CG or Bike pivot point?

[manual63]

Yeah, it's amazing, but I have one more piece of advice. I realized this when I was riding logs the other day. I always state to pull up the bars when approaching the log and then lean back when going over the top and down the backside. After doing a few logs going really slow, I realized that I just let this happen naturally. You see, my ankle, or probably more like the pedal axles, are a pivot point. As I roll over the log, or any obstacle for that matter, I let the bike move and pivot freely at my ankles. So as the bike rolls over the log, my body stays in the same place, in space....not on the bike, and the bike pivots down and rolls down the log pile and naturally I end up over the rear tire.

To do this you have to be loose. You are the suspension, even if riding FS, and the bike will move a lot under you. Just let it do it's thing and keep it in check by using your arms and feet sometimes if needed. Try riding up a smaller log pile, don't pull up on the bars, just let the front wheel hit the log and as it comes up, let it by leaving your arms loose. Then as the rear wheel comes to the log pile and the front wheel starts to roll over the top, just let the bike rotate under you by letting your arms extend and the rear wheel will come up the back side. You might need to be loose at the knees, but just a little to allow the rear wheel to move up and down freely. Keep your body in place and let the bike lean forward on it's own, don't let it push your body weight forward over the front wheel. Now you will find yourself with your weight back over the rear of the bike where it should be. You will also flow faster over the logs because you let the bike do it's thing, instead of fighting it, and thus you won't lose much speed.

Think of it as your ankles or pedals are the CG or Pivot point, front to back, of you and your bike. Don't let the bike control you, you control the bike. If you get good at this, you will just do it naturally and you will learn to be relaxed and loose over rock gardens, logs, and other bumps in the trail. As you become more advanced, you will pop the front wheel over things and still allow the ankles to be your pivot point when the rear wheel gets there.

I hope this helps some. It's a hard thing to explain without you seeing it in person. Maybe I will make a video of it......

[Tetreves]

I've really been noticing this too, especially lately. Someone (I forget who) called it "body english" the other day. Let your body move in a different direction than your bike at times. This works both vertically (log rolls as Shad explained) and horizontally: Say your taking a quick, tight, s-curve through 2 or 3 trees on a tight singletrack. Try taking your bike to the outside of the track, keeping the tires closer to the trees, on both the right and left turns; but try to make your body take a straight line, or as close to it as you can. So as you approach, whip your bike to one side to make the turn, then cross your bike under you to make the second turn, then bring the bike back to straight with your body.

This forces your bike to accelerate through the turns-because you weigh more than it, and it has to cover a longer distance-and your body takes a straight course, so you can maintain your overall speed and won't need to brake as much or at all. You'll also realize that you don't always have to be centered over the tires to maintain your balance.

Another great advantage at times, is this allows your bike to take the (good, smoothest, fastest) line on the trail, and can allow your body to miss an obsticle you would have otherwise hit, like a tree. So maybe the good line is on an outside corner, but there's a branch over the outside, and the inside is bumpier...well force your bike to take the outside and catch up with your body to keep you from falling! It's kind of neat once you do it, because you really feel like your locked in with your bike, and the entire trail will just start to flow...enjoy!

[f16xelecx]

I agree. I usually steer the bike seperately from where I am going to avoid obstacle in the trail and to avoid hitting the handlebars on trees and such. It comes so naturally now that I get pretty close (within an inch or so) to trees and things with my handlbars but I just steer my bike around it while I maintain a straight line. I've yet to clip anything (probably just jinxed myself) so I must be either lucky or getting better.

[destrago]

Ditto. Ever since I read Shad's post regarding log piles I've been trying to heed his advice and I've found that it works best when I just go up and then let my body stall momentarily as my bike adjusts to the nuances of the logs. It's a lot more comfortable to do I find, much more flowing than riding rigid across the logs. When you let your body hover a little bit, only the 15-25 lbs of your bike needs hit every bump on the log pile, as opposed to the 170+ lbs of your body+bike (with apologies to anyone out there who weighs under 150). When it hits a bump, a slight increase in pressure (you'd be amazed how fast you can do this) in your arms or feet brings your bike back in control almost instantly. It's just the way that came to me naturally, and it's nice to see that's what others are doing. I do use the technique described for S turns sometimes too, but I find that I can only really do it when I'm still energized on the first or sometimes second lap. I guess I should start quitting riding before my riding gets too sloppy.


-Tony

[homebrewbiker]

When I was riding at Wirth last week, I found myself doing a lot better in the tightly treed snaky areas by kind of aiming for the tree on the outside of the turn. This really got me into a good position for for the next turn. I think it was the best flow I've had on that trail. Just don't hit the tree if you can help it.

[manual63]

Nice.....

You guys have the idea down pretty well.