Beirne
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Hints for the 15cm drop
You can practice this by riding off curbs. When starting make sure the curb
is regular, with a flat surface all the way to the edge and then a straight
drop. The street should be fairly level at the base of the curb. You can
work on trickier curbs later.
Steps to riding off of a 15cm drop:
1. To ride off the curb, approach it at a relaxed but even pace.
2. Hold onto the seat on your way down so that it will be easier to settle
back down on the seat after you land.
3. You will want to land with your weight on the pedals, which reduces
pain and lets your legs act as shock absorbers.
4. When you land, you pause for a quarter to a half of a second before
pedalling again to get your bearings.
Notes and Hints:
If you don't like the idea of curbs, when off the uni, position the
wheel where it would drop off the curb, and place the pedals in
horizontal position. Then back up the wheel carefully, mount the uni,
and go down the curb. This method ensures that the pedals are
horizontal for landing, which is the easiest way to do it. After
confidence and skill builds, it won't matter where the pedals are when
going down curbs.
Some people prefer to jump off of the curb, rather than dropping
off. The advantage is that you will land with the pedals in a good
position and you can control the jump. This will help you with uneven
curbs (curb higher than sidewalk, gutter lower than street, etc.) since
you can just jump over the whole thing.
Lower the seat an inch or two. You may find this makes things much more
comfortable and that you greatly reduce the probability of the
seat-up-the-bum trick. Once you can do the trick comfortably, you can
raise it again.
Make sure you practice landing with either foot forward. This is very
important if you want to become good and able to go off curbs in all
circumstances. This is even more important if you like to jump off (rather
than ride off and pedal in the air), since being able to do it with either
foot forward means you'll be able to get into position (pedal-wise) twice
as frequently.
Practice making subtle adjustments to your approach angle so as to reach
the edge with the pedals almost exactly horizontal. I (Terry) don't have any
good tips on how to do this, it's just something I conciously practiced.
Eventually I became so good at doing it (with right foot forward) that I
found I *couldn't* ride off any other way! After a bit of un-learning I
got passably good at going off with left foot forward, and eventually it
didn't make too much difference.
If you don't want to think a whole lot, just go try it and see what happens.
It may be easier than you expect.
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Beirne Konarski bkonarsk@mcs.kent.edu
Constance Cotter cotter@cae.wisc.edu
Mark Sands M.R.Sands@iasos.utas.edu.au
Terry Jones terry@santafe.edu
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