Pontiac Lake XC

"I'd always envisioned that Olympic athletes were these giant superheroes, and I knew I was just small and an average person."

- Sheila Taormina, 3-time Olympian (in 3 different sports)

The Pontiac Lake XC race was Sunday. I felt like I was well-prepared for this race. Even though I'm not in great racing form right now, I'm definitely recovered from my mid-summer break. I knew the trail very well. I was well-rested, my nutrition has been good, and I made sure I was well-hydrated. My bike was clean and working perfectly. With the trail being only 5 miles or so from my house, I didn't even have much of a drive. As a result of my preparation, I was really calm and relaxed before the race. Then I went out and tanked... I was dead last in my class after the first lap, and then I worked my way up to 7th (of 10 finishers) on the second lap.

There were lots of little details in the race that made some difference one way or another, and, certainly fitness and skill were factors, but I think my lackluster performance really came down to motivation. In all the bike races I've done well in, I've pushed hard enough so that I'm nearly always at the limit. I always say, "If I don't want to quit on the last lap, I didn't go hard enough." On Sunday, I think I just didn't work hard enough. I was at a "comfortable" pace for way too much of the race, and I had way too much energy left at the finish.

Part of the motivation / pacing problem was certainly that I've not really raced since the Stony Marathon. Yeah, I did the Hines TT a couple weeks ago, but a 30 minute road TT and a 90 minute MTB race are totally different (I guess a marathon race is a lot different too). The DNF at Brighton is also still kicking around in my mind. Really though, it comes down to the fact that I wasn't mentally prepared to race on Sunday.

The mental side was a big part of the reason I improved so much last year in cyclocross. I raced so often on the weekends, and I usually treated the Tuesday night practices as race efforts, that I got very good at knowing exactly how hard I could push myself. As soon as I got some good finishes, I started to expect good finishes every time. I started treating myself as a "fast guy".** I lined up at the front, I rode with the lead group (until they dropped me ;) ), I expected to beat anyone I was still riding with on the last lap. This kind of attitude makes a BIG difference.

Why this attitude hasn't transitioned over to mountain biking yet I don't know. I finished on the podium 2 of the 3 races (that I finished) this year... including a 3rd place, my best finish ever in a bike race. The results are there, but I still don't feel like a fast guy. Actually, I do know why, it's because I don't feel like my technical skills are on par with the other Sport racers. This is sort of a different topic, but it's more true on some trails than others.

Anyway, the good thing about having a bad race is that there's lots of stuff to think about and work on. Good races are so boring... ;)

** Little sidebar here... back when I was in to car and kart racing, I was talking to another guy I respected at the kart track (he was a full-blown (car) road racer). I mentioned something that the "fast guys" were doing, and he said, "Dude, you ARE one of the fast guys!". He was right, but it didn't sink in for me until he said it. In the series that was going on, it wasn't unusual for me to set the fastest or one of the fastest qualifying times, and I placed well in (and occasionally won) the A-race.

Riding Light

I did my "key" workout of the week last night, cruise intervals out at PLRA. I expected the trail to be crowded with the race coming up this weekend, but it wasn't bad at all. From a fitness perspective, doing intervals on the trail isn't ideal since intensity varies quite a bit depending on the terrain. But, for me, the big advantage is that I end up riding sections of trail above my race pace. From a technical perspective, it makes riding the trail at race pace a bit more comfortable.

Ever notice how the best mountain bikers seem to just skim over obstacles? I've finally got a good phrase to describe it, "riding light". I borrowed this from Jeff, who said something to the effect of: "If you don't ride light in a 'cross race, you're dead." This is something I've been working on when I ride the trails lately. Certainly, part of it is unweighting the bike a bit when you're about to come up to an obstacle. I think maybe the bigger part of it is staying relaxed on the bike and not sitting too heavily on the saddle. Because, a lot of times, it's the little unseen bumps that bounce you around, especially in 'cross. I'm getting better at this. Usually I can skim over the obvious bumps, roots, rocks, etc, but the little stuff will still get me, especially as I start to get tired near the end of a ride.

PLRA and Running

We'll start out with a couple of links:

Article by Adam Hodges-Myerson about motivation.

Blog entry from Alwyn Cosgrove about the phenomenon of leveling / sharpening.

And then a quote from Shalane Flanagan about her 10km Olympic race: "The plan was to run as fast as possible as efficiently as possible for as long as possible."


I'm still keeping up with my running plan. Still just working on a slow, steady progression. I'm up to a whopping 13 minutes per run this week, but, the key is, I'm doing it pain-free. At first, I think the running had a negative impact on my cycling. My legs just didn't feel right on the bike, I think it hurt my efficiency. I haven't had the same feelings though over the past couple weeks, so maybe I've adapted.

I'm getting pretty fired up about the race at PLRA this weekend. I've been feeling pretty fit again lately, and I know the trail well. By far, I've ridden at PLRA more than anywhere else this year. I actually had a dream about winning the race last night. In it, I ran past John on the last climb. Probably a pretty tall order in the real world; from reading John's blog, he's been racing well lately.

Pair O' Rides

I had a nice pair of rides over the weekend. I got up early Saturday morning and rode out at Stony Creek. The last USAC race is there in a few weeks, so I thought I'd check it out (not that I haven't ridden at Stony a time or two). I worked on climbing strength by riding the hills in too hard of a gear. There really aren't any long climbs at Stony, but it's pretty easy to string a bunch of shorter ones together.

On Sunday, I rode out to PLRA and did a couple of laps. I felt pretty decent; actually better than I have for quite a while. There are still a few descents out there where I need to let go of the brakes and let it rip, but I'm definitely getting better. It will be interesting to see how the race there goes this weekend. Based on last year's times, I should finish near the front, but you never know.

I'll be due for some new tires on the mountain bike at the end of the year. All of the riding on the road I've been doing to and from the trail is really wearing my tires out. I'm going to switch to a little bit faster tire for next year, maybe the Kenda Karma or Small Block 8.

'Cross Practice

I made it to cyclocross practice at the track last night. It was one of the first of the year, and the first one I went to. I've sort of decided I can only do one club ride a week (they take a little too long), so I need to decide how I want to split the Tuesday night 'cross practice and the Thursday night dirt road ride. I think maybe the Thursday ride is more what I need right now.

Anyway, it was a little weird to get back on the 'cross bike on a (sort of) proper 'cross course. Things went pretty well, but I felt rusty.

The main thing I need to work on is barriers. I've practiced just a little in the backyard this summer, but I need to do more now. I wasn't particularly good over the barriers last night. I had trouble with my timing when I didn't have a clear line of sight to the barrier (because of people in front of me). I was also slow getting back on the bike and into the pedals.

I think my cornering was improved over last year, thanks to continued practice on the mountain bike. There was one off-camber corner after a little downhill. I was able to take it confidently without braking because I kept the outside pedal loaded and my weight forward a little.

My intention was to keep the ride focused on skills and not to go too hard. I have some other hard rides planned later this week, so I wanted to keep this one easy to moderate. I was mostly successful; I held back a bit even on the group's harder efforts.

Hines Park TT - 2008

The 2008 edition of the Hines Park TT is in the books for me now. The weather had some influence on my race. The temperature was only in the mid-60's; I did my whole warmup with a jacket on. The wind was the bigger factor, it was blowing along the course, so you had a decent tailwind on the way out, but you turned back into a headwind.

My strategy to deal with the wind was to take as much advantage of the tailwind as possible, and then just suffer through the ride back. I passed a few riders on the road on the way out, and got passed by just one (this may have been our class winner, he was flying!). When I'd remember, I tried to keep my upper body relaxed and I focused on a smooth pedal stroke. I made it to the turnaround in about 15 minutes, well under my target pace. The ride back was tough, but I passed a few more people, and no one went by me. I basically managed to keep a steady pace, but it was definitely slower going back into the wind. I had enough left in the tank to push a little harder over the last mile.

I ended up finishing with a 33:11.75. Good enough for 8th place in the Eddy Merckx category (would have been 7th in the Cat4's, assuming they had the same conditions). I was shooting for around 32:30, but, considering the wind, I was OK with my time.

This was the first year this event has done the Eddy Merckx category, and I really liked it. There were some fast guys out there who had definitely done some racing before (I recognized at least one other mountain biker), and also some people that looked like they were taking their first crack at racing. The mental benefit of having everyone on course with the same equipment was bigger than I expected. I really liked not having anyone blow by me on a tricked-out time trial bike; with everyone's equipment more-or-less even, it just comes down to fitness and technique.

Hines TT Preview

I had a choice about what I was going to do this weekend. I either wanted to do a LT field test or ride the Hines Park TT. It's been a while since I've done a field test (the last one was in March, before my daughter was born), and it certainly provides a good measure of fitness progression for me. On the other hand, it's a little more fun to crank for half an hour on the road than it is on the trainer, and I'd still get some indication on progression. I decided to do the race...

I did the 20km TT two years ago. I had to miss the 20km TT last year, but I did the 40km TT instead. So, I'll be able to directly compare my result to the TT two years ago. Based on the progression of my trainer testing, I'm shooting for a 23mph average speed, or about 32.5 minutes. Not blazing fast by any stretch, but it's about 8.5% faster than I went in 2006.

This year, they have an Eddy Merckx category, for people without aerobars, aero wheels, etc. I'll probably still get smoked, but at least I'll know the equipment was more-or-less equal.

Eddy Merckx, 1966

Rest Week

I finished up the last hard week of my mid-season Base 2 phase. Not too soon either! I was really dragging on my rides over the weekend. It probably didn't help that I did a pretty hard run on Saturday morning.

My knee was a little sore last week and over the weekend. It didn't bother me on the bike or running, but I noticed it doing just normal things during the day. I'm pretty sure it's a result of my saddle height. I've been gradually letting it creep up again, and it seems to have caught up with me. I'll go back now and reset the heights on my bikes to what I found last year, and I bet the problem will go away. I just hate to give up that "free" power. On the other hand, I'd still like to be riding and running (on the knees my parents gave me!) in 20 years.

Speaking of positioning on the bike, I have a couple different ideas that I want to explore:

1. I'm curious about the effect of crankarm length on the whole saddle height issue. In some ways, the longer crankarm would act like a higher saddle height (more leg extension at the bottom of the stroke), but saddle height above the crank center would be the same. Maybe I'd still have the same problem, maybe not.

2. Moving away from under-cleat wedges. I have one right now on my left shoe. It does seem to position my foot better than with no wedge, but it also tends to cause my foot to rock on the pedal. I'm interested to try shoes (eg- Specialized Body Geometry) or insoles to make the correction inside the shoe rather than outside.

3. (Always three things!) Hamstring flexibility. I'm not sure that this is related to any issues I have or don't have, but I've got it in my head that my hamstring flexibility is poor. I've been working on it over the past few weeks with this active stretch, and my flexibility does seem to be improving. Whether or not it will have an impact on anything, I don't know.

Dropped!

I went to the club dirt road ride last night again. This week, we had a much better turnout, close to 15 people I think. There were quite a few people from other clubs / teams also.

Anyway, I made it to about the halfway point before things started getting difficult for me. The main group had already dropped 3 by that point. I didn't get dropped all at once; the group would sort of open a gap, then I'd catch back on, then a gap would open, and then I'd catch back on, until, finally, I didn't catch back on. I rode for quite a while with the main group in sight, I kept thinking if they got stopped at an intersection for a little while that I could catch up. But, in the middle of a hilly section, they finally pulled out of sight.

Since I wasn't too familiar with the route, I had to check my map at intersections once I couldn't see the main group anymore. This helped Joel to catch back up to me. He knows the route well, and he basically pulled me back into town. He was definitely stronger than I was at that point!

Anyway, it was a good ride. It is exactly what I need to work on from a fitness perspective: long, steady, fairly hard efforts. It also illustrated that I need to work harder at staying on the wheel in front of me. If I was better at that, I may still have gotten dropped, but I know I would have stayed with the main group longer. This is also a skill that's useful for cyclocross.

The only other weird thing that happened was that I got hit in the mouth with a rock that was kicked up off someone's tire. It got me in the lip and then one of my teeth. It didn't do any damage, but it sure got my attention!

More Running

I did a little more running Friday night. It worked out that running was about all I had time for. My wife wasn't feeling good, so I took care of the baby all evening. It was a little after 8pm when I got her to bed, so I didn't have much daylight left for riding. So, instead, I rode over to the middle school track and ran a timed mile (I was planning to do this Saturday anyway). Nights like this, by the way, are exactly why I want to be able to run.

My target for the mile was to run 6 minutes flat. My pace for the first half mile was perfect at 3:00. I started falling off a bit on the next lap, where I was at about 4:37. The last lap was all about holding on. I thought I might have a little left for a hard finish, but I didn't (which, I suppose, means I paced myself pretty well). I ended up running a 6:13. I can't be too disappointed, since I've only been back running for a few weeks, but I did hope to go quicker. My best mile time (in high school) was in the low 5 minute range.

In general, the running I've been doing hasn't had much impact on my cycling. This weekend was a little different though. My legs felt really drained for both of my rides this weekend. It looks like I'll have to be a little careful in the future about when I mix in harder runs.

Thursday Ride

Lots of people associated with the club have been telling me I should do the Thursday night "fast" dirt road ride. So, last night, I finally made it out. What I neglected to consider was that there was a road race at Waterford Hills last night and that there's a big charity ride going on this weekend. When I got to the shop, there was only one other guy there waiting for the ride. Eventually, two more showed up, and that's all we had.

Only one of the four of us knew the route, but we were all at roughly the same fitness level. Anyway, so the "fast" drop ride turned into a not-quite-so-fast no-drop ride. I thought the pace ended up being pretty decent anyway, we just had to stop a few times and regroup.

I ran at a low tire pressure last night, about 30psi, thinking I'd like it for the dirt roads. I did like it for the dirt roads, but then I almost got dropped right at the end of the ride on the paved roads heading back to Clarkston. I'm sure it wasn't that I was tired, it was just the low tire pressure, right?

This is roughly the route that we followed:

Running, etc

"It's not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential."
- Bruce Lee

I've been running a bit over the past few weeks. My thought is, as my daughter gets older, that my training time will become increasingly limited. In these situations, I think running is a nice workout, since it requires very little total time. You don't have to check your tires, fill up water bottles, find your gloves, etc. Just put on a pair of shoes and go. It's also pretty easy to squeeze in a run before work or at lunch.

This time around, I'm taking my running progression very slowly. In the past, I've gone too far too soon, resulting in some nagging knee pains, which quickly end the whole running experiment. So far, I've still not run more than 9 minutes, but I have done 8 runs over the past 2.5 weeks. With my runs being so short, but consistent, I have avoided the knee problems that plagued me in the past.

I still haven't decided how far I'll build. I'm thinking 30 minutes as a nice round number. We'll see how it goes.

Tonight I'm planning on doing the "fast" club dirt road ride. I'm sort of expecting to get dropped. We'll see what happens... I suppose it will probably depend on who shows up.

Sunday Ride

So, I didn't do the "epic" ride that I had planned. It rained all last night and a good bit of this morning, so I figured the trails would be pretty wet. This is what the radar looked like when I woke up, so I knew I wouldn't escape the rain...

So, instead, I waited for the rain to pass, and then I went for a long paved/dirt road ride. I took my GPS along with me, so here's the data (short story: 3hours, 46miles). For not having ridden much lately, I thought the ride went pretty well. I was definitely bushed by the end, but I basically felt OK.

This weekend was Quake on the Lake over at PRLA. I stopped and watched the boats for a minute or two both ways. If you look carefully, you can see the rooster tails in my wonderful picture.

The dirt road portion of the ride was new to me. The roads were pretty decent for being dirt roads. A little wet and sloppy in spots, but mostly very good. I'm sure the trails would have been much worse. It looks like you could ride a long way on dirt roads out there in White Lake, Davisburg, etc.

Negative Momentum

My mid-summer break was nice, and I'll definitely appreciate it in November, but with such a long break comes the possibility of accumulating some negative momentum. My training didn't go great this week and I didn't feel good about it.

I keep tabs a bit on what is happening at Ross's website and over at Crossfit. I happened to see that Crossfit has an add-on for endurance athletes, CFE. I've always been interested in the high-intensity approach to training, and this is exactly what goes on at CFE. Compared to more traditional programs, ride times are incredibly short (20 minutes or so). I could find plenty of success stories with people who had goals like: "just finishing", but I had trouble finding more than that. How did it work with competitive athletes? I finally found an answer that satisfied me here. Basically, the conclusion was that there are no free lunches. If you want to be a competitive endurance athlete, you'd better train endurance. (I still like this stuff for the off-season though!)

Anyway, questioning my training program did nothing for the momentum, although deciding that CFE probably wouldn't work for me helped.

I was supposed to race on Sunday at Ruby Campground. I've decided not to do it. I didn't feel good about my training this week, it's a long drive, and I've never ridden there before. Instead, I decided to skip today's workout and do what will likely be an "epic" ride tomorrow. I'll post the details after I do it. ;)

I feel much better this afternoon now that I decided to skip the race and got tomorrow planned out. I also stopped by the bike shop to pick up some stuff and had nice chats with a couple guys there. I also heard a rumor about a new 'cross race late this summer. It sounded cool, we'll see if it goes anywhere.

Why Race?

"Cycling is about proving to yourself who you are, what you can be... proving to yourself that you can mold and shape your body, your form, your morale... You are your final product."

- Erik Saunders (from “Pro”)

I've been hanging on to that quote for awhile, but it seems appropriate to pull it out for this post.

I've been asking myself the question: "Why do I race?" At some point, it becomes important to know the answer to this question. When you're trying to decide how much you're willing to sacrifice to become good at racing, it helps to know why you need to race in the first place.

Everyone is different, but for me, Erik's quote is pretty close to my answer. I race because it's hard and because it rewards commitment. Racing impacts what I eat, how much I sleep, what I do with my time outside work, whether I sit or stand, you name it! In that regard, bike racing is a true "lifestyle" sport (in my opinion, moreso than other so-called lifestyle sports like skateboarding or surfing).

The second part of my answer has to do with chasing "peak experiences" (flow states, whatever you want to call it). I've definitely experienced this a few times, in different areas of my life, and I think these experiences are worth chasing after. One thing key I've found, is that to reach these states, you have to be fully prepared. This is what the statement in the Wiki article ("Balance between ability level and challenge") is about. For sure, you're never going to have a peak experience racing a bike if your preparation is lacking.

Cross Training Weekend

My first week off training went pretty well. Aside from still having to go to work, it was pretty relaxing, and I got to spend more time with Cora. I still managed to get a little exercise in though...

Thursday night, we took a little family walk. I had Cora in a carrier, rather than in a stroller, so I was feeling the extra weight by the end. I did a little hill sprint / bodyweight exercise session afterward.

On Friday morning, I went over to Indian Springs with my rollerblades. They recently repaved the trail out there, so it was some very smooth skating. I'm definitely not used to skating for that kind of distance though. It took me a little under an hour to do the whole loop.

Saturday afternoon, I packed my meager hiking gear and went out to Pontiac Lake. I hiked the majority of the mountain bike trail; with my shortcuts, it was about 9.5 miles. It was kind of interesting. I went backward from the riding direction, so I could see riders coming at me. I didn't see nearly as many bikes as I expected, and, since I ride out there so much, I knew the areas where I really had to be careful. My GPS data is here.

Sunday was more laid back... my only physical activity was mowing the lawn. This week is another Transition week, so I'll just keep trying to find interesting things to do as time allows. I'll get back at riding next week again.

Mid-Season Assessment

I had planned to take a break after the Stony Marathon before starting into the second half of the season. I'm definitely ready for one; after racing Saturday, I don't really want to ride a bike for a little while. This is also a good time to re-assess (if necessary) how the second half of the season should go.

Really, the first half of the season went about as well as could be expected. I knew that having the baby would change things, but I didn't know how and I didn't know what kind of schedule I'd be able to keep. It took a couple months, but I've finally settled into a bit of a routine again.

I had my two best placements ever in mountain bike races (3rd and 4th) this year, along with a very bad showing at Brighton (last in the TT, DNF in the XC race). Still, even at Brighton, I was encouraged that my fitness was decent: I finished 4th in the Short Track race, even though a crash sent me to the back of a very big field.

The second half of my season will be focused primarily on cyclocross, but I also want to try to place well overall in the Michigan USAC Mountain Bike Series. So, my training will focus on 'cross, but I'm going to keep showing up at the mountain bike races. We'll see how well that works.

Short term, it means I'm going to take a couple weeks off from focused training. Based on past years, a break like this is necessary if I'm going to have any kind of motivation left to race 'cross through December 7(!).

Stony Creek Marathon XC - 2008

I almost decided not to do this race. We got quite a bit of rain Friday night, adding to the all the rain we've gotten for the past few weeks, so I knew the trails would be pretty muddy. Eventually, I decided that the race would go on with or without me, so I might as well go. I'll try to go to a trail work day when one is set up, because we definitely did some damage...

A lot happens of the course of a 40 mile mountain bike race, so here's what I remember:

- It was very humid. My glasses were fogging up in the singletrack for the first couple laps. Add that to the mud, and it was kind of hard to see. I think if I do a muddy race like that again, I'll have an extra pair of clean pair of glasses ready.

- A made a nice gap near the beginning of the race, but it was all for nothing, as the race stacked up once we got into The Pines. Basically, the whole first lap was just single file riding in the singletrack. There was no where to go if you wanted to pass.

- I nearly went down on one of the two-track descents. There was a fast right-hander followed by a gentle left-hander. The left-hander was muddy, and more slippery than I thought. My bike really started sliding when I hit the mud; I was fortunate to stay upright. I'll credit my recent cornering practice.

- Lots of riders were having trouble with their drivetrains. I saw several people pulled off working to clean things up. While the mud certainly made for some bad shifting at times (and bad noises), my bike basically worked well for most of the race.

- I actually dropped people on the singletrack this year. Maybe fitness had something to do with it, since the times I'm thinking of were on the later laps, but I must be getting better... I also got lapped by the Elite riders later in the race.

- Pretty much like last year, I started the 4th lap feeling really drained. I took an extra gel at the start of the lap, and, like last year, it seemed to help. At least I was sort of prepared for that to happen this year.

Anyway, I ended up finishing 3rd, my best ever finish so far in a bike race. It's nice to have that bad taste of the Brighton race(s) washed out of my mouth. I think the key was sticking to my plan:

1. Get into a steady pace early.
2. Focus on riding smooth, rather than fast.
3. Keep pedaling.

I was also fortunate to avoid crashes and mechanicals. With the tough conditions and the length of the race, there was a lot of potential for stuff to go wrong.

Carving

I had a nice ride last night. I rode to PLRA, then rode the whole trail at a pretty hard pace, and then rode home. My lap time was 0:49, which is definitely the fastest I've ridden out there. Usually, I end up around 0:55... of course, I usually don't ride the whole trail hard either.

I had a couple more thoughts on cornering. I've been thinking of it lately like skiing or skating. You need to set your inside edge, and then you hold it through the turn. So, the key I think is to really start the turn right, get that inside row of knobbies biting, then the rest of the turn should be easy... maybe... I've noticed that when I focus on doing this, my bike will turn a lot sharper than I'm expecting. Of course, since I do it inconsistently, that creates problems too...

The other thing I noticed was that I ride better with my knees bent more. I've been thinking about keeping my elbows out, but that also tends to cue me to bend my knees more. Lots of good things happen when the knees are bent more: lower CG, softer "human suspension", more negative bike travel available, head naturally looks up more, etc. I guess it should be obvious... I can't think of a sport I've tried where it's better to have straighter, stiffer legs.

Fluidride

I was able to do a few longish rides this weekend. I went out to Stony on Friday night after work and rode for about 2.5 hours. I felt pretty decent, I think my little practice session last week helped with my cornering. I wasn't suddenly quick or anything, but I felt smoother than normal.

I alternate between feeling faster than last year and feeling slower than last year. In general, I sort of feel slow, but then I hit certain sections of trail or do certain rides, and I realize that I am still getting better. I should probably do a test again and prove it to myself.

I bought a new mountain bike DVD last week: Fluidride: Like a Pro. It is definitely more downhill oriented, but when I watched the preview and I learned something from the 30 second snippet, I thought it would be worthwhile. I watched it Friday night, and there's great material. I thought the format was very good: a little lecture, followed by some demonstration. The main instructor covers the material really fast, which is sort of a double-edged sword. For the first time through, it was probably too fast, but I think it will be good for repeated viewings.

(I love pictures like this where the rider is leaning so far!)

Sunday was my opportunity to try some of this stuff out. I rode over to my home trail, PLRA for a couple laps. I wanted to do two things: work on staying in a neutral position and try the drop technique they showed in the DVD. When I remembered to do it, I definitely descended and cornered faster and more comfortably in the neutral position. It's something I'll just have to keep working on to make a habit.

As for the drops, I used to always either try to roll a drop by pulling mostly up on my bars (at low speed) or bunny hop a drop (at higher speeds). The DVD explains why bunny hopping off drops can be a bad idea. The main drop technique on the video emphasizes shifting your weight back to lift the front wheel. Nothing new really, but they explained it in a way that worked better for me. Anyway, I tried this on most of the drops at PLRA (none are very big, 2ft, at most) and it worked really well, fast or slow.