keep putting my foot down

simon1 · Oct 27, 2001

i've been riding for 1 year, but when ever i get out of shape in ruts etc.. i put my foot down,pannicking maybe. i've just ripped my knee ligaments from doing this and i'm still in pain. any ideas

snaggleXR4 · Oct 27, 2001

Hey,
First of all, ride within your limits. If you wreck all the time, you are trying to hard. Lower your speed, and concentrate on hitting the right lines, and being smooth. As your skill increases, your speed will too, without wrecking.

Second, weight the outside peg in turns. Concentrate on pressing down on that outside peg until it's a habit. You are concentrating on your leg sticking out, which pulls your bike to the inside. That's why you feel you have to put your foot down to catch yourself.

Don't worry about other guys that are faster. Learn at your own pace, learn technique and smoothness. In no time you will be keeping up, in the long run you will blow the others away. Good luck.

Hucker · Oct 27, 2001

I think one of the senior members had a thread about one of his kids putting their feet down all the time. I remember reading it and I was doing the exact same thing. I had to actually make myself not take my feet off the pegs when things got hairy. This had made me a way better rider when it comes to the control part of things. Once you take your feet off, all the balance goes to hell and the bike gets even harder to control. Just start off slow, and make yourself stay on the pegs. Its definetly worth it after you get used to it.

Good Luck :)

LaRider20 · Oct 27, 2001

I used to struggle with ruts, loose sand, roots, and especially MUD. A friend who is an advanced rider was watching me struggling one day and gave me this advice. He said that you are trying to force the bike to go exactly where you want it to go, and what you should be doing is pointing it in a certain direction. He also told me that I was way too tight and that I was going to squeeze the bike right out from under me, when I should be loose and fluid and let the bike do the work. This has really helped me be a more confident rider, and at the end of the day my body isn't all knotted up and I'm not poping Tylenol anymore.

bud · Oct 27, 2001

If you mean ruts in corners, work on your cornering technique. Your inside knee should be bent and heel down to keep from jarring your knee if you hit a snag, and as far forward and close to the bike as you can comfortably manage. That will be further from the bike the further the bike is leaned down because you should stay as vertical as possible by sitting on the outside of the seat.

If you mean ruts in straights, I would agree with snagglexr4. You are going too fast for your trail/track reading skills. A good way to improve those skills is to ride a lot with faster guys. If you can keep them in sight, follow their lines and body position and ask or look closely where they are braking and gassing.

simon1 · Oct 28, 2001

tight corners i can handle alright.its the long fast ones, i seem to lose the front on anything thats not straight. thanks for the replys guys

86KDX200 · Nov 3, 2001

HELMETCAM

Bud,
Cool helmetcam video! I hav a small handheld camcorder that I strap to my bike. My friends and I take turns and then sit back and watch the videos. We mostly make fun of eachother.

;)

sixstring4137785 · Nov 5, 2001

If I feel the radiator shroud on my knee I know my leg is pointing the way I want to go, and also know that it isn't getting "lazy" thru the turn. I let my buddy take a ride on my bike ( rides a quad ) and saw him run over his own foot. He came into a berm.His leg started out in the right spot and got lazy real quick.
ouch !

HiG4s · Nov 6, 2001

Everytime you think about putting your foot out, stand up. It is much harder to put a foot out when you are using them to stand on.

keep putting my foot down

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