By maintaining both brakes locked, you can adjust your balance with successive hops, alternating left and right correction hops while moving forward or even sideways through the weirdest zones. Each hop consists of a compression phase, crouching down first, with a small rebound phase during which you should thrust your hips forward, using the flex of your ankles more than pushing up on your arms.
Bouncing with constant balance adjustements
Rick Koekoek progresses up a steep digger bit.
Aurelien Fontenoy hops up a slippery wood log.
Try to minimize the hops' amplitude and height, and eventually, the frequency of the hops to save your energy for the next big move. Else, you'll get tired very quickly and won't last long on the bike.
Bouncing up sideways across a slope
Marc Caisso progressively hops his way up a ladder.
Nico hops carefully not to slip across the slope.
Bouncing up across a slope
1° From a standing position, lean slightly your torso over the stem.
2° Flex both legs and arms and crouch suddenly to compress both tyres at the same time.
3° As the tyres compress, resist with a firm push-up and use the flex of your ankles to start moving up again.
4° Spring back into extension, pushing both on your legs and arms to surge upwards and sideways.
5° Firm up your arms with your torso and tuck your knees as you lift the handlebars to pull the whole bike up with you.
6° Place your wheels one step higher across the slope and absorb the impact smoothly by flexing both legs and arms, crouch again.
Placing your wheels with precision
Ramiro hops carefully to place both wheels.
The whole move starts with your shoulders.
Sharp change of direction
Vincent Hermance crouches before a turn.
Swing the bike to turn during a hop.
Soft pedal-assisted hops
To move forward more easily, finish each hop with a smooth pressure in your front pedal while releasing the rear brake at the same time.
Lock the rear wheel right after the hop. The pedal impulse should not take place while both tyres are under compression,
but when you are just about to take-off, just after you have surged forward. This pedal-assisted hop adds a rolling effect to the rebound,
it propels the bike just before you pull it up with your inertia.
This improves your mobility across small gaps or for sharp changes of direction.
On a gripping surface, each tiny kick will allow you to re-adjust your pedal position or move up a small step forward, enabling you to be very precise with your hops.
The more effort you put into thrusting your upper body before take-off, the higher you will hop, unless you thrust your hips forward for a fully-fledged pedal hop
(maximising jump distance). The pedal kick is not the main driver here, but is only assisting your body language. When riding on slippery of very uneven obstacles,
it is best to use this soft approach. Beware that any misjudged kick could make you lose grip and slip.
Small hops are safe across uneven terrain.