...and NO, this is not an other "how do you manual" thread. Instead it is more of an observation of what I have seen/learned while I have learned them. I can manual a good 70 feet now on a good day.....sometimes longer, sometimes shorter.....and by NO MEANS are an expert at it, but I can tell you some things I have learned, and I thought it useful.

Manuals come to you in stages (at least for me it did), and they DO TAKE TIME.....but I can now see the rewards of my work

First - Most people start out by just learning to get the front wheel up. Most common afflictions at this early stage are the front wheel dropping immediately, or looping out ( front wheel comes up to high and you have to step off the back of it) You just have to forge ahead and get over this.

Second - After you FORCE yourself to keep trying them, even when you feel like you are getting nowhere....eventually...eventually....you will hold one for a few feet, maybe 10 feet...and realize "wow" I never did that before, and will give you renewed hope. This second phase of learning manuals is where you start learning to pump. You learn to "pump" out of necessity, because you want to keep that front end up....and at this stage you start understanding how to do that with pumping. You have not found your balance point yet, but you are getting closer.....and the pumping is actually helping you dial that point in....keep doing it.....keep practicing, everyday.

Pumping thought - When I learned how to properly pump the manual, I can tell you it is less about pumping, and more about "sliding" your hips back and forth on the SAME LEVEL PLANE. Like picture that your hips are on a track, and they have Abec 5 bearings on each side of them (haha) slide them forward when you are about to loop out, to nudge the front end back down....and straighten the legs and slide those hips backward when you are nosing down too much. Keeping your hips level is important. It looks like you are "pumping" because you have to *feel* the bike, and what it is doing....and you have to adjust and compensate with the pumping VERY quickly. So yeah, it looks pretty stupid in the beginning.

Third - Once you start getting the front wheel up, and find that you can keep it there for say 20 feet......by frantically pumping it....lol.....the balance point will start to set in. Once you can do them say 60 feet....you will find that the pumping is necessary in the beginning of the manual, but is less and less the farther you go (unless you are going up or down something).

This is the point I am at now. I find that when I bring the front end up, I have to 'pump' the manual in the first 20 feet.....but the longer I keep it up, the more motionless my body becomes.....until around 40 feet I am just gliding.....smooth and balanced. At this point you have found your balance point, your sweet spot....
I only posted this long ass discourse about Manualing, as we always have people ASKING how to do something, but very few people ever say "hey I learned this.....and this is what I did to get here"

I for one would like to hear more people talk about WHAT they are learning, and then conveying that information to others so that they can get some tips, or possibly some motivation. You're not bragging, you just understand something and think others my benefit from it.

Sorry for the long post, I will not post again until May.

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