Standing up on the bike.

[DRZCatastrophe]

Ok, I just can't do it. I can do it part way, but not all the way. What's my deal?

I'm thinking I'm just stuck in the old horseback riding 2 point forward jump seat mode. Because that's the position I'm in whenever I'm going over obstacles.

Any suggestions? That position is very tiring and Pete can't understand why my legs hurt so much after each ride. ?

[FTD]

Look at the new Dirt Rider... it has a good article on standing up.

Hoss

[nickthestick38]

What page is that on Hoss?

[DRZCatastrophe]

The show or the mag? or the websight?

[iNSaNe]

I'd say I ride standing up about 50% of the time(depending on trail conditions), the rest of the time I am sitting close to the tank with part of my weight on my legs.

You really can't go fast if you have your whole weight on the seat in my opinion. It doesn't really matter if you're cruising but I like to ride as fast as possible. To me my legs are part of the whole suspension system so if you're not using them you're not riding to your full ability. I jog at least once a week in the summer so this builds leg and overall endurance quite well.

Try going though some whoops on a trail at high speed sitting down... That will teach you to stand up after you nearly get bucked over the handlebars ?

[230F]

Standing upcan be pointless at times where it can wear you out. When you're riding trails that just turn here and there, you can sit. But when it comes to me, I stand up on whoops, going downhill, just before a jump, and going through a turn that has bumps, or a tyurn thats smooth but has whoops after. Not to mention riding through streams. There's situations when it would be wiser to stand up, but other than that, I'm sittin down on my ass...

Then when my ass hurts from sittin on a seat, I just stand up till my legs hurt...

[TrikeKid]

if your standing right your legs shouldnt hurt 230. drz read that article in dirt rider it helped me alot

[fog527]

maybe your legs hurt because you transition too much between sitting and standing....the more times you go from sitting and standing the more you use your legs.use them wisely to conserve energy in a race.however in practice I purposely after ,20 minutes or so, stand totally for 5 ...it doesn't matter if it's not at your fastest pace,remember this is practice.make it hard on yourself ..

[berkeman]

When you sit down, squeeze with your knees to control the sit-down. Don't use your leg muscles to control the sit-down -- that will wear them out fast. When you stand up, lots of times you can use the bike to help bump you up out of the seat, which also conserves the leg muscles.

Especially when there's a turn at the bottom of a bumpy hill, use the knee squeeze to make the sit-down controlled and easy on the arms and legs. That helped me a lot. ?

[revolucien]

standing up definitely helps in balance and body positioning, i've been trying to get ready to race this season and one of the pointers i got was ride the whole track (will work on trails too) standing the whole time... don't try to clear anything or fly through it just stay standing and concentrate on your breathing and look ahead for your lines. the concentrating on the breathing took my mind off standing and your body gets used to positioning itself without thinking about it and, you'll start to respond more naturally to when you hit bumps, turns and throttle up and down.

[TallBoysWRF]

I don't know how you guys do it ?. Standing up almost all the time for you shorter guys may be one thing, but I'm 6'7" and I find my self only standing when it keeps me from flying over the bars. When I stand up and roll on the gas (even lightly) I feel like my arms are getting ripped off unless I lean over the front fender. Then in turns I feel like I'm turning a barge unless I sit down on the tank. Any tips for a really tall guy to make it easier to stand and not fly off (without white knuckles) or run straight off the trail in a turn?

[bd450]

DRZ,

Put your bike on a bike stand and climb on and stand up. Stand there for a while. Now lean back while hanging onto the bars. Now lean forward. No, thats not far enough. Lean way forward. Get your head way out over the front fender. See how your legs wedge into the bars and your feet into the pegs. You can just about kiss the front fender and still stand back up. Repeat this excersise, lean back... lean forward, do it a hundred times. Do it 3 or 4 times a week.

BTW, this isn't my invention its straight out of Gary Semics video. Go buy his vid's. Watch then 20 times. Then watch them 40 more times using the slow motion on your VCR anytime you don't completely understand. Watch those parts in slow mo until there's no doubt.

Then go take a class. Gary's , Donnies, somebodies.

[revolucien]

i stand 6'4" and it felt a little akward for me standing on the bike too but, practice and an offset on my triple clamps and a high bend on my bars definitely helped. pro taper pastrana bend is supposed to be pretty high set of bars and there are some others out there.

[DRZCatastrophe]

Thanks for the replies.

Pete's only a few inches taller than me so he rode my bike on some difficult trails and figured out why I'm so exhausted. My bike is too small for me. Like the guy 6'7", instead of going from a seated position, I'm going from more of a squat to standing. That will wear you out and make your legs hurt!!

Sooooooo, I'm looking forward to looking at upgrading to a bigger bike!!! ? :D :D

[FlyByWire]

Im 6'7" myself. I think the article in Dirt Rider is going to help me a LOT!, I was always kind of squating.; Not just the slight bend at the knee and lean at the waist. I run bar risers and Jimmy Button bars.. The Pastrana freestyle pro tapers seem to be the tallest bar out there.

I think a tall sea foam (moose) is going to help the tall guys as well, at least for the transision from sitting to standing.. ?

[Ynahg]

Agree with bd450, you have to learn and get comfotable in that stand-up position.

The standing position allows you more control of the bike, you do not ride a bike by turning your bars, but with your foot pegs, your knees and you upper body position.

Off course your arms will get less tired and your will be forced to move a lot on the bike....wich all fast riders do a lot (i'm not fast).

In the beginning accelerating standing up is very hard, because you do not lean forward enough as already explained.

Good luck

[TallBoysWRF]

Look at the new Dirt Rider... it has a good article on standing up.

Hoss

I'm assuming that this is the April issue?