Rusty> I approach the curb at a moderate rate, then right as the tire
Rusty> makes contact with the curb I jump while pulling on the front
Rusty> and back of my seat.
My current method is to jump before I get to the curb. I used to be
only able to do this when my pedals were level and the right one was
forward. I can do the left now as well, but still tend to miss it
reasonably often. The hardest part about this is judging when you
should take off, but you learn to make slight adjustments in your
approach angle so that your pedals are where you want them.
One way to practice this sort of jumping is just to ride along and hop
over a line on the ground (or even do it with no line). When your
pedals get level, the back one stops you and you pop up. I only hold
the seat at the front. Eventually you can do this with every half
revolution of the wheel. A more advanced practice is to ride along a
paved sidewalk and try to jump over every line (or every second line
to begin with). This forces you to make decisions about when to jump
(i.e. with what foot forward).
A 20" wheel goes 5 feet per revolution, so you may end up having to
take off 2 feet or so from the curb (though in practice this wont
happen as you'll learn to anticipate this and change the approach
angle).
I prefer this method as you never stop and it's probably smoother and
nicer looking than the ride into the gutter and then heave up method.
I do a similar thing when jumping off things. Just before the edge, I
do a small hop off, so I'm actually airborne before going over the
edge. I feel like I have more control this way - the pedals are
already set for the landing, rather than just riding off and having to
try and get them positioned properly whilst you're falling. Again, I
think it probably looks better (though I haven't seen anyone else
doing it (in my very limited contact with other uniiers)). Also
(again) you get used to making small adjustments in your angle of
approach so that the pedals are at the right place when the edge
arrives. I got so good at doing this for my right foot, that I found
it very difficult (for a while) to get my left foot at the front when
coming to a jump - my right foot would just always be there...
I hope this helps.
Terry.