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438
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3/13/2017
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Avon, IN
US
hey folks, long time lurker first time poster.
ill get to it right off the bat here, I am terrible in ruts. ill try to give you some background on myself. I am a quad transplant (yeah, i know) always rode quads until mine broke down one day and my life long riding partner let me ride his cr125 all day and I was hooked. So Ive owned about all the colors and models of bikes by now, and Ive raced XC and only played around on moto.
what kicks my ass is ruts, and after watching the MX2 race in Indonesia recently it blow my freakin mind how you guys manage ruts, stay in a rut wide open clicking gears and then launch off the face of a 100 footer and the face is lined with ruts. you figure with me being a woods rider id learn to love them, but no. as soon as I see them i tense up get tight and then start screwing up. front tire climbs out, start paddling my feet you name it. there are some days much better than other and I must say i navigate ruts on my yamis and suzukis far better than any other brand. some days when im on I can ride them decent but its always been a major weakness in my already poor skill set. what gives
ill get to it right off the bat here, I am terrible in ruts. ill try to give you some background on myself. I am a quad transplant (yeah, i know) always rode quads until mine broke down one day and my life long riding partner let me ride his cr125 all day and I was hooked. So Ive owned about all the colors and models of bikes by now, and Ive raced XC and only played around on moto.
what kicks my ass is ruts, and after watching the MX2 race in Indonesia recently it blow my freakin mind how you guys manage ruts, stay in a rut wide open clicking gears and then launch off the face of a 100 footer and the face is lined with ruts. you figure with me being a woods rider id learn to love them, but no. as soon as I see them i tense up get tight and then start screwing up. front tire climbs out, start paddling my feet you name it. there are some days much better than other and I must say i navigate ruts on my yamis and suzukis far better than any other brand. some days when im on I can ride them decent but its always been a major weakness in my already poor skill set. what gives
That's just a few to start. Man these kind of things take time. Even the experienced riders and pros still continue to work on things like this.
The Shop
For me it was just focusing ahead and just plain hours on the bike that made me better through deep ruts.
Fast guy showed me the way somewhat. Get in a gear with the revs up, gas on to lighten the front wheel and weight back a bit, butt off the seat.
I ain't no RC them there, but it helps. Anytime you can turn worry into attack is good. Look ahead.
Practice your weaknesses.
Also, is there a line along the edge that is less rutted, that is the best deal.
anyway, im without a bike right now but im chomping at the bit more than ever to get out and try it again. in the past when i woods raced i expected the same results i got when I was on the quad and tried to force shit and it killed the fun super quick for me. so now im gonna just accept that im not phenom. the nasty woods ruts that are filled with tree roots are a whole nother issue, they pop your tire up out of them and its especially difficult in a turn.but hey, everyone on the track is faced with the same obstacles.
what really killed me is when a kid who had never rode went and got a bike, then instantly started winning races and here I am years in a mid pack B rider. ahh well, thats another thread
Pit Row
Finding the right lines on a rutted jump face is purely based off instinct that comes from experience and line development awareness IMO. Take your time with it.
JT$ was a badass ruts rider maybe he has some tips.
ill probably get roasted for this and I deserve it anyway, but years back I always used to listen to the announcers at SX & MX talk about deteriorating track conditions and roll my eyes. thinking "yeah... groomed loamy soil it must be so tough"
then I went to my first outdoor national and saw it with my own eyes.
Consider raising the forks in your clamps a couple of mm if you are climbing out of ruts.
If your bike is green, like my last one, aim 6" inside of the line you really want to take. If it's white, orange or yellow. Just point your belly button where you want to go and look at the exit.
Either go side to side and just climb out of them, aiming to make a line where there isn't one on the extreme edge, or go balls out and think of the rut as a berm keeping u from careening off the mountain. Used to hate them, climbed out like crazy tighten up as soon as I seen them etc. If u go a lil faster than u are comfortable, the rut can become the only thing holding u on the trail, which helps to gain confidence in them. My 14 yz450 has a small tuck or wash in flat corners. Give me a slight groove of a rut all the way up a gnarly rut past the swingarm I'm good. When they are so deep the pegs drag and the dirt pulls your feet off the pegs, that's when I start going side to side like a BMX biker up a huge steep hill. Usually if it's so deep the pegs drag, u can still cross 5 or 6 at a time riding side to side, aiming for a clean line somewhere on the very edge of the trail. It's times like that I like to think " what line would pourcel take". Lol
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