Improving my "woods" skills

[pscook]

What worked for me was to keep my legs at 179* (almost dead straight) and rock back and fore on the pegs to achieve neutral balance. You should have almost no weight on your hands, and you should not be holding yourself up with your arms. Your knees should be lightly gripping the bike to keep your balance. Perfect fore and aft balance is tough to explain, but once you find it you pop right up and stay there. I got 2.2 hours on my meter on my first trail ride in two months, and I was not even close to sore when we got back to the truck. Let me tell you the 2.2 hours was not an easy ride. But, by keeping my balance in all situations, I was able to stay up rather easily.

 

[Jakobi]

What worked for me was to keep my legs at 179* (almost dead straight) and rock back and fore on the pegs to achieve neutral balance. You should have almost no weight on your hands, and you should not be holding yourself up with your arms. Your knees should be lightly gripping the bike to keep your balance. Perfect fore and aft balance is tough to explain, but once you find it you pop right up and stay there. I got 2.2 hours on my meter on my first trail ride in two months, and I was not even close to sore when we got back to the truck. Let me tell you the 2.2 hours was not an easy ride. But, by keeping my balance in all situations, I was able to stay up rather easily.

Great advice. Keep the slight bend, but the weight transfer is what keeps you fit. If you're 'holding on' you'll pump up and gas out in no time. Another way of thinking is that your body should be getting pushed forward by the pegs under accelleration, or vice versa. Lean forward and let the bike do the work. The pegs are the pivot point.

 

[bowhunter007]

Rereading a bit of this thread...thought I'd make a final notation. I still find it hard to swallow, that in Oct. 2011, I bought a beat up 2t bike and went riding. Riding quad trails(not much over idle in 2nd gear) scared the crap out of me. As of late, I took up a bit of racing...I'm hooked! I took a beating last week, and can't wait for the next round. Many people have helped me along the way...in person and by way of dirtbike forums. Thanks to all! I've come along from a timid beginning casual trail rider, to racing with the B class guys. Not bad for a guy who decided to take up dirtbikes at 42.

 

[GMP]

You should be able to read your own number plate(upside down hopefully). Pivot pegs really help develop good form, IMO.


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[Jakobi]

Rereading a bit of this thread...thought I'd make a final notation. I still find it hard to swallow, that in Oct. 2011, I bought a beat up 2t bike and went riding. Riding quad trails(not much over idle in 2nd gear) scared the crap out of me. As of late, I took up a bit of racing...I'm hooked! I took a beating last week, and can't wait for the next round. Many people have helped me along the way...in person and by way of dirtbike forums. Thanks to all! I've come along from a timid beginning casual trail rider, to racing with the B class guys. Not bad for a guy who decided to take up dirtbikes at 42.

You've described this sport to tee with that post. I can remember throwing a leg back over a bike in my mid twenties after many many years of not riding and what I did as a kid was never anything spectular.. paddock bashing only. I remember hesitating at every obstical, tree, log, root, rut.. continually locking the front end and dropping the bike. Butthole pucker coming into corners too hot (which was really slow) and not knowing how to get around them. Roll forward a couple years and I'm a totally different rider. Its all just seatt time and a willingness to learn and improve.

I've also taken the same journey mechanically, going from not owning a hammer and struggling to remove a front wheel axle with my first bike, through to having a variety of tools, including some specialised, and the ability to just about service and tune everything on my bike.

Its a good feeling.

 

[gasser]

What worked for me was to keep my legs at 179* (almost dead straight) and rock back and fore on the pegs to achieve neutral balance. You should have almost no weight on your hands, and you should not be holding yourself up with your arms. Your knees should be lightly gripping the bike to keep your balance. Perfect fore and aft balance is tough to explain, but once you find it you pop right up and stay there.

Best way I've found to recognize/achieve and practice natural balance is take one hand off the handle bars as you coast down a nontechnical hill (standing on the pegs of course). Start with smooth hills that aren't steep and work your way up (actually down) to more difficult ones.

 

[Jakobi]

Best way I've found to recognize/achieve and practice natural balance is take one hand off the handle bars as you coast down a nontechnical hill (standing on the pegs of course). Start with smooth hills that aren't steep and work your way up (actually down) to more difficult ones.

Thats a great way to score a free dirt sample when a ninja log, rock or rutt steals the front end.

Sample principal, less risk. Relax your grip on the bars. They are called the controls because thats what you use them for. If you find yourself holding on, or supporting your body weight through your arms you're doin it wrong.

 

[Wan]

Thats a great way to score a free dirt sample when a ninja log, rock or rutt steals the front end.

Sample principal, less risk. Relax your grip on the bars. They are called the controls because thats what you use them for. If you find yourself holding on, or supporting your body weight through your arms you're doin it wrong.

That is a great way to explain it, I will give that a try next time out, Thanks for the info.

 

[Diedrix]

Great read, lots of good info. Good to see others have progressed through their dedication.

I'm in the same boat as many here, picking up trail riding late, after many years of riding on the road. I've gone from getting a good deal from a neighbor on a Honda CRF450R "setup for the woods", to a KTM 450, and now Phil's old EC300. I'm by no means fast, but mid pack in our groups which include all different skill levels usually.

I wanted to add a little about mental approach, since I feel it is a big part of being successful when riding more advanced terrain. Being prepared for the mental challenge of line selection is key, as one of my buddies likes to say "this ain't piano lessons". It is in your best interest to be sharp and on point when getting into tight woods.

My approach started at:
1) be tentative about every obstacle (normal when starting out)
2) hope there wasn't something ahead I couldn't get past forcing me to turn around.

Has now progressed into:
1) I'm not going to stop until the next road intersection or I find the wheel in front of me
2) How can I use those SAME obstacles in my favor to HELP me through the trail
3) You're not there until you're there, too many times the last, easiest root or rock reaches out to bite you because you let your guard down

Just having a different mentality has helped me quite a bit. Some of my buddies think it's the bike, but that's probably because they still ride MX bikes.

Also I found that a book from one of my old baseball coaches has come in very handy. Sports Psyching: Playing your best game all of the time by Thomas Tutko

 

[CampX]

Rereading a bit of this thread...thought I'd make a final notation. I still find it hard to swallow, that in Oct. 2011, I bought a beat up 2t bike and went riding. Riding quad trails(not much over idle in 2nd gear) scared the crap out of me. As of late, I took up a bit of racing...I'm hooked! I took a beating last week, and can't wait for the next round. Many people have helped me along the way...in person and by way of dirtbike forums. Thanks to all! I've come along from a timid beginning casual trail rider, to racing with the B class guys. Not bad for a guy who decided to take up dirtbikes at 42.

Man, thats scary similar to my story. Bought my first dirtbike, an '05 EC300, last spring, at 40 years of old. Could barely keep control on fire-roads. Had some really bad habits from years of riding quads, as in the left and right levers on a quad don't work the same as a dirtbike, go figure....a couple trips over the handlebars cured me of that. Now I ride with a couple buddies who race, and push me really hard, thats the only way to truly learn, to ride on the ragged-ass edge of scared/too fast/super fun. Arm pump and shaky legs have replaced a sore butt from sitting-down riding, lol!

 

[bowhunter007]

Man, thats scary similar to my story. Bought my first dirtbike, an '05 EC300, last spring, at 40 years of old. Could barely keep control on fire-roads. Had some really bad habits from years of riding quads, as in the left and right levers on a quad don't work the same as a dirtbike, go figure....a couple trips over the handlebars cured me of that. Now I ride with a couple buddies who race, and push me really hard, thats the only way to truly learn, to ride on the ragged-ass edge of scared/too fast/super fun. Arm pump and shaky legs have replaced a sore butt from sitting-down riding, lol!

Lately adventure bikes have been on the menu. After managing a 500+ pound pigs through the bush..."normal" dirtbikes should feel exceptionally light & nimble.

 

[3beejay3]

IMO, the most important skill to work on in the woods is corner speed. Because there are so many turns in the woods, especially tight woods, gaining just a bit of speed, makes a huge difference. If you practice and pick up just 1 km/h of average speed in corners, or better yet, shave 1/5 or 1/4 sec off each time spent in each corner, then multiply that by hundreds, or thousands of turns & it adds up real fast. That extra corner speed automatically increases your straightaway speed too.
Over a 10km section that can drop a minute, or more off your time, which can be the difference between a C rider and a B, or a B and an A. Or a 10th place and first.
Add in increasing skills with obstacles & junk and skills at squeezing between tight trees & you have a recipe for real skills improvement.

 

[CampX]

Corner speed is definitely where I have issues! I'm doing decently okay jumping logs, doing technical hillclimbs and such, but I get absolutely left in the dust through the tight twisties. Practice practice practice, I guess.

 

[bowhunter007]

I don't get much of a dirtbike workout, lately, but mountain biking is abundant. That said, cornering speed is probably just as important. It is amazing how fast you can stick a turn, using technique, & having a bit of faith that the tires will stick.