Trials Riding on Rocks – Improving Balance and Control

Over the past several trials rides, I have been trying to improve my rear wheel hops on extremely uneven surfaces, like bumpy rocks. For the past 2 weekends, I’ve practiced by riding on rocks at the park down nearby. It’s not the best riding on the planet, but there are a number of decent “novice” lines to practice. We got a little snow between weekends, so that added to the challenge this past week (try to stay on the edges of the rocks, off the snow…and avoid any ice).

Video: Riding on Rocks at Nichols Field

The video below includes riding from the past two weekends, though most of it was this past weekend. I was able to do a handful of simple lines successfully, but struggled with some of them. In those cases, the video shows a handful of the best (or most interesting) attempts. While I still have infinite room for improvement, I could absolutely feel progression in both my confidence and my skill.

As I write this blog post, there is a nasty snowstorm raging outside. Unfortunately, that could curtail my ability to ride on rocks for the foreseeable future.