It takes two seconds to ride over a log. It takes 10 more to slow down, stop, dismount, swear, drag your bike over the obstacle, remount and catch your friends who have vanished around the bend. With the right technique, you can clear logs faster than a real estate developer and keep sailing down the trail. "It's all about maintaining momentum," says professional freerider and mountain bike coach Jay Hoots, of British Columbia, who offers clinics and instruction through Hoots Inc. (hoots.ca). Here's what he recommends.

Practice in Your 'Hood

Clear Curbs: You won't clear a twig if you can't control your front wheel. "You need to be able to lift your front wheel onto the obstacle you're trying to clear," says Hoots. The easiest place to hone your skills is on a curb, because you can practice lifting without worrying about what's on the other side. Here's how: Roll toward a curb. When you're a few feet away, stand on level pedals, keeping your elbows and knees slightly bent and ready for action. When you're almost there (within about a foot), compress the front end and immediately pull up on the bar to place the wheel onto the curb.

Hit the Parking Lot: Lifting the rear wheel is where most riders fizzle, because it feels unnatural at first. In a deserted parking lot, practice by lifting back and up with your feet as you thrust your shoulders forward. "The motion is similar to an eagle swooping down and grabbing a fish in its talons," says Hoots. Your feet come around the pedal stroke, "grab" the pedals, and kick back to lift the rear end. "Don't do the 'humper pumper move' and try to pump just your hips down to generate the lift," cautions Hoots. "All that does is force your body weight down into the bike instead of up and over the obstacles."

Take Your Skills to the Trail

Push the Front: Over This step happens simultaneously with the next, but it's important not to skip it if you don't want to take a trip over your bar. Using your curb-jumping technique, pull your front wheel up and onto the log. When your front wheel starts to roll over the top of the log, push through with your bar--with your butt back and hovering over the saddle--to keep your momentum moving forward. Do not touch your brakes--it'll wreck your momentum.

Pull Up the Rear: You will bash your chainring into the log a few times as you practice lifting the back end. Just keep pedaling and pushing the bike forward as you normally would, and you'll be able to dig in and ratchet up and over the log without stalling out. Remember to keep your weight centered as you bring up the rear to avoid going over the bar. Follow through once you've made it over. If you stop mid-log, you'll tip over.

2 Helpful Tips

See Your Future: Look ahead to where you want your front tire to go, not down at the log. The bigger the logs get, the more important this tip is.

Learn to Fly: As you become more comfortable rolling over logs, you can graduate to jumping them. The motion is the same, but instead of lifting the front tire onto the log, aim to clear it. Then push forward and out, and lift with the rear as before. "When you get good at that, you can clear any obstacle at any speed without losing momentum," says Hoots.

Go to bicycling.com/log to see how easy it is to hurdle fallen logs without losing your momentum.