sweet Woodward

This entire mountain bike park looks insane.
I love how they manual those rollers, especially that table-top one. Anyone who's ridden with me in the past few months knows that I've been trying to get the manual (and a decent wheelie while I'm at it). The problem with both of them, is my fear of the sweet spot. Or, more precisely, my fear of that place one degree beyond the sweet spot.

But, I just learned a couple ways to practice and get the feel of the sweet spot for fleeting seconds. And anyone who knows me, knows I'll drill the hell out of something if I want to learn it. One trick is to manual down any little drop. A ramp, a driveway, a dip in the trail, a roller on the pump track etc.. When my front wheel is in the air, and I hit the drop, there's a natural acceleration right into the sweet spot. The other trick is handy in the woods, and that's to wheelie over small branches, logs, and rocks. I get my front up, and pedal through the impact with the object. The natural tendency is for the object to slam the front wheel down as soon as the rear smacks, so to keep it up, I have to lean back into the spot. This could make for some entertaining moments for any riders following me. I know I had some moments at Raystown a few weeks ago.