Tubehunter Posted October 25, 2012 Share Since reading the thread about the Kalk Bay incident where a young chap was ridden over but a GA bus and everyone looking to rightfully get some responsibility from the various parties involved it's made me think of what we as individual cyclists can do. We all ride with somewhat regular groups of people and all of the time we're simply putting time in the saddle if we're on the road. If we're more inclined to be on the mountain, we may improve our skills slightly more considering we face more natural obstacles in the same amount of time, but there is an alarmingly small number of cyclists who actually make this a formal component of their riding. I am no Hans Rey or Brian Lopes but have come through from BMX grass roots full circle to participate in mountain biking and road cycling. More often than not I use the skills from all the disciplines whilst out on the road and have often bunny hopped a pothole on my carbon road bike or heard a bus that is still accelerating, coming up behind me and chosen to hop onto the pavement for my own safety, even whilst using my carbon deep sections. Now more than ever is the time for people to start employing these types of safety methods and the only way to do this, is to gain confidence in your own abilities. So the next time you cycle past a group of downhill junkies stop one and ask him how to perform a bunny hop. More than likely he will hang out and show you. Practise this whilst riding the trials and hopping over exposed roots and similar obstacles and take it to the road when you've got the confidence to know you can pull it off. It will stop you from having to swerve about in the road avoiding issues that pop up along your ride and may even save your life when you find the need to mount the odd pavement! Stay safe out there!! Disylizzy and HappyMartin 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lloydkayak Posted October 26, 2012 Share Very well said... I am in the process of going back to flats, first stop will be working out the rubbish that has sunk in from riding clipless for so long. Who wants to offer up a bunny-hop properly lesson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DR ◣◢ Posted October 26, 2012 Share So the next time you cycle past a group of downhill junkies stop one and ask him how to perform a bunny hop. More than likely he will hang out and show you. They will moer you Very good post and very true. Most important skill to learn is balance. Practice every chance you get to stay upright at the lowest possible speed you can. This will make a huge difference to your technical skills in the sense that you will be able to approach a section, slow down a lot to focus on entry and then nail it. The bunny hop. Looks awesome, saves wheels and helps you to build and keep momentum on a trail. Hard to learn but you will never forget how to do it. Wheelie. First trick men learn. Also looks cool and is super handy to help you get your bike up bigger stuff. Follow the wheelie up something by shifting your weight up and forward to pick the rear wheel up. Proper cornering. Lean the bike and not your body, have your outside foot down. It's amazing how quickly you will learn this technique and what a big difference it will make to your singletrack times. Relax on the bike. A rigid rider is a rider that is going down. Elbows and knees bent, out of the saddle with your weight back. Lowers you center of gravity and helps to absorb the trail better. Can also make quick changes to position on the bike to adapt to changing terrain. Tubehunter 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Omega Man Posted October 26, 2012 Share They will moer you No they won't. Only if you brake on the lip of a jump or ride up a jump and destroy the lip. There's a great vid that Dirt Magazine did a few years ago called fundamentals. Shows you to bunny hop, manual, do drops etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
covie Posted October 26, 2012 Share Just hone those skills properly i can already see someone not being able to hop their steeds: not only up but horizontally to land both wheels on the pavement, And fall over in front of car. Its a good theory but practice practice practice till its second nature, before attempting this in traffic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tubehunter Posted October 27, 2012 Share Just hone those skills properly i can already see someone not being able to hop their steeds: not only up but horizontally to land both wheels on the pavement, And fall over in front of car. Its a good theory but practice practice practice till its second nature, before attempting this in traffic. Yes hopping sideways is more than an art. Most people will need a run up to where they exit the road and hop onto the pavement at a diagonal. With practise comes confidence and if you add a little speed the distance to the hop increases making the transition from road to pavement easier! Beginners naturally slow down and for this reason they should do these out on the trials to get going. I most often use this technique when you are riding almost the same pace as traffic and then it suddenly comes to a halt. Of course the last car to overtake you pulls to the far left side of the road leaving you no room, as they do. Hop on the pavement, scout ahead and if it's safe to go back to the road hop off back to the road. Aso gets used when I can see the road is getting narrow ahead with no shoulder and you can hear buses or trucks accelerating behind you. Quick hop onto the pavement, scout ahead, then see how much traffic there is behind the bus/truck, let them by before moving back to the road. Important to let them by, as the drivers behind the bus are not expecting you to be on the road as they've seen you move off the road for the bus! Practice every time you get on the bike! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJR Posted October 27, 2012 Share You can never have too much bike skill. Combine it with a eyes-wide-open and brain-fully-engaged style of riding and it will save you a lot of skin, broken bones and perhaps your life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helpmytrap Posted October 27, 2012 Share I'd go as far as to say that my bike skills are pretty good since I try and practice once a week but not in comparison to the likes of Greg Minnaar. Anyway, they came in handy this week while out on the road bike when a car in traffic decided to do a u-turn in front of me without checking their blind spot. Needless to say, I had to hop the curb into a garden at 30km/h to avoid the car and still negotiate some trees. Made me realize why I prefer the mtb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tubehunter Posted October 27, 2012 Share I'd go as far as to say that my bike skills are pretty good since I try and practice once a week but not in comparison to the likes of Greg Minnaar. Anyway, they came in handy this week while out on the road bike when a car in traffic decided to do a u-turn in front of me without checking their blind spot. Needless to say, I had to hop the curb into a garden at 30km/h to avoid the car and still negotiate some trees. Made me realize why I prefer the mtb. Just imagine you did not that skill for this scenario???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lloydkayak Posted October 29, 2012 Share I think the value of these types of skills cannot be over stated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
=Bones= Posted October 29, 2012 Share Yip... I think I'm just going to get run over, alas my bunny hopping skills on my road bike are less than adequate. Good idea though - makes sense to learn better skill on road, Im sure they will save ónes skin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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