Originally Posted by
Super D
Also, I've been playing with a slightly lower line through T1 to avoid the slow-down in the uphill at T1 (this is on a 333 track). I know this is counter to what everybody does, and what I've been told, but when I enter T1 lower than the top line, I'm carrying more speed and it feels easier to me. I guess that's just another sign that I'm undertrained and need more strength!
I'd agree with everybody on this-- intentionally losing height just before you jump probably won't help you lower your times. Could it be you're a bit tentative jumping at the rail? I know this has been a problem for me, so that's why I do all my warm-up jumps at my race gear jump point, in order to get comfortable with this. It seems to have helped.
Additionally, I don't think you should be expending significant energy going uphill into T1 before the jump. Sometimes people go too fast here and then they have less in the tank for the real effort. You need some speed, but you want to get that speed as cheaply as possible (example: I stand down T4 and ride that into T1). You have to ninja it, and it takes a lot of practice and is probably pretty personal. Somebody with better sprint endurance than me could probably put more effort in before the jump in order to have a higher speed to jump from, but I've found that's not the kind of rider I am. I have to save as much as possible and spend it all on the jump itself. YMMV!