It's been three months already since I've tried that 1m wall. I practiced side hops pretty much every time I went out but haven't processed at all height wise. Last week I tried the wall shown in the video and failed about 100 times in a row. I always set my foot down first and couldn't keep it on the pedal. I dunno why this happened so I went back to an even lower wall and couldn't do it either without putting down my foot. So I went back to a 30cm curb and only then I could convince my foot to stay on the pedal. It took me an entire week to get over this and I went up in small steps always focussing on the technique. Today I finally got back to the height I was able to do months ago. The technique is better though which is a good thing. I also focussed on putting down the front wheel first but have to get my head around this still. It kinda works already but needs a lot of practice still.

Sidehop from Niconj on Vimeo.

The last couple of sessions I got more and more frustrated. I don't know why but I've got a mental blockage at the moment. This takes me back to where I was one year ago height wise so I decided to to something else for the next couple of weeks in order to get this blockage away. So here's what I did yesterday. I haven't actually done ANY balance training since I've started trials so this is pretty good for me. :)

Tried to apply my newfound technique on a gap I was only just able to do rear to rear a while ago. Now it's become even easier doing it to front. :) Still have to learn the wheel swap though.

The last time I tried learning gaps to front I hurt my shin really badly so I left it for quite some while. Yesterday was the day to get back it again though and it feels rather good even though still no way near perfect.

Yesterday I went to my favorite spot again (not that there aren't others equally nice but this one is the closest to my home). I practiced pretty much everything I can do and when it came to the pedal up I noticed that I went from landing on the rear wheel to rolling up onto the obstacle. I think this happened because I have been doing a lot of up to fronts lately and the movement of pushing the front wheel forward just cannot be erased when doing the pedal up.

Anyways, I saw a tutorial on Trials-Forum.co.uk for how to tap and while I was able to do this already quite a while ago, I had to learn it all over again yesterday. The only thing that has changed from this video to now is that I can do it much more controlled and am not afraid of hitting the wall badly anymore. :)

I also figured that when doing the pedal up like a roll up, I might as well leave the brakes open after the jump. So in the video you can see what I can do rather consistently now. A pedal up (or roll up) with a tap before. I will have to try this technique on a higher wall though. I have become very careless in trying new walls and spots. :(

The gap onto the tree stump I was able to do 1 1/2 years ago already but it is the first time I have been able to land, turn and do the gap back. Not that it's particularly difficult but at this time of the year there's a bush your front wheel gets caught in. So there's a pretty small area you can land on without your front wheel getting caught in the bush and I managed to do this yesterday for the first time.

Breakless Tap, Gap to Gap from Niconj on Vimeo.

Here's my latest video. Due to the sidehop training I have been doing the last couple of weeks I was also able to improve on my gaps. It's pretty much the same technique except that you jump far not high. The first gap I was only able to do just now. The goal for this summer is to do the gap going one step further down.

Another go at the wall. :)

Sidehop March 16 from Niconj on Vimeo.