AlliSports MX Sports GNCC Racing Racer Productions TRP Racer X Shop Racer X Classifieds
close
Racer X Online

The Breakdown: Anaheim 2

Wednesday, February 8, 2012 | 3:35 PM

Hello again everyone, and thanks for reading The Breakdown. The positive feedback has been amazing. Chase and Weege search and search for pictures that I may be able to use for this column and some weeks it's just hard to find any shots that work. So this is what we have this week. Read closely!

Let me start by saying this. When I explain my riding tips, I want you, the reader, to see a video or a picture in your head of yourself doing what it is I'm explaining. If you can imagine yourself doing it, it's a lot easier when you’re actually riding! Let's look at our first pick and try it.

Cole Seely

I wanted to start with this picture so you guys could see another angle of what we talked about last week, with the head. Look at both riders and their hips. Yes, your head and shoulders dictate how high your leg is, but it’s your hips that really dictate all three.

Let me explain.

Most bikes have a slant in their seats at the front of the seat near the gas tank. Your hips need to point forward against the slant of the seat. Notice how these riders hips are opposite of what I said. Now look at their head, leg and shoulders.

I have riders do this simple exercise and you can too. Here’s how…

Stand up with feet shoulder length apart, arms out like your holding on to imaginary handlebars. Now point your hips forward and lift your leg like your railing a rut.  Notice how everything just gels. Notice how high your leg is, and your head is back. Now shift your hips backwards. Notice how the head drops and the leg drops to the ground. Think about where your hips are at next time you’re riding.

undefined



Marvin Musquin

This guy does a good job here. If you watched the race on TV you noticed a lot of crashes in this corner. Most of the crashes were because the riders’ front tire would get to high in the berm causing the bike to stick-n-flip—the bike sticks in the sand, rider flips off.

Marvin does an excellent job ensuring his bike doesn't stick-n-flip. The first thing that I see here is his front tire. You ALWAYS need to keep the front tire at the bottom of a sand berm like this. It doesn't matter where the rear tire is at. What makes you crash is where the front tire is. You see, in sand berms the harder dirt is always at the bottom. As the berm forms, it gets "looser" at the top. So I try to turn the front side wall of my tire into the bottom edge of the berm. Notice Marvin is doing exactly that.

Also look at his leg. Notice how the heel is down and toe is up. This is the way to do it! What I teach is when you’re lifting your leg for a turn, try to tighten your quad muscle, like your flexing in the mirror. If your leg is locked like this, it ensures your leg is straight and high. The lower leg is prone to dragging the ground tightening your quad, and pointing your toe to the sky will make it so your knees and ankles won’t get tweaked as much.

undefined

 

Ryan Dungey/Justin Brayton

This next picture is of Ryan Dungey passing Justin Brayton. What I wanted to touch on here is the way the pass was made. Dungey set him up in the section before so when they came into this section Dungey had the inside, so he was able to shut Brayton down. If you will notice, the 450 class is a cat and mouse game with the top riders. When they’re behind someone they’re constantly trying to put themselves in a position so they can cut underneath and shut a rider down. Just like Dungey did here. RV has seemed to thrive on doing this. If you pay close attention, he makes most of his passes by shutting down a riders line—a very cool thing to see.

undefined

 

Matt Walker is a former professional motocross racer that now owns and operates the newly-formed Moto X Compound. One of the country's largest MX training facilities, Moto X Compound is located one hour south of Atlanta in Forsyth, Georgia. For more updates, follow Walker on Twitter #mattwalke122 or head to www.schoolofmotox.com.

Share this article:

Did you like this article?

Check out HIGH/LOW

in our Latest issue of Racer X available now.
HIGH/LOWClick to Look Inside

Each of the five major manufacturers had its ups and downs during the 2013 Monster Energy Supercross campaign. Page 118.

Look for the verified symbol Verified

The Conversation

Profile Picture
Pug wrote: 3:44pm February 8, 2012

sick feature. definitely one of my favorites.

Profile Picture
KilloMoto wrote: 4:13pm February 8, 2012

After watching the race, I thought it looked like Brayton goofed a little (looked to have overjumped the triple) more so than Dungey setting him up..Brayton seemed out of his line then Dungey took the line away for good....Dungey did have 9 or 10 laps to set him up afterall, so who knows......After Dungey went by, Brayton cooled the jets and seemed to throw in the towel...

Profile Picture
Mattwalker122 wrote: 4:39pm February 8, 2012

Killomoto

Your prolly right. I don't remember seeing this pass on TV . I'm only going by the picture. Sorry for any confusion

-Matt

Profile Picture
KilloMoto wrote: 4:44pm February 8, 2012

No worries Matt.....Dungey did take his line away from him...but I think Brayton helped by leaving it open mistake or not.... BTW still love that digger you took on the 80 in the video with a tiny RC on his 125....forget the video.....

Profile Picture
bd200 wrote: 5:13pm February 8, 2012

Love this page, I look for it now every week. Great to get the word on certain parts of the race from a real pro. Keep it up Matt, good job..

Profile Picture
atc110 wrote: 5:34pm February 8, 2012

Great artical Matt ..Im never that far forward in the sand.. going to try to fix that and keep my hips in line thanks...

Profile Picture
BillC wrote: 5:48pm February 8, 2012

Killomoto is on it!!! LOL

Profile Picture
Metta wrote: 6:15pm February 8, 2012

Another good one, I'm headed to the desert soon for 5 days and will try out the "front tire in the bottom of the sand berm" dealio...

Profile Picture
br411 wrote: 6:59pm February 8, 2012

Off the topic, sorry Matt.

Is anyone else interested in the Poto, Reed random testing they had to do yesterday from the anti dopeing agency?

Profile Picture
yamyblues wrote: 11:29pm February 8, 2012

I have to say this segment is the best out there right now. Matt your advise is straight up and good stuff. I ve been riding for along time and some times forget the basics and we all get lazy time to time. Even the best out there do it. Great pointers and perspective. I would like to see you on speed channel during the live shows. Do a one minute segment on the stuff you talk about here.

Profile Picture
RacingfortheSon wrote: 11:59pm February 8, 2012

be411. Where did u hear about that?

Profile Picture
endoman38 wrote: 9:07am February 9, 2012

I think just about any picture of Dungey shows the right body position. To me, he's the smoothest rider since -- dare I say it?-- K-Dub.

Profile Picture
PW29 wrote: 11:51am February 9, 2012

RacingfortheSon it was all over twatter. If these guys are doing anything I guarantee it won't get detected and if it does it will be a poor job of their trainers. There are supplements almost equivalent to a weak steroid that gets sold over the counter until FDA tests them. Then they pull them, by that time there is another one on the shelf, never ending cycle. These are all taken orally and extremely hard on your kidneys and liver (don't recommend them). From what I hear hormones are hard to detect as well.

Profile Picture
PW29 wrote: 11:52am February 9, 2012

Endoman, I some what agree but I would say Pourcel was smoother then Dungey. I also think Reed is really smooth as well but he throws in a little style when he has too.

Look for the verified symbol Verified

Sign In to leave a reply



Sign in with your account from

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google
  • Yahoo!
  • AOL
  • MySpace
  • OpenID

Sign up now | Forgot your password?