I've been trying to improve my hopping. I've zeroed in on
that aspect in various videos. I've read some threads. I've
watch my compatriots closely. Here recently, I found an
article on 'Muniac Manor' (muniac.communiac.comOpen ↗) (a site
which should be on everyone's "favorites" list).
Included on this site is an article by Kris Holm. Instead of
using the popular pre-hop, Mr. Holm says start with a still-
stand...compress and go. The still-stand only needs to be 1
second or less in duration. With this in mind, I was able to
hop up a flight of 21 steps on the third attempt. (personal
best). First attempt I made it 17 steps. Memphis is situated
on some tall bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River. The
city has recently constructed several sets of stairs going
up the bluffs. I'm guessing there must be over 100 steps on
a couple of them...
And I credit these forums for another point that has made a
HUGE difference. I had been exhausting myself because of
shoddy technique. Expending too much energy. Pulling hard on
the seat. Coming off the pedals. But there has recently been
a thread on tire pressure where our resident brainiacs
explained the rhythm of the bouncing tire. High psi...the
tire returns to orig shape quickly. Low psi...tire returns
slowly, allowing the rider time to perform. I got my rhythm
matched up to the tire pressure (I chose a pressure just
higher than bottoming out) and did the still-stand technique
and ba-da-bing, I was on the next step up with surprisingly
little effort.
To sum up: Relax, still-stand momentarily, find that
rhythm relative to pressure, (i.e. don't rush the hop) and
zingo-bingo.
Going up, I like the balls of the feet on the pedals. Going
down I prefer the arch of the foot on the pedals. But that's
a physics problem for an future thread. (anyone ever heard
of an atlatl?)
--
Memphis Mud - Student of GrandMaster 2T
Mantra: Avoid Hitting Tailbone...Avoid Hitting Tailbone...
"do not think, just ride"...muniracer
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