BUILDING JUMPS & GAPS: SHAPE, DIRT & THE TEST RUN
12 min · Full library · written lesson, video in production
After this lesson you can build a jump that rides the way you meant it to: lip shape that sends you where you want to go, dirt that holds, and a testing protocol that finds problems before your body does.
The Technique
- A jump is three decisions: the take-off angle (mellow lips push you forward for speed and distance, steep lips send you up for air time and tricks), the gap (tables forgive, gaps punish - build tables first, dig out the middle only when the landing is proven), and the landing (longer and steeper than feels necessary - flat landings end knees, and a downslope landing is the single biggest safety feature you can build).
- Dirt is a material with rules: it needs moisture to bind, compaction in layers as you build - not one pat at the end - and a shaped, packed face that sheds rain. Sandy dirt needs clay mixed in; clay dirt needs drainage thought out. The shovel and the watering can matter as much as each other.
- 5 more technique steps
- The 2 mistakes that undo it, with fixes
- The drill that builds the reflex
- The safety non-negotiables
It opens when you book a trip that runs mountain bike - these are the exact drills you run with your coach out there. Your booking unlocks this whole library.
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LET'S BUILD
YOUR
ADVENTURE
Whether you want to surf Japan's legendary powder, ride the Old Telegraph Track to the tip of Cape York, or chase a New Zealand winter - tell us what you're dreaming about and we'll build the trip around you.