PROGRESSIVE JUMPING PART 3

Part 2 was all about keeping a low profile; now it's time to get And it all starts with the humble bunny-hop flamboyant.

- Andy Barlow

We all ride our bikes for a variety of different reasons. Most of us just want to find a bit of 'me' time away from the stress of everyday life, and mountain biking is a perfect balance of physical challenge and mental commitment. Do it for long enough though and you might find that you've stopped improving. This can feel really dissatisfying and start to erode that good feeling that you used to get when you escaped for a couple of hours. These articles are about giving you clear and specific goals to keep in mind when you ride so that you can continue to make progress.

If you read our last two articles then you'll know that we've been breaking solid jumping technique down into its component parts, and encouraging you to practise basic skills that will allow you to unlock the bigger, more complicated techniques. This month we're going to follow the same format and look at progressing your jumping into boosting for height or distance. This should allow you to link features together on trails that you never thought possible. All of these will be accessed through perfecting a neat and tidy bunny-hop technique - our enabler skill if you will. Unlock the bunny-hop, and suddenly you can read the trail in front of you with confidence.

THE COACH

ANDY BARLOW

Before joining Dirt School Andy liked to win things - races like the Scottish XC Champs and the Scottish Downhill Champs. Since 2009, though, he's coached some of the world's best riders with Dirt School and helped bring on the BASE MTB course at Borders College in the Tweed Valley. But what Andy really likes to do is communicate those pro techniques to everyday riders.

GOING BIGGER