Tuesday Tip - Staying Straight through Sand Whoops

Chris

• November 18 2008
• 9,391 views
• 5 comments

One of the biggest challenges on a rough, whooped-out track is that section with the almost never-ending set of rolling whoops that seem to suck out all of your energy. As if these sections aren’t tricky enough, many are sculpted out of sand. In these cases, you have one hell of a ride ahead of yourself.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that rolling through a set of sandy whoops isn’t going to help you gain any time on the guy who seems to float over them as he blitzes through. But, then again, neither is swapping side-to-side out of control as you ignorantly pin it through the unpredictable section in a dangerous attempt to keep up.

Thankfully, this week’s tip features Josh Hill as he explains the best technique used to hammer through a set of sand whoops without exerting too much energy or losing any time.

ONE. “When you’re coming into a set of whoops like this, you really want to focus on the line you’re going to take. Also, you want to make sure that you’re coming into the section on the straight and narrow. Sometimes it can be difficult to figure out your line when the whoops are curbed, but when they’re like that, you need to look really far ahead.”

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TWO. “The next step is to shift up a gear and carry as much of your momentum as possible. If you’re going through a section such as this one in a low gear, you’re more than likely going to swap out. Being in a higher gear, however, allows less tension on the chain and the bike will want to glide through the whoops with ease.”

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THREE. “If you’re comfortable in sections like this, all you need to do is come into it as fast as you can and grip the bike with your knees. It takes absolutely no upper body strength to get the bike through sections like this. It’s all in the knees and legs. By gripping the bike with your knees and legs, it will keep the bike straight, and it eliminates any chances for you to begin swapping out. ”

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FOUR. “Lastly, you want to make sure you don’t fall into the holes. The moment you fall into the holes; that’s when you’re going to fall, start to swap, or you’ll be up in the air instead of gliding across the tops of the whoops. If you’re really out of shape, the best thing to do is to start planning your getaway from the bike. If you’re slightly out of shape, you need to stay on the gas because more often than not, that will straighten out the rear end.”