I got feedback from Chance Glasford and Jed Olson on my pumping flat ground video that I posted yesterday. Their main advice: learn on my 24-inch Scott Voltage dirt jump mountain bike, not my 29’er. The large wheels make it too difficult.
So last night I took it out and within 5 minutes, I could feel the difference. And in about 15 minutes, I was ecstatic. The bike was responsive and it seemed like I was ripping around. I took some video but when I watched it, I was surprised at A) how far from the correct attack position I was; and B) how little pumping I was doing with my arms and shoulders.
I watched Lee McCormack’s pumping flat ground video again and took these screenshots to make myself more aware of both problems:
He’s really crouched low. And his arms and shoulders are pumping like pistons. So I practiced for about an hour today and then captured this 45-second video:
As you can see, I’m still not low enough in the attack position. And I’m just starting to get the timing right on the arm/shoulder pumping motion. I was doing it right in the first 10 seconds but then kind of lost it after that. But overall, the difference I felt was huge. There’s no going back. My brain/body memory has it registered. I’m confident that I’ll be able to do the intermediate pump track at Eagan someday soon. And I’m eager to see what happens when I try to apply it in some corners/berms on the trail on my 29’er hardtail.
Careful!-applying the lessons on pumping I learned in Lee McCormick’s book this year is the reason I believe I’ve had some difficulty staying on the trail. I think my avg speed is higher everywhere this year.
I think that’ll be a good problem to have, Clay… assuming I don’t break my frame when I crash like some people I know. 😉