How to DJ?

[drevil]

I'm probably at least twice as old as RedneckPenguin (meaning my bones and body won't heal as fast), but this dirt jumping thing intrigues me. How much of it is skill, bravado, body strength, and equipment choice? I'll never approach the level that I assume most of you are in, but before my 40th B-day (4years?) it'd be nice if I could say I caught more than a foot of air. I've never BMX'd but I did take my Huffy road bike off a 8" high wooden plank ramp before.

I'll be honest, I freak when things get too high. I've probably dropped off of things that were no more than 3' high. Does this mean I am a poor candidate for this type of thing? When some of you guys are up in the air, do you occasionally think "Awwww Shizzz!" and lock up, or are you always "La dee da dee da" and relaxed? Did you start off that way?

Maybe someday I'll stop by and watch the young whippersnappers catch air at the 495 jumps. I'll try to stay out of their way when I go down the "bunny" run. Does this type of riding involve getting hurt a lot?

[Dirt]

Have you been to the 495 Jumps Ricky?

That was a good education for me. The beginner lines start with some small table tops and a few turns to rail. They're good to start on and get the feel for it with relatively little penalty if you get it wrong. (To be honest, I haven't had the desire to progress beyond the small tabletops.)

From there you work your way up to bigger table-tops, then small gap jumps, etc.

I'm sure some of the freeride folks will have more insightful comments than mine, but I learned a lot doing some runs at 495 Jumps and photographing Steve and Chris while they rode them much better and more confidently than I did.

Pete

[BikerMiker]

It's a lot easier than you think. The stuff at Norris lane is harder than pretty-much all dirt jumps. It's all about speed. Too much= bad, too little= bad.

You are WAY over-analyzing it. You can borrow my pads and full-face helmet and follow me on some stuff. It's a HUGE help to watch someone's wheel the first time.

I'd be happy to let you borrow the dh bike so you can take the equipment side out of it if you are at all nervous about the Chester. I've taken the YBB and the Phil single over the stuff at Norris lane and only bottomed out my fork, no big deal.

Just lemme know. You are so there.

mike

[DaveG]

Does this type of riding involve getting hurt a lot?


There's someone on here selling their DH and DJ bikes because they broke their neck DJing. Just saying. I prefer to think of my lack of hucking/jumping skills as prudence rather than cowardice :)


Dave

[BikerMiker]

Hell, you can hurt yourself riding ANYWHERE. I think you are LESS likely to get hurt as you are preparing to NOT get hurt instead of just wearing a helmet.

To quote Rob Schneider: 'You can do it!'

mike

[drevil]

There's someone on here selling their DH and DJ bikes because they broke their neck DJing. Just saying. I prefer to think of my lack of hucking/jumping skills as prudence rather than cowardice :)


Dave
Daaaaaang. I just got off the phone with him and he gave me some good advice. Said he's mobile, but not riding for a while. That is very scary though... :eek:

[gohanbwoy]

There's someone on here selling their DH and DJ bikes because they broke their neck DJing. Just saying. I prefer to think of my lack of hucking/jumping skills as prudence rather than cowardice :)


Dave


I broke my neck in a back yard pump track on a crumbling jump out of the track... completely a freak accident, and learning to jump and hitting DH trails with some plastic courage makes for a better rider. Ricky, you have the bike skills to learn how to jump... it takes continuous practice... if you feel good one day and take a week off... going back to jumping is like learning all over again

[jabberwocky]

Its not as hard as it looks, especially real dirt jumps (i.e. jumps with a transition landing). As Mike said, the secret is getting the speed perfect. Too fast and you overshoot the landing, too slow and you case the landing. Speed becomes much more of an issue when you are doing a series of jumps, because they are spaced so that you need to pump perfectly between jumps to be able to clear the next one in the series. Come up short or overshoot your landing slightly and you are probably gonna be going too slow to make the next jump.

The beginner line at 495 is great to learn on, as the jumps are small and tabletopped so there is hardly any penalty to getting the speed wrong or anything. You can roll right over them if you mess up or don’t feel like jumping.

If you want, I'll email you next time I'm heading to 495 (maybe this weekend). The beginner line there is easily ridable on an XC bike (although I would recommend platform pedals if you have them, I have an extra set you can borrow if not). We can trade off riding my Evil DJ bike if you want to see what a jump bike feels like. You are about the same height as me, it should fit you fine.

I recommend it. Small dirt jumps really aren’t that hard or even that dangerous, and it’s a really fun feeling to get some air and clear one of the jumps smoothly.

[crack monkey]

Where are these 495 jumps?

[gohanbwoy]

Where are these 495 jumps?
in a mystical place... ;)

[scooter]

If you want, I'll email you next time I'm heading to 495 (maybe this weekend). The beginner line there is easily ridable on an XC bike (although I would recommend platform pedals if you have them, I have an extra set you can borrow if not). We can trade off riding my Evil DJ bike if you want to see what a jump bike feels like. You are about the same height as me, it should fit you fine.


I'd love to join this little field trip or another one to the jumps, if you don't mind girl cooties. :)

[jabberwocky]

I'd love to join this little field trip or another one to the jumps, if you don't mind girl cooties. :)That would be fun! Get me your email and I'll let you know next time we head out there.

[scooter]

That would be fun! Get me your email and I'll let you know next time we head out there.

Sent you an email.
Kathy

[Gottagobiking]

Could somebody please pm me with directions to this place? I've heard alot about them and I enjoy some jumping

[gravel fodder]

Could somebody please pm me with directions to this place? I've heard alot about them and I enjoy some jumping


I too am intrigued. I've just ended snowboard season and my lust for air has not been sated. Might these 495 jumps be tackled on a mountainboard. Indeed would it bring amusement to watch me eat it while on a mountain board?

[jabberwocky]

I too am intrigued. I've just ended snowboard season and my lust for air has not been sated. Might these 495 jumps be tackled on a mountainboard. Indeed would it bring amusement to watch me eat it while on a mountain board?I don't know how easy riding a mountainboard there would be. There is no downhill runup to any of the jumps, and you have to turn into most of them. How easy is it to pickup speed on those things?

[gravel fodder]

I don't know how easy riding a mountainboard there would be. There is no downhill runup to any of the jumps, and you have to turn into most of them. How easy is it to pickup speed on those things?

It's a fickle animal. When you want to pick up speed you can't get it to go fast enough, when you want to keep speed under control you're guaranteed to fail. If there isn't a decent run in then it definitely won't work.

So far the best trails I've found for quick hops are at Wakefield. If I start at the top of the 495 overpass I can get plenty of speed on the pavement then drop in on the grassy section to the side of it which scrubs just enough off for me to take a hard right onto the paved trail that leads down by the tennis courts. That one's pretty fun. The other options are the steep gravel/cinder trails that climb from the CCT up to the access road parralel to 495.

Simply put the harder the surface and the harder my tires the easier it is to pick up speed. Usually when I ride somewhere new I'll carry a pump with me. I might do the first run on really soft tires so I have a controlled descent then pump them harder as required for more speed on subsequent runs. The fastest surface is obvioucly paved road or concrete. On a reasonably shallow road I can get speed quickly and start laying down carves snowboard style. For that I've found the funnest place to be the entrance road at Occaquan State Park. It's long straight and not super steep with a ton of bailout opportunities.

[eloach]

At 495 and other jumps I've seen, the real issue is what your going to land on if you miss. I'd love to get a few truck loads of dirt over to 495 to fill in the "pits" next to and between the jumps and also create some extra dirt piles that can be used to build more jumps.

At 495 you can practice catching air on the table top stuff prior to trying the gaps.

I think of jumps as an additional bike skill to be learned. You need to build up slowly to hitting bigger stuff. I am still learniing to catch air on the table tops. It's educational to watch the good riders hit the big jumps.

If you build up to it slowly I don't think it's all that much more dangerous than jumping large logs on the trail or hauling down shock-a-billy at full speed... and it's certainly LESS dangerous than riding in the road at rush hour.

[eloach]

I don't think there is enough run down to hit the 495 stuff on something you can't pedal. All the run in is more or less flat (you pedal!). There are some other jumps in the area that might be better, but I have not personally been to them, so I am not sure how fast the run up to them will be.

[urbaindk]

You could always try riding the dual course at 495 on the MTboard, but you would probably die.

[dcstreet]

there is the vaguest of vague rumours about an upcoming skills clinic focusing on berms and beginner level dirt jumping. sounds like y'all might be interested?

ricky, dirt jumping is all about bike-handling skills and muscle memory. once you get the feel of how your bike and body react to being launched, i'm sure you will do fine.

i'm a damn cautious rider, but few of my injuries have come from dirt jumping. it's a very controlled environment.

gravel fodder, i've never seen a mtn board on dirt jumps before, but i'm a bit worried about the potential damage it may do to the fragile sculpted lips and landings. we discourage all but bikes at the dirt jumps.

[urbaindk]

Hey Corey,

Yeah, I'd be interested, for sure.

Dave

BTW: Your new site looks good.

[dcstreet]

thanks dave. it's still a bit rough around the edges, but MUCH more robust than dcstreet could have ever been.

[jabberwocky]

there is the vaguest of vague rumours about an upcoming skills clinic focusing on berms and beginner level dirt jumping. sounds like y'all might be interested?I was actually considering putting something like this together, but I was concerned about the status of the jumps (are they legal yet or what?) and how the regular 495 crew would react to having a bunch of XCers at the jumps.

I could certainly help teach if you want. I think its a great idea.

[drevil]

there is the vaguest of vague rumours about an upcoming skills clinic focusing on berms and beginner level dirt jumping. sounds like y'all might be interested?
Yes.



:cool:

[dcstreet]

495 is not yet legitimate. we are inching toward that goal and are hoping that everything will be finalized this summer. in the meantime, we'll be doing a good deal of maintenance this spring. drop me a line if you're interested in helping.