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Body positioning accounts for much of
trials technique. With such light bikes,
where and how you move your body has a
huge impact on what the body does. This
happens less with the heavier enduro
bikes, but it's still a critical part of
good riding technique. So, the same
principles apply for cross trainining.
First, you'll be standing on the foot
pegs as much as possible. There are
situations where sitting on the bike is
required, but usually the only reason an
experienced enduro rider will be sitting
is to conserve energy on an easy section
through the apex of a flat corner or
paddling through extremely rough
terrain. If you are new to dirt riding,
you will probably need to sit down at
first until you master the basic skills.
But once you've covered the basics,
there's no excuse for continuing to sit
on your bike if you want to improve your
riding. You should always have your legs
and arms bent to act as shock absorbers.
As things get faster and rougher, you'll
crouch more into what is often called
the attack position. Most of the time,
you'll be hugging the bike with your
legs for extra stability. But some
situations require your legs well apart
and your boots about an inch away from
the bike. Eg, if you're doing full lock
turns, this allows you to lean the bike
over, which results in a tighter turn.
Also, if the front wheel could be
deflected in rocky or slippery terrain,
having your legs apart increases your
chances for being able to
recover. If there is poor traction up a
hill, then you will put more weight to
the rear for extra traction. It's common
to see riders lose traction on hill
climbs because they actually keep their
weight too far forward. In most cases,
your body position will usually be
neutral and balanced. You can always
check your balance by taking your hands
off the bars and see if you move forward
or backward. Obviously, this means
staying balanced means you'll lean
forward for hill climbs or acceleration
and you'll lean back for descents or
braking. There are times you need to
focus your weight to the rear. When
riding in soft sand, you need to keep
the front wheel light to prevent it
sinking. Also, when riding on rocks, you
need to keep the front wheel light so
that you have more chance of recovery if
the front wheel is deflected.
On any modern dirt bike, the clutch and
front brake should be easy enough to use
with only one finger. Ideally, you
should always ride like this, as the
trials riders do. Fatigue often sets in
for less experienced riders because you
are gripping the bars harder than you
need to. You should only need to hang on
tight while the bike is bouncing around
a lot. Remind yourself to hold the bars
loosely the rest of the time. Your wrist
should be straight when standing on the
pegs, so adjust your levers to
suit. Your foot should always be
covering the rear brake for immediate
use. Triles riders often teach
themselves this by riding with the front
brake constantly on, but just varying it
to suit the conditions. When you do sit
on the bike, remember most of the time
you'll want your private parts as close
to the gas tank as possible. That's why
all modern dirt bikes have seats that go
so far forward. Generally, the only time
you'll be sliding back on the seat is
for monster hill climbs that you need to
paddle up and accelerating hard out of
corners so you can get weight over the
rear wheel for traction. Remember to
always look ahead. A common problem for
beginners is not looking ahead far
enough. It can even happen to
experienced riders when doing techniques
outside of their comfort zone. Looking
down at the front wheel or an upcoming
obstacle will just hamper your riding.
Feel free to experiment with different
body positions, although the stranger
ones probably won't work all that well
in our
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experience.
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Heat. Heat.
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