ROCK SOLID


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The rock solid is one of the newer, more technical tricks. When approached properly, this amazing acrobat is actually not that difficult to accomplish.
 You must first learn to do double grabs. Even if you walk on to your double grabs, rock solids can be learned easily.
First, start off on doing normal double grabs... Don't focus too much on getting your legs up real high or close together... When you grab, don't extend your arms, rather, keep them bent just as you grab the grab holes. Most riders look forwards, towards their handlebars as they do a double grab. For doing rock solids, you MUST look at your seat/grab holes. When you come off the bike, look directly down at your grab holes and open your fingers on the grabs slightly. Don't move the hands away from the holes though... Do this until you feel comfortable releasing your hands from the holes. Don't focus too much on your body positioning or your legs. This will come later as you polish the trick... The rocksolid is more or less a hand/arm trick.
 The more comfortable you get watching your hands grab the grab holes the better. Eventually, you can start to open your hands more and take them away from the grabs. Be sure to keep LOOKING at the grabs, because thats what makes it easy to grab back on. When coming back on the bike, pull your body forward using the grabs, let go simutaneously, and your body will float back to the bike (you shouldn't be too far away from the bike anyways....)

STEP BY STEP (Hardly walking on, but walking off)


Just as the rear wheel leaves the ramp: Same ol' story. Slightly forward, loose on the bike - ready to throw a trick.


By now you should be used to the feeling of quickly taking a hand off (or at least your grab hand) for a grab-trick. That's exactly what I'm doing here, and as you can see, I've already used my legs very quickly off the ramp to get a good jump off the pegs. I'm only slightly walking on here, because both hands are off before my first solid grab, but one hand is significantly in front of the other.


Only about 10 feet off the ramp I've already got a smaller double-grab going. I've only slightly "walked on" to this double grab/rock solid. I've got my double grab going here, and I'm just getting ready in the mindset of securing my grab so that I am able to extend my legs more before I pause my grab in order to open my hands away from the bike.


I've got a secure double-grab here, and in my typical Steve Wagner fashion, it's sloppy as heck. My legs really need some work in this particular clip, but my grab with each hand is secure, and I'm focusing on my seat - an important part of rock solids. You also want to make sure that your upper body is stable and secure in it's position, as it is what determines how easy it is to find your bike when you're through.


Wallah! Once I determined (in that split-second) that my grabs and torso were secure - I spead my arms using my shoulder muscles. I'm confident that my upper-body will stay stable because I knew when I let go that everything was in order. Confidence is huge in this trick.


In another split-second, I close my arms using my shoulder reflexes, and because I had set the trick up well and kept looking at my seat/grabs, my hands came back to my grab-holes.


This looks identical to the previous image, and for the most part - it is. What this is showing you is that after you grab back on securely, you'll need to quickly look up at the bars to get your bearing.


Some riders who "walk on" don't "walk off", but I did when I would do Rock Solids. Grabs were secure, so I quickly reached back to the bars with my right hand, and used my left hand/arm to give a quick tug which begins to bring my body back toward the bike.


As I feel my upper body almost exactly where it needs to be, I begin to retract my legs back in by relaxing my hips and my quad muscles which is why my butt stays so high. It's working to my advantage because my feet getting down will help my whole body rotate back to riding position.


My feet are just about there and my left hand is back to the grip, so I'm able to use that leverage now to get the rest of my body where it needs to be. Now it's just getting things precise and fine-tuning my body for landing.


Ahhh, just about to land. You'll want to stiffen up slightly in your mid-section, but prepare to bend a little in your hips, knees, and shoulders (like with any landing). Since your hands (especially your left hand) just got back to the bars, it's at the greatest risk to slip off - watch it carefully.