight shif forward, I run a larger rear tire than most do. It works well. Besides, there's plenty of me to keep enough weight on the rear tire, especially since Christmas!!!!
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Post by bradf »

Good point Ski. Each bike must be adjusted to each rider. Handle bars, hand levers, foot levers, they all need to be right. Goes along with the proper suspension settings; ride heights, springs and compression/rebound. I saw a girl with her boyfriend or husband who had her front brake lever well above her grip. Due to a spill I imagine. I asked her if she liked it way up (the brake lever) and she said it was hard to use so she usually only used the rear brake. Her BF/hubby asked if it was wrong so I moved it slightly down...she was very happy with it pointing down (the lever!)
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