I’m embarrassed to admit that I am 21 years old and don’t know how to ride a bike. I did own a bike as a kid but my constantly worried mother never let me take the training wheels off. Also, I’m a klutz. So I’ve decided to learn how to ride a bike this week. I have the use of a friend’s bike and a quiet mostly flat neighborhood to practice in.
Any tips? Suggestions? Inspirational stories? I don’t really know where to start and really don’t want to break my head open on the pavement.
The slower you go the more unstable you are. Start out on a slight decline, perhaps, and just try to coast down it with your feet out to the sides, or step on a pedal so it’s initially moving but don’t worry about pedaling at first-- you’ll find that with a little motion the bike keeps itself upright a bit. Relax and don’t steer much-- you’ll tend to twitch the bars around in a panic and oversteer.
I’ve taught a number of people how to ride motorcycles in small steps. But all of them had the basics down already.
Hmmmmm….
Do you have a friend that can sort of support you as you get on your way?
It really is very easy once you get moving, and comes naturally to everyone.
I would do this.
Place left foot on left peddle while it is lowest to the ground. With your right foot, push off against the ground and put your butt on the seat. Let the bike support your weight.
You will need a very little bit of speed for you and the bike to create a balance.
Do this on a slight downhill bit of road. Leave your right leg down until you fell that you can place it on the right peddle. Do this a number of times until you feel comfortable getting both feet on the peddles.
At slow speeds like this, and just starting off I would recommend wearing any type of gloves (leather work gloves would be best, but anything is better than nothing) and long pants. If you do fall over, you will catch yourself with your hands, and knees.
(Reverse these directions right/left if that’s more comfortable.)
Start by coasting standing up. Stand to the left of the bike, with the left pedal all the way down. Hold the handlebars, put your left foot on said left pedal, and lean the bike a bit to the right. Now stand on the pedal while you push off with your right foot. Keep your entire body (except right arm) to the left of the bike. Doing this will allow you to get a feel for balancing the bike, but you can step off easily if need be. With a little practice you should be able to keep the bike upright while you coast in a straight line.
The next step is to straddle the bike. Again, put your left foot on the left pedal (all the way down), lean the bike to the right enough for balance and push off with your right foot. This will be much the same as above but with your body a little more to the right.
Once you’re comfortable with that, start off straddling but as soon as possible sit on the seat. The balance will be a little different, but actually easier. Now you can pedal.
Keep in mind that while speed may be scary at first, it’s speed that maximizes the bike’s tendency to stay upright. The faster you go, the harder it is to tip over to the side.
First mistake most learners make is they try and go too slow. Speed is your friend. The faster you go, the more the bike wants to stay upright. Staying on a bike a 1 mph is damn hard. At 6 mph it is a snap.
Starting by coasting on a slight incline is probably the best common advice. Gloves and elbow and knee protectors are also a good idea.
I know there was a similar thread a long while ago, but I can’t find it.
There’s this guy http://www.pedalmagic.com/ who claims to be able to teach you to ride a bike in minutes. ISTR from somewhere that the idea is, when you think you’re falling, to overcome the natural reflex to turn away from the direction of the fall and to turn into it instead. But I have no idea if that’s the actual secret or if the video is as effective as advertised.
Find a empty parking lot to practice in. Get comfortable making panic stops and sharp turns before you go out on the road.
Learn how the gears work…keep pedalling while you shift, and downshift BEFORE you come a stop or approach an incline.
Don’t ride on the sidewalk–even though it may seem safer. You’ll have to avoid pedestrians and cars coming out of driveways.
Watch where you’re going. As a beginner, you’re likely to be taken by surprise by rough road surfaces and random bits of road debris.
Assume that people driving cars don’t see you…try to make eye contact with drivers who are driving towards you, and people who are passing you and making right turns.
Carry a spare tube and a pump, and learn how to change a flat. Those long walks home are no fun at all.
First, learn where the brakes are and how they work. Sit on the bike, push off with your feet almost dragging the ground, and experiment with 'em.
Once you’ve mastered that, get yourself going at a decent clip, and if you want to turn, don’t turn the handlebars – instead lean the bike in the direction you want to go.
This is why people fall on their ass all the time while learning to ride. If you want to go right, and you pull the handlebars to the right, YOU the rider goes to the left and you fall down. You should lean to the right instead, and you will swoop to the right gracefully.
I remember the day that I learned to ride a bike as one of the happiest days of my childhood. If you want to be as happy as I was, do as I did:
First, find a bike that’s too small for you; it’ll be easier to control, and you can more easily use your legs to stop yourself from falling.
Second, as already mentioned, sit on the bike, push yourself along, and master the brakes.
Third, learn to ride on grass, if you have any fear of falling - you can overcome your fear easily when you realize that falling doesn’t hurt. Tying a mattress around your waist is purely optional.
Fourth, as mentioned, coast down an incline. After you’ve mastered the balance aspect, it’s time to learn pedaling and turning.
Now you’re a master cyclist! Let the happiness begin!
For Og’s sake, PLEASE get the “master the brakes” part down. I had a roommate who bought a 10-speed back in the 80’s. On her first ride out, she apparently thought she had coaster brakes instead of handlebar brakes. She did a face-plant on the curb and broke her two front teeth and had to have her lip stitched up. :rolleyes:
So I went out this morning with my bike and tried the coasting down a slight hill method. I was really wobbly and the bike seemed to keep falling out from under me. And older German man came out to see if I was ok. When I managed to explain that I was learning how to ride a bike, he decided to start pushing me. I finally convinced him to stop. I finished feeling really dejected about the whole thing, ready to give up.
But I knew I couldn’t let you all down. So I got back on the bike tonight. I tried Gary T’s method, which I think would have worked well if the bike wasn’t so flimsy. I kept feeling like I was going to snap the pedal off. So I went back to the coast downhill method, and after a few tries, I was coasting without touching the ground. And all of a sudden, I was riding a bike I think I also succeeded in getting to meet a lot of my neighbors, even if they now think of me as that crazy American girl who sucks at cycling.
I’m still a little wobbly and I haven’t figured out the whole gear thing yet. But this is amazing. I never thought I’d be riding a bike. Thanks all!
I’m 26 and I never learned. My dad bought me a bike when I was little, and always hung on to the back, pushing me. It was so scary that I eventually refused to do it anymore.
My dad decided that since I’d never learned to ride a bike, I’d never learn to drive either. Which illustrates the kind of fundamental disconnect between our ways of thinking that made my childhood so difficult. One doesn’t have to balance a car.
The gear thing is easy, once you get comfortable with the balancing. The idea is basically to let you keep a fairly steady pedal cadence (rate) no matter what grade/incline you’re on. So if it’s getting hard to pedal, shift down to an easier gear. If it’s easy, shift up to a harder gear. And you need to have the pedals turning while you shift, but without lots of pressure on them. (At least that’s the way the old stuff that I ride works. Maybe the new gearing is more tolerant of pressure?)
And squeeze the brake levers evenly! Don’t lock up the front wheel!
Don’t worry, you’ll get the hang of it! I learned how to ride my bike at 18 and only because I went to THE bicycle university in the country (UC Davis). I think cycling by myself really helped because I was afraid I would embarrass myself and eventually pissed off all my friends. Out of frustration and desperation, I tried again, by myself, on a hill. I glided down like a bird on a breeze. It was the most wonderful feeling of being free.
So if I can do it what with my fear of pain and hurting myself, you can do it! Good luck!