Continuing Education Credit

[Girlrider]

Hi everyone from the Oregon School and those that are not as well. Leapin Lisa just E-mailed me with a riding a question and it made me think I should pass it on to all of you. She was debating with a "guy" rider how to ride in really tight trails that have trees flanking on both sides. He thinks you should sit down and put your foot out on the turns. She on the other hand was not so sure about that and asked me. Here is my response to her. Be sure to Visit the site and look at the pictures. The rider in the picture is a European and they are masters at technique.

1.) If it is too tight that you have to kind of duck to keep from hitting
the trees with your head or shoulders then you would be better off sitting.
Personally I like to keep my feet on pegs for the majority of the time
because it is less work to keep them on the pegs than to take them off and
put them back on. Sometimes sitting is ideal in really tight turns because
you will get better traction which makes you fast. A lot of riders really
romp on the gas in the turns which makes the tires spin. (Because the KTM
has a hard punch on the bottom you tend to spin the tires more - the GG is
more smooth and does not spin but hooks up better in my opinion which makes
you faster) Now what you have to keep in mind when you are sitting is kind
of the same as when you do a turn staning. You want to lean the bike into
the turn but you need to keep you body straight up and down so that you are
keeping maximum weight over the rear tire. If your body leans with the bike
then you can tip over. Go to the following site:

http://www.guillaumeporte.com

From here let the home page download and then pick on English. On that page
pick on GALLERY. When that page comes up you will see small pictures.
There is about 7 pictures. Pick on the top right one. It is a guy (On a
GG) turning while sitting. Notice his body positition in relation to the
bike. The bike is leaning but his body is staying perpendicular to the
ground and his shoulders a parallel to the handlebars. This is how I would
ride through tight stuff sitting. Keep you feet on the pegs. Now if there
was a big huge rutt like at a motocross track then you might consider
putting your foot out and pointing it way forward towards the front tire.
(Most of the time you would never find this in an enduro. Look at the other
picture where the guy is going up a really steep hill and is squatting down
towards the tank like you would on a trials bike to get traction.

2.) If it is not too tight then I prefer to stand and really use my legs to
weight the pegs but this might not give me as good of traction as I want so
I may sit down. If I was going up a hill with tight turns then I would tend
to put my leg out more because I probably would not be going as fast and
would not have the momentum to keep me from tipping over.


I hope this helps anyone who might be wondering. If anyone else has a riding question please let me know and I will try to answer it for you. Ride on.

Nicole

 

[bbbom]

Great info yet again!

We were riding in some really tight sections at Little Pend Oreille this past Sunday and I found it much easier to sit for the tight twisties but I thought it was probably due to my lack of speed. I find it hard to stand for long when putting behind my kids or, when putting for fear of nailing a tree.

Should you stand at slow speeds?

What about tight twisty woods with lots of roots and rocks? Stand or sit?

 

[Leapin Lisa]

Thanks for sharing your wealth of knowledge! I'm going to have to get more brave about posting questions . . . starting now :D

As your riding through these tight, gnarly trails, are you feathering your clutch to maintain control on your speed? I'm trying to get faster through the tight trails than my husband, so any tips would be helpful!

Lisa

 

[Girlrider]

bbbom,

First if you are riding slow behind your kid then sit. Standing is to keep your back and butt from getting beat up and making you tired. I certainly ride sitting down when following someone going slow on easy terrain. But to get yourself in shape and used to standing this is a good time to do that.

Second as for tight, twisty with roots and rocks I would certainly try to stand only because getting beat up by the roughness of it all is not good. Use your legs as additional suspension. But there are times when you have to sit down to get better traction. I find I stand more than I sit but don't be fooled I do sit as well.

Lisa,

With your bike you will be feathering. Someone on a 4 stroke might not have to. As I come into a tight turn I like to have the clutch ready so I can pull it in a little and get the rpms up on the motor so that when I come out of the turn I have the power there. Doing this allows me to stay in a higher gear and not have to shift as much. You know at the World round how the riders would "rev" the engine just before a big obstacle. They do that so the power delivery is right there and the motor won't bog down. You kind of do the same thing in a turn but pulling the clutch in slightly and get the revs up (Give is some even throttle), then when you let out the bike is ready to pull strong and not slow.

A KEY point here to get fast is you HAVE to LOOK AHEAD several feet so that you a prepared for the next turn. If you look right in front of you you will not get faster.

Good luck and keep practicing.

Next Question. . . . .????

Nicole

 

[Bruce]

Had kind of an interesting experience yesterday (regarding tight turns). Had my young fella (12), who's pretty cautious out on his PW80, but instead of trails he wanted to practice in the local parking lot first.

To make it interesting, I set up four cones in a line for him to practice riding slowly through. Had the KDX with me, so I practiced going through them faster and faster on it. Undoubtedly, could move faster standing up, while flicking the bike from side to side as compared to doing so while seated.

Don't know if the above discovery proves anything, but I know I'm faster through the woods when standing (at least most of the time)

 

[Pegasus]

Nicole thanks for taking time to answer questions..
Probably narrow tight downhill switchbacks continue to elude me most, ecpecially to the right.I understand the mechanics but let myself get phyched out and often turn to tight and make it impossible to bring the rear around in the correct position....cant seem to trust going wide with the front tire so the bike will track correctly.... with my right foot on the ground I want to save myself with the breaks, front being the one available....Not good.

So I guess my question is could you shed any light on preparation for a turn in that situation..mentally and technically?

 

[PortlandXR]

I practice smoothness and being on the pegs whenever possible. When you stand up, the center of gravity shifts from up high (on your seat) to down low (near the pegs) which makes everything more stable. I sit when it's smooth/I'm tired - whenever I come to an up, down, or bumpy section, I practice instinctively standing up. There's a good book of riding techniques - the name escapes me, it's at home - that does a great job of describing riding position and what to practice. I learned watching the ISDE racers that the fewer moves, the better. So I practice letting the bike run as much as possible. I also tend to slow down before the turn and accelerate out of it - too many years of DRIVING I guess :)