Welcome back to Practice Like a Pro! This week, Simon helps Linnea fine-tune her drops before taking her skills to a much more technical drop on the famous Semper Dirticus trail. While the drop isn't enormous, it has a few features that make it more technical including a split cedar ramp (which slows down the tires noticeably) and an uphill entrance with a turn. These are common in the PNW; be sure to know how to read the various factors that will affect your speed as you approach the edge of the drop!
Rearward hip shift is your primary adjustment mechanism. Major factors:
-SPEED: You will need more hip shift at slower speeds, in order to suspend your front wheel longer.
-ANGLE OF THE LANDING: Use the correct amount of hip shift to match your bike to the angle of the landing. If your landing is steep, you will use less hip shift than if it were flatter.
SHOULD I PRELOAD? Sometimes, but usually not. Avoid preloading unless you are specifically trying to get more distance or clean an obstacle! You will maintain better speed and get a smoother landing if your bike moves more directly toward the landing, rather than creating unnecessary vertical movement through preloading.
Get easy access to Simon's most famous teaching points as you follow Fluidride’s @LinneaRooke through her learning progression, and gain insights for your own riding.
Want to learn more? See the full video (15:48) on our online school at fluidrideonline.com/
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Fluidride is a mountain bike school based in Seattle, Washington, USA, offering a wide variety of mountain bike educational opportunities and experiences, including an online school, remote coaching, in-person classes, and international mtb tours.
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ABOUT SIMON LAWTON
Following his own Pro Downhill mountain bike racing career, Simon Lawton (Owner and Founder) has spent the last 25 years analyzing the top riders in the world to understand the tiniest details that contribute to their greatest successes, and also any weaknesses that are holding them back. With an exceptional understanding of kinesiology, Simon has developed his own teaching curriculum that explains the incredible relationship between human and machine. He has trained top pro mountain bike racers across the world, and his foundational techniques apply equally to beginner riders. His on-bike drills allow you to break down complex skills on the bike and develop correct techniques.
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ABOUT LINNEA ROOKE
Linnea has been racing locally in the pro category, but until this year she had almost no formal training and was held back by major gaps in her technique. While she was able to carry speed well on straight downhills and high-bermed turns, she lacked foundational cornering skills and was timid in the air. In Feb 2020, she met up with Fluidride to help with a filming trip in Baja, and was fascinated by Simon's teaching methods. Wanting to be part of this mission, she left her career in healthcare in July 2020 to officially join the Fluidride team as COO. We started filming this series to document her journey of cleaning up bad habits, adding new skills to her toolkit, and chasing her dream of riding with style.
Linnea rides for Evil Bikes: www.evil-bikes.com/