Whoops

Going over whoops

by: Tim Ferry and Paul Gutierrez 917 (Siambxr)

UP ON TOP

“Staying on top of the bumps is the best way to approach the whoops, when it’s possible. You want to come into them with as much momentum and speed as you can, especially if you are planning on keeping the bike on top and skimming over them.”

To do this; coming in with a higher gear than you might normally hit a rhythm or jump section in. “Sometimes I actually come into long whoop sections in fourth gear. If you go in with a low gear, your bike will wind out and your suspension will get loaded. Instead, try a high gear; one that will pull you through the bumps on the powerband, but just barely.”

Staying toward the back of the bike is also an important step in tackling sections like this. If you lean too far forward, your front end will gain weight and have a tendency to get caught up. This is what you don’t want; the minute your front end gets grabbed by a sharp bump, going over the bars is almost guaranteed.

KEEPING YOUR RHYTHM

When turning these sections into doubles and triples, the most important thing to remember is that you need to stay neutral on the bike. You also need to be completely confident with your throttle and clutch skills, as this is ultimately the way that you will propel your bike through the section. “It’s all in your throttle control and clutch technique. You have to find the right RPM that will allow you to seat-bump the obstacles, and once you are in a long section.

ENTERING

Some whoops are not very deep, but they are deceiving because they are slippery and hard-packed. You have to be really careful when it comes to a set of whoops like this because you can get in over your head really quickly. You can’t just hold your throttle wide open because of their size; they’re still big enough to swallow you up, but not big enough to double or triple through. The distance between each bump and the texture of the dirt have everything to do with how to tackle a set of whoops, and for these particular ones it’s best to carefully blitz through them.

To start with, I hold my front wheel up as I am coming into them and set it down around the second or third whoop. The object is to skim across the top of the whoops, while never letting your bike sink into them. As my back wheel goes over the first one I actually accelerate in order to keep the bike leveled out. I try to push my body down over the back of the bike in order to keep the back end down. That way, the rear shock does not kick up like it would off of a jump. Under acceleration, your back wheel will naturally drop. I stay more towards the rear of the bike until I get near the end of the set.

It is very important that you don’t enter with the throttle wide open. In fact, you should keep the power steady through the whole set. I keep the throttle at around a quarter to half of the way open while I am in a set of whoops. This will help to keep the bike level. The last thing you want is for your front wheel to drop in between a set, even if they are shallow like these. It will cause your momentum to break and could ultimately kick you over the bars! Once the bike is leveled out in the whoops, you can begin to pick up speed through them.

You never want to jump into a set of whoops like this right off the bat. You’ll never be able to time them. If you try this, your front wheel will dive because most of the time you’re not sure where you are going to land. Your timing will be off all the way through the set because your front wheel is not hitting the top of the whoops like it should.

On this particular set, the first one is bigger than the rest of them. Also, you are coming out of a gully when entering them, which is why I pick my front wheel up. Sometimes when they are set up like this you can almost “bunny hop” your bike until it’s level and keep it that way all the way through the set. The idea is to get your front wheel and your back wheel to hit each one of the whoops. Your body needs to stay more towards the back of the bike when going through them. This will help in keeping the front end of your bike light and it won’t want to dig down in between a set.

Even if the whoops were deeper, I would still approach them the same way as I just described. All of the principles still apply. However, if they were farther apart, you could actually go faster through them. If they were bigger, it would not be as tough to get your front wheel to land on top of them. To an extent, bigger is easier, but once you get to the three foot stadium size, they become more difficult.”

GEAR SELECTION

“As a general rule, I always shift up when coming into a set of whoops. In Supercross I usually ride most of the track in second gear, but when I approach a set of whoops I always shift to either third or possibly fourth. The reason to up-shift is to keep the bike neutrally powered all the way through the whoops. You don’t want your bike to be topping out or hitting the rev limiter when you’re deep into a set. Every time your back wheel is hitting a whoop, it should be getting power to the ground. If the power is not getting to the rear wheel, the front end is going to want to dive.”

REMEMBER

“The worst thing to do is to come into a set of whoops too fast. I see a lot of riders try to go fast into them—they hit the first one, get airborne, the next thing you know they are skipping three or four whoops. It sounds like it would be faster, and it is, providing you know exactly where to land. Most amateur riders can’t predict exactly where they are going to land, and their timing is going to be off all the way through the set. Only advanced riders should be trying such a move. By going faster and jumping into them, it makes it harder to time the entire set and you wind up losing time rather than gaining any. The right speed is going to be different for everybody, depending on how comfortable you are in the set. The more comfortable you are, the quicker you can approach a set. Remember, the faster you come in, the more you have to push down on your bike to keep it on the ground.”