i've been riding for years but i ride 99% paved trails. last summer i thought i'd try a local off road trail. come to find out i'm no good at the off road trails. i can't balance worth a d*mn at slow speeds. i get scared when i come to a 6-12 inch drop followed by a down hill grade, if that makes any sense. if the trail is rocky i have a hard time riding around the larger rocks without wiping out. i'm thinking about building an obstacle course in my back yard so i can practice at home. that way if i wipe out i won't have far to go.

what are some obstacles i can build or some exercises i can do to help?

Riding slow in a figure 8 will help you with balance. At slow speeds it's also easier to balance when you are out of the saddle. As far as the obsticles and rocks, just go ride your local trails and practice. That's the best way to get better. I've used parking lot curbs before to practice bunny hopping, lifting the front wheel, etc.

- 4" (diameter) log bump
- 8" log log bump
- progressive log ramp 4"-8"-12"-8"-4"

All secured with rebar - drill thru the log, leave no exposed iron

- off-camber 90 degree turn
- banked 90 degree banked turn with a high berm
- 90 degree turn with loose stones or sand on hard dirt

- 15' x 3' stretch of fist sized stones compacted into a swath
- embed a series of large stones off center line from one another, so that you can steer betwen them on your line. maybe 12" to 14" inches in diameter, sunken ~1/3 into the ground.

- dig out a 5' by 2' trench longwise, then pile the dirt at the far end, creating a "bump" to practice getting air at speed - and landing, of course.

Lay these out over a short course - should be plenty to practice on. PG

- ladder drops





- road gaps

If you're going to go home every time you wipe out perhaps off road cycling isn't for you.

My best advice is to ride with as many other people as you can and learn from them.

There are a couple of parks close to my house. They have stairways with switchbacks. Those have been helpful. Respect park goers as the stairs were built for them. There is also an abandoned housing developments close by. There are a variety of drops and elevation changes between lots. BMX riders use it a lot so I have some ready made trails, sometimes I just try to see if I can hop up a grade. I live close to the end of the world, so vacant lots are easy to find. Then there are trails as well.

Biting it and biffing happen. I try to avoid biting and biffing. Practicing can help.

How big is your backyard? The bigger the better. You can fit more obstacles in, get enough speed to jump off drop-offs, and enough speed for tall-ish ladder drops.

Josh