u/nutrion

Are there any trails in the area that have progressive drop practice like Binkley? I'm surprised Erwin doesn't have a practice area even though there are at least 4 drops I'm aware of on trail. I was hoping there was somewhere to practice technique. I've looked around my neighborhood for anything I can drop off of, and it's so flat... lol

There are sooo many videos out there than appear to contradict each other. Many of the tips that I see are:

• Shift hips back (like a manual) to unweight the front tire
• Stay low, elbows up, hinge
• Stand tall at speed until you get to the lip, and then drive knees forward and hips back (basically to get to bullet point 1)
• Stay low, elbows up, push the bike forward with hands
• Stay low, elbows up, push the bike forward with feet
• Stay low, elbows up, hinge, and rely on speed to get you to the landing
• Don't do a manual off of a drop

What is the best advice that you can give to handle drops? I know whatever technique works for one person should also work for any size drop (I believe anyway). When I'm watching other riders, some don't look like they're doing anything special and I feel the videos above overcomplicate things for views (like many of the jump videos - "okay, I'm at stage 6 of this jump procedure.") Is there anyone that you recommend that their advice is consistent? So far, the ones that ring the most true (or sounds like it) are:

• Lee Likes Bikes Drop Video
• Slanted Ground Drop Video
• Rich Drew Drop Video

Just curious how you handle them...

I just got my Zwift Ride set up, and I wanted to do a group ride. Since I'm super new to Zwift, should I forego group rides and do something else instead? I've seen some descriptions of some groups (D rated?) that say certain cadences are "strictly enforced" whatever that means. Are group rides that difficult? What happens if I fall behind due to just being tired?