How to Hit Bigger Features
Photo: Me following a local at Kicking Horse Mountain, BC
How to hit that scary thing you’ve been eyeing up for months, or even years. If you’re like me, you’ve probably already lied to your friends that you’ve hit it before, but now it’s really time to send it and put the money where you’re mouth is which is easier said then done.
While I know plenty of other people have tackled this topic before, I figured I’d share what I’ve learned on my progression from log overs to wooden gap jumps. However this is my first attempt at a tutorial so it might be a little sloppy. So here’s four tips on how to hit bigger stuff:
Progress Step By Step
Ok this is pretty obvious, but I still think I have to mention this to all the people who just send it first go and hope for the best. Before you go off an 8 foot drop, do a 7 footer and before that a 6 footer, and so on. Doing this will make you think of each feature as an add on instead of its true size. Also, many times the technique that you’ve been using on the smaller stuff isn’t exactly safe for the big stuff. If you’re going to crash and learn from you’re mistakes, make it on a 2 footer and not a 20 footer.
2. Walk It
While many people would tell you that the key to getting a feature dialed is doing run ups which involves riding into the feature and dismounting before it, I would argue that this turns it into more of a battle than it needs to be and builds up extra fear which could make everything more dangerous. I prefer just to walk the feature or run into it on foot. This way you never feel the pressure to commit early on since you’re not on the bike, and you can take as much time as you want without organized approaches which can help reduce stress.
3. Make Sure It’s The Right Day
Living in the Northeast, it gets cold in the winter which might be a different story if you’re down in the south or in California. Anyways, when I ride in colder weather my joints begin to stiff up which causes me to ride a lot slower and more sketchy than usual. This is why in the winter you’ll never find me riding any new features, or even easy old ones that have the slightest amount of consequences. Another thing that puts me off my game is eating too much before a ride. This is why I always fast on riding days which makes me feel more nimble on the bike. The third thing that leads to a successful day of progression is riding with other people. Usually I only ride with my dad who is more of an intermediate rider, however if I’m with a large group of locals or friends, I can trust their advice since they’ve hit the feature many times, or just that they’ll all be there to help me should something go wrong. In summary, my key to a day of progression involves warm weather, fasting, and riding in a large group.
4. Get A Tow In
This is probably the most helpful piece of advice I can offer. Not only can riding with locals give you knowledge of the features, but also a chance to follow them into it. A tow in is extremely helpful since you don’t need to monitor your speed as long as you keep a safe distance from the person in front of you. I’ve hit almost all my biggest features either following someone, or watching someone else do it. The only downside to this is that if the person in front crashes, so does everyone so make sure you know the ability and experience of the person in front of you.