Quoted message said:-Originally posted by markf-
*how far (high) is that ledge/catwalk from the other ramp. if its more
than a foot or 18 inches i'm not sure you can do it. No offense,
you're awesome, but i'm just not sure that's a doable move. riding up
and getting on the lower ledge/top of ramp on the right and hopping
and/or pedal grabbing onto the catwalk might be a makeable line. but
hey, i'm not exactly sure of dimensions nor your abilities, prove me
wrong. and shoot some awesome video.*
At the point where I hope to smack the ledge, it looks like it’s maybe
only 6 – 8 inches high, which wouldn’t be any problem if I were hitting
it upright… but I think it could be tougher hitting it with the wheel
leaned over (although some of the other guys don’t seem to think it
should be too much of a problem… so maybe It’ll be easier than I think)
I am intending to get up on to the catwalk just to the right of the
first straight ramp (the catwalk is on top of the quarter pipe ramp in
the middle of the two straight ramps), NOT the ledge on the very top! I
hope I can do it. I intend to get some video of my attempts.
andrew_carter said:*I know you can do it. Another thinkg I'd like to see you try is
hopping/riding up to the coping parallel to it, then twisting 90
degrees and rolling over the edge and down (wheel on the ramp the
whole time). What do you think? Seems to me that that would be the
best way to drop a ramp on a coker...then maybe you could work your
way up to small halfpipes?*
Thanks for your vote of confidence, Andrew! I really like your idea
about dropping into the ramp in the middle (if I understood you
correctly), but here are the issues I’ll have:
1. I don’t really have much experience dropping into ramps like that…
but I did try it a few times on a ramp that was probably half the size
of the one pictured and I bent my cranks pretty good on my last attempt
(probably the third try). I tried to follow the technique I saw of
someone who had posted some video of himself riding a halfpipe on a 20”
(I can try to find the link if you want). He hopped on the edge and then
dropped in and it looked like he kind of slid down the vertical section
and then pedaled the rest of the way down. When I tried it (possibly
incorrectly), I bent my stock cranks. The next upgraded pair of cranks
that I got from uni.com got bent at Rays… so I think I need some heavy
duty cranks for these sorts of things. Any suggestions ( I like 150’s)?
Perhaps your idea of simply trying to roll the whole way down by
pedaling right over the ledge would be easier and less abusive on my
cranks. Have you dropped down ramps like these before? I would also like
to get some advice from you regarding long flights of stairs using
brakes, but I’ll save that for another post.
2. Since I would really love to be able to drop into quarter pipes and
hafpipes on my Coker (and possibly even progress to riding small
halfpipes, like you mentioned), do you have any suggestions as to the
best technique to use to drop in? Since I have to fly helicopters every
day for my livelihood, I need to learn new things that have a decent
potential for injury in such a way where I minimize the chances for
injury as much as I can during the learning curve. Do you think I should
learn things like this on a smaller uni first, and then try it on my
Coker… or just try them on my Coker right from the start, just start out
on smaller ramps initially (with better cranks)?
Thanks for your help!
Quoted message said:-Originally posted by johnfoss-
*I don't think you asked the right question. The question should have
been "How many tries do you think it will take before I make this
line?"
With my experience plus your guts, I think I could get it in 10 tries
or less. But then it might be too easy. 50 tries will make it more
fun.
You will have to have a lean when you hit the catwalk. But if your
momentum exceeds the lean, you can come up to a straight balance after
you get up there. Simple as that (plus a few tries).
Now put away the pictures and give your brain a rest. Wait for you and
your Coker to get to the ramps to fry your brain more on this.
Meanwhile, why not go out and ride some dirt trails? That's a great
way to develop more flexibility and ability to deal with changing
conditions.
And it's better than fantasizing about some photos.
*
Thanks for your vote of confidence, John… but I just seem to think it’s
going to be quite tricky. I hope I’m 100% wrong and you and Andrew
Carter are correct and I nail it rather quickly. I’d be psyched to nail
it within 10 tries, but then again if it takes 50 tries it probably
means it’s a lot more challenging than you thought (and a lot closer to
the level of difficulty that I had anticipated) and therefore if I nail
it on my 50th try, I’ll probably be more psyched than if I got it in 10!
I hope your prediction about my momentum re/lean is accurate… that’s
what I’m counting on! I’m not too worried about straightening up once I
get up on the catwalk… I’m mostly just concerned that the lean required
to clear my left pedal will make it quite awkward when I hit the
(possibly 8” ledge or a bit more) to get up on the catwalk. I don’t know
how much of a factor it will be, but like you said… at this point I’ll
just wait till I get there to find out! Oh, by the way… I don’t
fantasize about the pictures instead of riding – I fantasize about the
pictures in addition to riding! Not a lot of dirt trails here in the
City (maybe Central Park... I'll have to check it out), but I do intend
to do a bunch of dirt trail riding when I go out to LI to visit my
parents. I’d also like to a lot of riding down large, steep hills…
traversing down them on my Coker similar to the way a skier traverses
down a mountain. If I can get good at that, I’d like to bring my Coker
to a ski mountain in the summer time and ride down the ski trails. I
went to my parents’ house tonight and was eager to test my concept… so I
went to that elementary school down the block where we used to ride
together and tried traversing down the steepest section of the hill in
the back. I was able to do decently, but not as good as I had expected
because I didn’t have much traction on the wet grass... plus there were
goose droppings all over the place which I tried to avoid. I think I’ll
have much better luck when the grass is dry! I did manage to traverse
down successfully twice without falling, though, out of about seven
attempts. My tire left dirt burns where I carved turns into the wet
grass. The transition from one direction to the other direction was
pretty hairy on the wet grass and steep hill. If you ski, you know the
transition you make when you turn and your downhill ski changes… that
same transition on a steep hill on a Coker was really cool! Meanwhile
the urban environment of NYC is providing me with plenty of enjoyable
and challenging places to ride. I recently rode my Coker on a highway
divider near an exit off FDR Drive on the east side of Manhattan. Some
bikers on the adjacent bike path really flipped out when they saw me!
Quoted message said:-Originally posted by forrestunifreak-
*It seems like youd have to be leaning at a 45 degree
angle............
What about coming at it from the top left?and going down and over?and
then after you make that,then go for the harder part.
Or maybe, start at the very very top and drop to the catwalk and then
gap to the other one.*
I would guess that you are probably correct… I, too, think I will need
about a 45 degree angle. I will be attempting it as you describe (from
the left and above). I don’t think I’m up to hopping off the very top
onto the Catwalk on my Coker just yet. Perhaps one of you guys could do
that on your smaller wheel uni’s, though! I’d love to see that. As far
as gaping… I think it would be impossible to gap across the ramp to the
catwalk on the other side on a Coker. I’d love to see someone cross that
gap on a smaller wheel uni,, though, if that is even possible.
Quoted message said:-Originally posted by dogbowl-
*Man, as one who has seen you ride in person, I have no doubt that you
will conquer those ramps in no time!
You don't ride the coker, you fly with the coker! Go for it!
Cheers, and good luck!
Steve (Dogbowl) (I was at the last meeting of the NYUC with my
daughter Sophie--we're rooting for ya!)
*
Wow… thanks a lot of your vote of confidence and your encouragement! It
was great chatting with you and your daughter at the last meeting. It’s
great to see families (like you and your daughter) enjoying the sport
together and I hope to see you guys some more at future meetings before
you go back to France this summer. And since we’re neighbors, I’d enjoy
riding with you anytime when we both have the time (and decent) weather
to pull it off. Since I ride pretty fast on my Coker, I’d probably ride
my giraffe or a smaller uni. I’d like to get a trials uni at some point
(hopefully before the summer) and learn how to do some trials stuff.
Thanks again for your encouragement!
--
HardcoreCokerRider - Skateparks, MTB & Urban Insanity
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