How to Bunnyhop on Your Bike

In cycling, particularly BMX and mountain biking, the bunny hop is a bike trick where the rider lifts the bike over an obstacle while remaining on the bike and in motion. The world record stands at around 4ft or 1.2 meters. A bunny hop is carried out by approaching an obstacle at speed, lifting the front of the bike and leveling the pedals. If the bike has suspension (full or just front), then the shocks may be "pre-loaded" by applying downwards pressure to them just before the obstacle. Once body weight has been shifted over the front wheel, the rider lifts the front wheel by pulling up on the handlebar. Simultaneously the rider points his toes to the ground and stiffens the whole body, pushing back on the pedals to keep traction between feet and pedal. Then, a fraction of a second after the front wheel has started to leave the ground, the rider pulls up on the back wheel by bending his knees, still pushing back on the pedals with toes pointed to the ground. When the back wheel is lifted, the front wheel will lose most of its height, and so to gain any height with the whole bike, the rider must lift the front wheel quite hard. Toe straps or clipless pedals help by allowing more transfer of force between foot and pedal. Using toe straps or clipless pedals is easier at first, but may lead to improper technique as there is less need to point the toes down and push back on the pedals with the body. Pushing down on the handlebars will help the front wheel to land first, if that is desired. Absorb the impact with the arms and legs. -- Entry from Wikipedia.org