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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.

If you have a question about this trick please feel free to e-mail it in...