Trail Rider Magazine

April 2014 29 mud. Nasty rock gardens are another great example. How often have you gotten on the binders before approaching a rock garden, only to back off on the gas and stall? Even worse is when the rocks are large enough that, when your wheel falls be- tween them, you come to a complete stop and tip over. In this mo- ment of doubt, a little "when it doubt, gas it - wisely" (while standing on the pegs with your weight back) would have made the difference between coming to a stop and successfully clearing the rock garden. With enough momentum, your bike will have less time to fall between the rocks. Also, your suspension performs better when you are going at a good clip as opposed to bouncing into something while crawling along. So when in doubt, gas it - wisely. Pinning it wildly and praying for the best is unwise. Just give it a little gas instead of none. Another example is hills, especially downhills. How many times have you unnecessarily kept the back brake locked up all the way to the bottom of a hill? Was that really necessary? A little "gas it" part-way down would have saved you a few seconds, or prevented the bike from stalling. Log crossings are perhaps my favorite example. How often have you been barreling down a trail, come up on a log (it doesn't have to be big) and hit it while decelerating? When you are decelerat- ing, you are compressing your forks. And when your forks are compressed, there is less travel to absorb the log, which can result in a harsh impact and possible crash. Instead of decelerating, gas it before impact and get the front end light, maybe even hit the log with your front wheel slightly off the ground. The result will be your front end skipping over the log and your shock taking the brunt of it. Gassing it is a far better approach then decelerating in to it at speed. What you eventually learn is that when in doubt, gas it - wisely. photo By Art pepin Wise use of the throle is oen the difference between clearing nasty terrain or not.

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