Learning Pedal Kick and Pedal Up Zap Tap

Last Saturday I decided to reward myself by getting a new pair of 661 shin guards from TTDI's KSH Bike shop. My old shin guards (which I have repaired many times over) have saved me from much agony and I felt that aside from the helmet, they were the most important equipment for learning BikeTrial... :-)


My old shin guards, which I have repaired many times.


Yeah, the new shin guards. Easy to wear and remove.

Anyway, while waiting for my kids to finish their replacement classes, I took some time off to practice what I thought was two of the most important biketrial skills after the three basics skills (track-stand, hopping and pivoting). They are the pedal kick and the pedal up zap tap.

Pedal Kicking down the Wooden Pallet

For pedal kick, I was trying to get my arm and shoulder muscles to toughen up... LOL. Then I tried learning to control the pedal kicks to be more precise. At first I tried just pedal kicking on a flat level ground. Then I decided to do it from a stack of pallets. I figured that if I could get use to the height and small gaps, I will be able to handle higher and wider gaps later... without the fear of height... LOL.

Maybe wishful thinking.... but my current goal is to train myself to be able to pedal kick and land anywhere I want just like in those videos I watched on YouTube... Hahaha. The following video shows me struggling with the pedal kicks down the wooden pallets.


I set up the wooden pallets from high to low, allowing me to start from the top and work myself down.



So tired! Learning to balance and pedal kicking down the wooden pallets.

Pedal Up Zap Tap Onto an Obstacle

The pedal up zap tap is one of the more useful skill needed to ride a section. It is necessary for climbing onto an obstacles. To me, it is one of the most difficult techniques to learn. I have been trying this for a month now and I seemed to be getting nowhere. The following video shows me attempting to pedal up zap tap a 2 feet stack of wooden pallet.


A stack of 4 wooden pallets, which I used to practice and learn the "pedal up zap tap".



My noobie step to "pedal up zap tap". I could only do it this way, until I can learn to fully commit, to "fly" up the pallets... which will lead me to learn the "touch up" and the "pedal up" LOL.

From here on until I really get it, I will be learning and training myself to master these two techniques. Hopefully, it will be soon.

Note: Got my terminology wrong... it's not a "pedal up" but a "zap tap" that I was learning. But my direction is to learn the "touch up" and "pedal up" after this... LOL.

Last night, managed to successfully execute the "touch up" a number of times... exhilarating!!! Unfortunately, one failed attempt injured my right knee, right toe and left calf went into a cramp!!! And now I am miserably on the bench!!!! Hate this! - Last updated July 10, 2009.