Originally Posted by Bikernator

Go you YouTube and check out Global Mountain Bike Network. It's a channel that puts out a ton of 'how to' and tips on riding. They're not all gold, but they have some very good pointers and I think the videos are fairly short and entertaining (plus, you know, British accents).

Disclaimer: I'm a hack. BUT, I have two approaches which have increased my joy of what you are describing (mild drop offs):

Straight and fast: if it's a fairly straight and fairly fast line - as in you don't need to immediately turn hard or pick a critical line to survive the next obstacle - lean back as your wheel gets to the edge of the drop so that your weight pulls back on the bars a bit and you're more inclined to have both wheels land at the same time, which I find is the safest way to ride. By 'lean back' I mean get your butt out of the saddle and behind it. Your center of mass should be behind the bottom bracket, arms almost straight. This not the same technique as popping a wheelie by preloading your front fork by putting your weight on it then jerking backwards (think little kid wheelies). The former is a more stable way about it, the latter is supposedly a recipe for imbalance (so people tell me). This is covered in one of the videos GMBN made.

Technical: when I have to make the drop then immediately make a decision/drastic line change it's all about getting my butt off the saddle, behind the saddle, and below the saddle. Getting my center of mass as low as possible has been a night and day revelation. It was difficult to comfortably do this at first. I'd clip 'the boys' on my way back in the saddle after the drop a few times and that was not fun. A dropper post solved my problems. For my trails it was a godsend. That may or may not be something you look into.

Re-reading this the two techniques sound kind of similar. I think the main difference is when I'm going fast wanting both to hit at the same time, my butt is way back there but I'm still quite upright with my arms extended. When I'm doing a front tire first drop my butt is way back there (and low), but my torso is much more horizontal and my arms are very bent so when the front wheel drops I can make up the change in my arms without slingshotting myself over the bars.

Man, that's harder to describe than I thought. Ha. Hopefully it helps?? And like I said, YouTube has TONS of pretty good videos on technique, tips, etc. Good luck! Sweet trail...