Ok, I have read these posts over and over again, and I cannot figure out how it is possible to jump to the Dry Lake Bed from the top of the mountain.

I believe I have identified the correct spot - after you pass the 2 grassy areas on the "castle circuit" with the rock wall to your left, there are some tall rocks to the right. If I plummet, aiming towards these rocks I can see the Dry Lake Bed below, with the balloon, but I always die and resurrect back at my original spot. I see the "saddle" that was described, but I die before I can land on that too.

This made me wonder if I am missing something else I need to make this work. Do I need a pet with me? Do I need the new bike?

Any suggestions would be great!
Thanks,
ggg

I don't think you need the new bike or a pet. I could be wrong. Are you falling as if to land on the saddle or in the dry lake bed? You have to be falling onto the saddle. You will "black out" and land in the dry lake bed if you are falling onto the saddle.

Get ready Kescah, I'll be back soon to agrivate you. Off to Vegas for some fun first!!

OK! I was able to get this work finally

I discovered I could only make it work if I was traveling in the opposite direction I thought I was supposed to. So, my success resulted when I traveled from the castle towards the first grassy area (without the balloon) with the mountain wall to my right. If I aimed directly towards the distant rock sticking up, I plummeted over the "saddle" and resurrected right in front of the balloon on Dry Lake Bed. What an amazing shortcut! Now I just have to figure out how to work this into my route.

I am far from a shortcut pro on the Free level - my lowest mileage is still 27!!! But then part of me wonders why I aim for shorter mileage because I am trying to burn more calories, not less!

Thank you Kescah! I look forward to sharing will all the members of this forum

ggg

Something seems wrong here I think, how did you get the balloon on the mountain if you went clockwise after the caastle. I go behind the castle to get balloon, out the gate on the right side then up the mountain going counter clockwise to get the balloon on the first grassy knoll then onwards to death plummet that will be on the right, and don't jump too soon, you must land towards the saddle to end up on the dry lakebed. Good luck.

Looking forward to be aggravated to ribbons! I just hope summer has slowed you down somewhat and I can pass you up. Is Didi around?

Congrats, ggg! However, I am with jvv on the direction of the travel. I've never tried the jump going clockwise around the mountain. And I rarely miss the saddle going counterclockwise. It seems you should be able to get the balloon and then head for the saddle going counterclockwise. Otherwise you will add a lot of time getting the balloon and then turning around to go counterclockwise.

Try hitting the balloon and then going up past the second grassy area. When you see the rock, wait to jump until you are nearly (but not exactly) even with the rock, and heading directly for the rock. Hope it works!

Keepa going! You will get your time down as you learn your route better and get familiar with the turns and use of the pet. Also, I think most of us find Didi's route to be the fastest. Any dissent on that?

I plan to continue using the route DiDi and I use but adding a few new death plummets that I read recently here. Gunna get to 15 if it kills me

I have tried the castle loop in both directions. I am still not sure which seems faster - going up clockwise and then turning around for the dry lake bed jump or going counter-clockwise the whole loop until I jump.

I WAS finally able to do the jump from the counter-clockwise approach.

Hooray! Mastery over that persnickity jump. Don't even try the Duckling Lake jump. You will tear all your hair out and once you get it, you will never get it again.

What IS the duckling lake jump? Please do tell me!

I am still trying to figure out how to (1) jump onto roofs and (2) jump from the wall of Dry Lake Bed over to the top of the Ruins I read a post in here somewhere where someone said they did this, but then fell off a ledge. How on earth could you leap from the cliff across the road and land on the top of the Ruins? I spent a good 10 minutes in Dry Lake Bed just trying to figure out how to ride up the side of the rock to even try... the walls are just too high.

I think I am pretty swift with my shiny new bike - so I continue to be amazed with some of these tricks I read about!