On one of the tracks I ride, there is a medium sized double shortly after a (maybe 60 degree) right hand turn. When the face of the jump is smooth, I have no trouble picking a line, entering the corner with decent speed, exiting, and rolling on throttle as I hit the jump face (not necessarily the same line each time). Double cleared, I carry on - ha ha.

When the track is muddy, the ruts on this jump start to form. I get caught up trying to decide which rut to commit to, and then get tentative with the throttle for fear of not hitting it dead on, especially since the approach is after a corner. I lose focus and wind up barely clearing the double, or (like my last time out), getting cross-rutted and almost crashing.

Any tips for how best to handle and / or practice for this type of situation?

If the ruts are muddy, there really isn't much you can do but pin it and get use to the rear sliding out from under you. Thats when learning how to deal with a squirrely bike in the air, is a useful trick. I almost crashed really bad yesterday from exactly the same thing, lucky for me, the bike didn't get enough drive up the face, so I just landed in the middle of the double sideways in the mud and caught the bike from falling over with my leg. Two guys behind me had the same thing happen, but they wadded up. So pick your speed for the conditions, if its muddy, take it easy, we arn't pro's trying to win a championship.

If the ruts are dry and all your having to do is pick a rut, the best rut to pick is the widest. A lot of times the most inside or most outside rut will be slightly different then the ones dead middle. Thats because the riders earlier in the day in the mud went dead center (best line) and as the ruts got worse and worse, they went wider and wider on the jump face until it was just a line of ruts. So if there are ruts on a jump face, I always look for the widest, so you don't have any control issue when leaving the face.

Cross rutting usually happens when your going too slow or looking down at the rut. If you completely ignore the rut and just pin it, you will probably feel more comfortable. Ruts are a mental game and the best way to fight them is to look ahead instead of down.

Thanks Tye. I know I need choose my rut faster, square up, and just commit to it. I can put the bike right where I want it, but I definitely need to stop looking down at the rut - that's an issue for me. I ride a lot better when I'm looking ahead

pick a good line through the corner. As your coming out of the corner already be focued at where the rut ends on the face. Pick what ever rut looks best to you, good line choice and ability plays into this. Don't focus on trying to go inbetween ruts, pick one and commit. Get set up and in the rut as early as you can. Make sure you get in one, you can be aware of the rut right in front of you, but don't be fixate on it. It depends on how long the ruts are and how tall the face is, but at some point you want to switch from focusing on the the lip and start looking through or past the jump. Spot that landing as early as possible, focus on it instead of the rut your in. Keep in mind that different ruts kick differently and even the same rut can kick differently relitivly fast. Stay loose and smooth.

Die_trying, on 27 January 2012 - 11:39 PM, said:

These are definitely key points for me - thank you! Interestingly, they are all based on vision. I should have known; I spend a lot of time doing track days on my CBR and was able to make the biggest improvements once I opened up my view and eliminated target fixation. I was so focused on those ruts that everything else went out the window.

Thanks guys - now I can at least go out (when winter is over - ugh) and practice vision drills with more awareness (pun intended )

Look where you wanna go, not where you're about to be.

tye1138, on 28 January 2012 - 11:42 AM, said:

You'd think I'd be able to remember such a simple concept, but until it becomes second nature to me, I need to spend some time each session specifically focusing on that.