Old school can probably be defined by several tricks- Miami
Hoppers, Nourie Stands, Gut
Levers, and this one: The
Cherrypicker. Cherrypickers are not something that you will find splashed across the pages
of a magazine or even see you average beginner doing them in a contest. But if you are
riding to compete and make lots of money then you are at the wrong site. Cherrypickers are
just fun to do- not horribly difficult to learn, and very impressive to see.
In the end if you are looking to improve your overall bike control then you can use
that as an excuse to learn this trick. If you are just looking to ride for fun then you
don't need an excuse- you just need to have fun learning this.
Make sure you can do Endos and can hop on the back/front pegs in
place before attempting this.
- Begin by rolling at a fairly slow pace with your feet on the back pegs and your pedals
level- left pedal forward.
- Grab both brakes hard and do a small endo. When the back tire hits the ground do the
following...
- Take your right foot off the peg and put it in the space on the left side of the bike
between the rear tire and the seatpost tube (inside the rear triangle of the bike just
above the sprocket). Your bike should be continuing to go up on the back wheel- you want
the bike to end up straight up and down on the back wheel.
- Put all of your weight on your right foot and stand up, pulling your left foot off the
peg and swinging it over the head tube of the bike.
- When your foot is over the head tube put it on the top of the seatpost tube- just above
your foot that is on the tire. At the same time grab the fork leg that is up... Because
you are still holding your rear brakes with your right hand, this will be the right fork
leg. When you are up there though it won't be something you have to think about- it will
just be the only one that you can grab.
- Begin hopping. This is similar to hopping on the rear pegs or on the front pegs. Crouch
slightly and then shoot your body upwards, when you peak don't lift your feet off the
bike, use your hands to hold the bike against your feet and draw it up to you. This is
IDENTICAL to how a pogo stick works, except the bike has a lot less spring and is much
heavier.
- Keep hopping- take your hands off if you can, take your foot off the seat post and hop
one footed... wave... have fun!
- Riding out is basically the reverse of riding in- Make sure you have a good hold on the
back brakes and bring your left foot back over the head tube. As soon as your foot clears
the head tube grab the left grip with your left hand and untwist the bars.
- Instead of going back to the rear pegs just put your left foot directly on the pedal
(which you set at the beginning of the trick so it is where you need it!) and take your
right foot off the rear tire. Your front tire should be hitting the ground now and you
should release the brakes, step your right foot over the seat put your foot on the pedal
and ride away.
As was said before you won't go to any contests and see this trick happen except
(maybe) in the beginner class and sometimes a pro will decide to bust out one old school
trick at the end of his run. That doesn't mean the trick isn't fun and worth learning.
Variations of this trick include Pedal Pickers which are done using a coaster brake.
Instead of standing on the rear tire and seat post tube you would stand directly on the
pedals and hop, using the coaster brake to keep the wheel from moving.
Yes, this can be done using hand brakes instead of a coaster brake.