Bike Dictionary

To case (a jump)

Crazy recent heat wave was melting by mrain. Now that it has calmed a bit, here is a short, one-word lesson for those who have any curiosity about English-Japanese language pair. Well it’s mainly intended for Japanese folks but I’m translating it for the rest of the world anyway.

To “case” means coming up short upon landing a jump. It’s a term commonly used across diverse disciplines including BMX and MTB.

The Japanese equivalent is the verb “geshi-ru”. If you say “Yabai, geshitta,” it means “Oh no, (I) cased.”

I’ve only recently found, which entailed some guessing as well, that the term “case” originated from motocross, where the crank case of the engine hits the backside of a jump before the rear wheel does if you undershoot. This might just be common knowledge to those participating in these sports, but seemingly not quite so for non-jumping English speakers, let alone non-native speakers.

I use J-E dictionaries all the time for job and fun, but this is the kind of word that none of those big books covers. You now know it, while those 100-year-old tycoons don’t. You win today.

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