Chilli, thanks for the great advice, here is my update:
I had not been back to Santos since my last post (that was my first time).
Well I pretty much rode everyday since then. I bought a BMX and have been practicing jumps..etc.
I went back to Santos yesterday and was FAR better. I had no real issues maneuvering on the black trails at all. I worked on weight transfer a lot so when I hit those rollers, it was a lot easier. We also rode the Twister to warm up and hit the pump track for a while. On Twister I barely touched my brakes..I barely use brakes on the BMX and I noticed that this really helped me learn to steer by using my body and also helped me maintain speed.
I then went and hit d1, d2 and d3 over and over. The landings were real clean. I should have videos I can post soon of this.
I then went to D4..I wanted that one.,..it was not really a debate in my mind. A lot of people gathered watching actually. Everyone seemed sketched out by this drop, that last visit seemed sketch to me also. So there were no real experienced riders. Anyway, I landed that thing and really felt the addiction of getting air. It was not a real panicky experience either.
My question is this..where do you start this jump? Because if you go up a little ways like I did, you still do not get a lot of speed. So I landed front tire first and could have easily endoed that thing if I was not calm about it.I know I can land that clean if I just get more speed, and was wondering the proper starting area for this jump.
I really had a much better time at Santos and feel like if I keep at it, I can hit about any jump there. I don’t know if my bike can handle it or not though. I was thinking about investing in a Santa Cruz Chameleon maybe in 6 months or so…it may be a little better for this type of activity.