We dealt with the basic position. We have dealt with the curves. We have dealt with the steep. Now there are the drops.
Now there are drops: a very important technique because driving along a path and hoping to never find too high a void after a step that would take you around, is not nice. It is like a gazelle that never knows if it will manage to escape from the Lion, no good.
gatorade spot
Technical hints so as not to get the terms wrong: a very steep obstacle is called a big step but we manage to pass with a good position off the saddle (canyon sender recovery). The Drop instead is when, inevitably, I have to jump because I have a drop (difference in level in Italian) that does not allow me to copy. Or I can also copy but Jhonny Impunto is always around the corner.
To close this parenthesis, the jump is when we find the uphill ramp and requires a totally different technique: on this we have already made a video that I leave you in description but I want to tell you a secret that could brighten your day: you can be a great biker without knowing how to jump…. But dropping yes though! So let's start with the video.
This is a drop and we are in the land of TDM Academy School in Lugo di Grezzana (VR), a place that I recommend if you like enduro. But watch out for the locals: if you find them at Mr Willy's they are dangerous. What is Mr Willy? Okay, you want to know too much.
DROP TECHNIQUE
Before the ramp we must not be intimidated, or at least we do not give too much to see it: let's get ready in a neutral position, then central with wide elbows. As soon as the wheel leaves the platform (or natural obstacle) it pushes forward towards the landing. Don't be afraid if the push goes down, that's just fine: pushing down will allow the bike to land slightly front wheel, which with a slightly sloping landing means even wheels. The push must be decisive: by decisive I don't mean an extreme gesture where you find yourself with your butt on the wheel, but rather dry, like a spring. If you are not decided, the bike will remain "stuck" on the ground / platform and there is a risk that you will lose balance in flight.
Let's take this classic example that I always do in my courses. Get off the bike and take a classic jump: if you jump in a decisive way you can get off the ground, if you are not determined, you stay on the ground. And this is not given by the breadth of the gesture but by the decision / impulse you put into it. Ditto on the drop. I can also move a little but if I do it decisively I get the same result by wasting less energy.
From experience, I usually do not teach the drop by pumping because I consider it dangerous for 2 reasons: the 1st because it triggers a phase of flight in stall and not in speed, which makes the landing heavier than it is ( see this video where all 2 will land in the same spot but the 2nd rider, who pumped, gets a nice kick).
The 2nd because fear (or some technical gap) could make you pump incorrectly and you will find yourself unbalanced in the aerial phase.
Also for this last reason, I advise you not to try the drop by lightening the front with the manual technique.
Pumping, or lightening the front, I consider it convenient only in these situations that I list now, easily avoidable until you have acquired more awareness and confidence in the gesture:
-drop with landing on the plane;
-drop with drop-down entry;
- slow speed in entry.
In the drop with landing on the plane it can be useful to lighten the front because even a slight fall of the front can be dangerous. But honestly, the ignorant drops on the plan leave them to 15-year-olds, it is at that age that you have to have these experiences, now it's late. If you are 15, go for it boys!
In the drop with downhill entry, the lightening of the front serves to keep the front on the same line and not to make it fall lower than it should, otherwise then when a dangerous rotation is triggered it will not be recovered anymore.
And finally, slow entry speed: remember that a few meters of no braking are enough to get the correct speed, so in most cases, slow entries in the drops are the consequence of fear and relative braking. The speed in the drop is our friend, so if we arrive slow it is better not to do it (always if we do not know what we are doing).
To close the discussion, if you are learning, take it into your head that the DROP DOES NOT PUMP but you have to try to let the bike take as little air as possible: useless on a 2 meter drop to make it become 2 and a half meters because it pumps on the top, at least that you don't want to do tricks or anything. It only pumps in emergency situations when you find yourself very slow on an unexpected drop.
I will defend myself against the accusations in the comments because I'm sure someone will attack me, but I make a premise: attack me if you know what you are saying, not because you have heard at the bar that the drop is done like this or because you can do, awkwardly, only that type of technique.
Then to each his own teaching. With young children surely we teach to do it in all possible ways but with adults we have to compromise given their "vices" and the difficulty in removing them.
COMMON ERRORS
Luckily there is the internet to show you the consequences of missing a drop (I honestly didn't feel like falling on my face several times).
Do not push at all: the front wheel, due to the damned force of gravity, will fall down as soon as it comes out of the obstacle and nothing can avoid a beautiful facade on the ground, not even the off-seat which, on the contrary, will amplify everything (the more I go back, the more the front wheel will fall off quickly).
Arriving on the ramp afraid already off the seat: this is a problem because it will not allow you to push once the wheel is about to exit the ramp. Because? Because the arms will already be at the "end of the race".
Get on the ramp and don't push towards the landing but towards absolute emptiness or, even worse, pull up the handlebar by force. This is one of the most common mistakes. If you forcefully pull up on the handlebar it is very easy that you will come off the ramp unbalanced and, in the case of high drops, it will be almost mathematical that the front wheel sooner or later will trigger a bad downward rotation because your body, pulling up the handlebar, it lurched forward. If, on the other hand, you push towards the horizon and not towards the landing, you will not give a fluid direction to the action but you will come out stalled and unbalanced.
And with this the video on the drops ends. I recommend: jumps and drops must be the last step in your teaching because they require many skills that cannot be improvised: first learn to be comfortable on the bike and to master the bunny hop, then you can talk about it. Let me know if I need to investigate other aspects and do not hesitate to ask questions and comment on the video. See you at the next video lesson and may the mountain bike be with you.
