How To

Riding Technique For EnduroCross - Foot Plant

Off-road riding tips from Cody Webb

April 10, 2018

This article was originally published in the January 2018 issue of Dirt Rider.

EnduroCross is unquestionably one of the most challenging motorcycle racing disciplines on the planet. The race tracks are held inside the relatively tight confines of an arena, and the number of times an EnduroCross rider changes direction during a race—or even a lap for that matter—is pretty mind-boggling. If riders aren’t blasting down a straightaway or picking their way through a technical section of the track, they’re probably railing a sand corner, flat-tracking their way around a hard-packed turn, or foot planting in a rock corner. Foot planting was one of the first unique techniques that came about in EnduroCross, and it saves a tremendous amount of time in an obstacle-filled turn, so we enlisted the help of three-time AMA EnduroCross champion, 2010 AMA MotoTrials National Champion, and recently crowned SuperEnduro World Champion Cody Webb to take us through how to do it properly while visiting him at his private track in Northern California.

Step 1: Put your foot down [laughs]. For my front tire, I try to find a rock that's not going to move out on me when I push down, and obviously for my foot I don't want to put it on a rock that's going to roll out. I'm pretty much at a dead stop right here and I'm compressing down on the forks so I can build rebound.Jeff Allen

Step 2: Now the forks are rebounding and I'm pulling up on the bars. I'm probably not even at a quarter throttle here. I pop the clutch just a little to get the bike up then I pull it in and feather it so I don't stall.Jeff Allen

Step 3: You don't want to crank the bars because you're off the side of your bike and off axis so that outside arm, if you're turning your bars, would be in an awkward position and would be hard to reach.Jeff Allen

Step 4: I use the balance point of the bike to conserve energy—that's why I get the front end up high. I'm pulling the bike around more with my outside arm, and my inside arm's just a guide to keep the bike balanced. I have a decent amount of weight on the outside peg. For the foot on the ground, I'm usually on the ball of my foot a little bit because, you know, a ballerina doesn't slide around on her whole foot [laughs].Jeff Allen

Step 5: The rear end's been tracking underneath the front around the corner, and it looks like I'm not even pulling or pushing on the bike at all. I'm just kind of guiding the bike along. I'm just feathering the clutch with light throttle. You can use your rear brake if it starts looping out at this point. There's definitely still weight on that peg pushing, so the rear tire doesn't slide out and to keep the bike from falling down in on my inside leg. It looks like my head's down but I'm definitely looking out of the rocks to see where I'm going to go next.Jeff Allen

Step 6: So here the front end's going down. My leg does look very extended, but I'm bringing the bike back in line straight with where I want to head next. I'm letting off on the throttle just a hair to let the front end come back down. I should be hopefully looking out of the exit of the corner at this point. I'll push off quite a bit sometimes to pop back up onto the bike and also give a little push at the same time.Jeff Allen

Tip: I recommend trying to use your rear brake learning this technique right off the bat so you don't loop out. And obviously rocks are a very advanced version of this technique; practice it on flat ground first.