Alright so I told you guys I would post a gopro video and I finally got around to it. Here is my second time racing, this is moto 1 of the 250 Beginner class.

I realize that its hard to tell my body positioning and stuff since the cameras above my helmet, but anything you guys can point out from this angle would be great. I know theres lots of room for improvement !

i was looking at your hole shot, you got off the gate good. but about 3/4 way down it seemed like you let off the throttle a bit. If you just keep er pinned you'll be out front, or at least closer to being out front. Also at about 2:15 going through those rollers/whoops. If you just do small wheelies its a bit faster then rolling through them. Small wheelies is faster then rolling fast, you kind of started that towards the end of the video. It just helps keep momentum. You're clearing the big jumps nicely! If anyone has anything else chime in!

try more inside lines, also just work on those rollers, they are pretty easy once you commit to them, good luck and the more seat time the better you will get

LOL at that guy at 1:06!

Looking good man!  Like it was said, it seems like you let off a bit on the start straight, and lost your momentum in the rollers.  Other than that, pretty good.

as posted above, you had a good start, but backed off the throttle about 3/4 the way to the 1st turn. maybe stay on it longer and keep the position you had. You had a good start but lost positions taking the outside line. Don't be afraid of taking the inside line. At the beginner to intermediate level, protecting the inside line is better than not. It takes a lot of skill to rail an outside corner and beat the inside line.
I'm guessing you can use some turning and rut practice (as we all could). With experience you will learn when to be more aggressive. A buddy once told me " go fast when you can go fast". Seems kind of self evident, but when I thought about it, I found there were lots of times when I could go faster than I was.
Good job on your 2nd race. Keep it up...

Thanks everyone!

Yeah I gotta be more aggressive for sure, I can tell i'm still timid, which i'm sure confidence comes with seat time. I noticed I was losing positions by taking the outside corners and rolling those whoops/rollers, something I'll for sure work on next time i'm out. I appreciate the feedback!

And yeah poor guy at 1:06 lol, first lap is never a good place to go down, especally with 35 bikes lined up!

Great race man! Waaay beter than my last (second) race. I notice that it seems like ur standing up on most of those jumps. Do you know how to seat-bounce? If not, it will help you with clearing those jumps out of corners (like the last jump with the guy with the flag). You should learn how to do this pretty soon, it will help you a lot.

Thanks! Seat bouncing is something i'm working on right now, I'm kinda doing it at 4:36 and 4:45, starting small to get a feel for it before I try it on something like that finish line that naturally kicks you up pretty high.

Eric_mx, on 11 May 2012 - 06:47 PM, said:

speaking of seat bouncing. You are going to want to make sure your suspension is dialed in perfectly for you. have you set your sag and done all that suspension tuning?

Eric_mx, on 11 May 2012 - 06:47 PM, said:

Kool. Just be careful when seat-bouncing stuff. I was just telling Tye of how I almost had a bad crash 2 weeks ago because I lost focus while seat bouncing. (my bike suddenly lost power cuz the piston was messed up, and that caught my attention)

08rider, on 11 May 2012 - 06:55 PM, said:

My sag is set at 100mm with static sag at 30mm... thats about the closest we can get it without messing up the static sag, I'm assuming this means the spring is probably one size too stiff, but its pretty close to optimal ! I've been fiddling with clickers because I bought the bike off a pro who's lighter than me but the suspension was super stiff still. I had to go 8 clicks soft on the shock rebound because i could barely move the seat down with my hand.

I'm gonna ride the bike like this for this season and next year do a complete suspension overhaul taylored for me.

kx910, on 11 May 2012 - 08:47 PM, said:

Thanks KX, yeah thats why im starting small so I can get comfortable with the whole idea and not go into a full endo!

I noticed that you let off a bit as others did, One thing I might add until you are comfortable with the bike ride a gear higher, in just about every situation it forces you to maintain more speed, this track looks pretty flat and seems to rut up a little so you can use the ruts for a berm.. cornering is what Id practice first.  Next when your on a straight pin it like your riding the bike down the street! if you are coasting your wasting time.

And last have fun that is more important than everyrthing else

Thanks for the tips bud, I will definitely use this on my next race! And yeah I'm gonna set up some cornering drills and practice away.

I'm having a blast out there and I agree thats the most important part, why else would we be doing this right? Especially when starting my racing career at age 25 haha.

You look pretty comfortable off the jumps.  Where you need to put in some work is the corners.

Circle drill
Circle drill
Circle drill
Circle drill
Circle drill

Still...Looking good.  I hope I do as well if I ever try to race.

Forget about seat bouncing...  It is not going to improve your lap times...and there are more fundamental things to work on.  In Gary Semics Volume 3 vids...he does not even cover seat bouncing till the 7th vid.  That means you should not be doing it unless you have the previous techniques all solidly mastered.  Do you want to go fast...and turn faster lap times...or look good off the jumps.  I would recommend you worry about the factors that result in faster lap times...and better corner exit speed.  With good cornering...your wont need to seat bounce anywhere on that track.  Dont be one of those guys throwing vet whips and rolling the corners tall....

Edited by Blutarsky, 15 May 2012 - 09:28 PM.

First thing I noticed in the video was line selection. Those outsides aren't necessary and unless you can rail them like a pro they are slower 95% of the time. Also like others have said the start could use a little work, but I remember being in the beginner class and its fairly intimidating to stay on the gas when others are letting off but its the only place on the track where you can pass all the riders at once, so the start is incredibly important.

On the seat bouncing issue, I think you are on the right track by starting small. I completely disagree with Blutarsky however. I do not think seat bouncing is a technique for a total beginner, but you seem to be hitting some of those bigger jumps comfortably so I do not see evidence that you are a total noob. Nor do I think seat bouncing gives you extra "style points" like he says. It is a very very valuable technique and something that you can use to make passes if others you are racing cannot seat bounce. There may be a jump or two on that track that can be seat bounced from the inside and will be massively faster than going all the way around the outside and hitting them standing up. I will say this though. Pick the jumps you seat bounce carefully. Seat bouncing is a technique that is used at relatively lower speed and usually on jumps right out of corners. Don't try to seat bounce something in the middle of a straight away. Good job so far practice those corners!

Blutarsky, on 15 May 2012 - 09:18 PM, said:

Wouldn't it be a good idea for him to learn how to seat-bounce? I didn't say that he should be throwing whips or anything, but seat bouncing will help him clear those jumps out of corners. That WILL help him get faster lap times.

Edited by kx910, 16 May 2012 - 04:04 PM.

You look good. You backed off some off the start going into the 1st corner, but that will get better with more confidence too. Work on the same thing we all need to work on, and that's corner speed. Inside lines most of the time, and carrying more speed going into the corner means more coming out. I've noticed for me that jumps out of corners are easier now since I'm carry more speed in and out of the corners. If you have a place to work on cornering. Have a friend set a cone down on the side of the track where your braking point is at going in and one on the exit of the corner where your're getting on the gas. Then have them move it closer and close to the center of the corner until you just blow it.  Also have a friend let you know if your coasting going into the corner. Gary Semics is big on the cones and not coasting. It's surprising how much time is lost going into the corner shutting off the gas, then coasting and then braking. We all do it without realizing how much we do it. The other thing I've been working on is being smoother with the power thru the rutted corners. If I start getting choppy with the throttle the front wheel wants to stand up a little and come out of the rut. Smoother throttle for me keeps the front end planted in the rut better till I'm exiting the corner then get on the gas more to pull up the front end a little so it's smoother over the acceleration chop saving me some energy. Can't recommend enough Gary's dvd cornerning beyond the basics. It's helped my lap times a lot. Every time I watch it I pick up more and more. Kind of like watching a movie several times and you notice things you didn't see or remember the 1st time. Good Luck and have fun.

Edited by j368, 16 May 2012 - 04:59 PM.

I agree with Blutarsky that Seat bouncing is a more advanced technique, and that other techniques such as cornering could be more beneficial to a beginner, and I'm by no means one of the guys who goes all out for the jumps then just putts around the rest of the track. My goal is strictly fast lap times, i dont look all that nice in the air anyways haha! But seat bouncing definitely gives you that edge and can surely save you from some hairy situations, like in the video, the one smaller jump had to be seat bounced and I only started doing it near the middle of the clip when a guy was right beside me and pretty much forced me to do it (love racing for that, gives you that extra push to try things you wouldnt in practice).

Thanks guys for the circle drill tips, I do have a couple of Gary Semics cornering technique videos and they have definitely been helpful, I'm gonna do the cone drill for sure because I coast wayyy to much into the corners. And I'll be sure to protect that inside line for my next race too. Oh and I'll also keep it pinned on the next start, would love to get a holeshot one day!

kx910...technically...you are correct...what I should have said is learning to seat bounce will not improve your lap times NEARLY as much as learning to corner well...!

Just my opinion on the seat bounce thing...but here is my perspective.  I do not jump that well yet.....But I am pretty good from the point in a corner where you get on the throttle, onward.  This is from doing the circle drill (which is a corner EXIT drill).  My right turn corner entries are OK.  My left turn corner entries are poor.  Just the ability to exit corners well results in me riding faster over the course of a lap than many riders who can clear every jump with ease, manipulate the bike in the air...even seat bounce...but do not corner well.

When you come out of corners faster...the speed you hit the jumps at totally change.  The whole track changes.  Worrying about clearing jumps when you are hitting them slow because of cornering technique is treating the symptoms...not the causes.  There is a reason Gary does not talk about seat bouncing till the 7th disc in Volume 3.  It is an advanced technique, which NEEDS to be applied rarely (especially in outdoor MX) if you have all the other techniques down.  It is also less forgiving of mistakes.  Jumping is what everyone wants to do.  Everyone wants to be able to clear every jump on the track.  But few really ever put the stopwatch on themselves and others...and see where they losing the most time.  Not clearing some of those jumps may not be costing you nearly as much time as you think.

As a beginner...I do feel seat bouncing should be learned...after you have learned the more fundamental techniques 1st.  In fact...I think that learning to corner properly should be done before you really start jumping.  Of course this is unrealistic as most riders do not have a large bit of property where they can create natural terrain tracks with no jumps....and a separate jump area.

Finally...you can always jump sitting down to get a little more boost...without incorporating full aggressive (and riskier) seat bounce technique where you shift weight way back to LOAD the rear spring to the max...then try to balance that energy with throttle.  Just hitting a jump sitting down (again...safest just out of a corner) will give you quite a bit more rebound since you take your body absorption out of the equation.  If your suspension is balanced, and you sit in the central body position, this intermediate step can get you safely over some jumps you can not clear standing up.  It is also good to master before you start seat bouncing.  A couple of those jumps coming out of corners are really not that close to the corner...and they are pretty large.  Try to seat bounce those...you may end up in the hospital.  Work in your cornering speed.

Edited by Blutarsky, 17 May 2012 - 07:48 PM.

Blutarsky, on 17 May 2012 - 07:05 PM, said:

Yeah, I know that cornering is the most important thing, but as a beginner (me), I think it's good to first get well rounded, then work out the rough edges. Especially cornering. I am getting much better at jumping, which will help me be faster and more confident in cornering, and vice versa. But I figure that at the point that I'm at, I need to work on both equally as much (cornering a little more). And when I'm able to jump with no problems at all, I will be able to focus mainly on my cornering speed. I mean, what's the point of being able to corner fast if you get scared when you come up to a jump? There wouldn't be any point. I just think it's good to be well rounded and comfortable in all areas of racing before you start focusing on just one thing.

Edited by kx910, 17 May 2012 - 08:20 PM.