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Get on your bike son

Learning to ride a bike is all about figuring out how to keep the bike balanced until you get enough momentum built up for centrifugal force to take over. You will probably have to wobble the front wheel left and right as you work to maintain balance--this is normal and you'll get better at it with practice. Every bike is different so there will be a bit of a learning curve even when you switch bikes.

The importing thing to remember is that if you start to lose balance you must adjust the wheel, not yourself. When you're starting from a stopped position, you should maintain a fairly static posture until you're up to speed. From there, you can lean forward as you go faster (this reduces your drag) and lean into turns (but not too much unless you want to kiss the pavement.)

I was "taught" to ride a bike by being pushed along by my parents and falling over repeatedly until I "got it." I hated the whole process and I hated them for making me do it, but whatever, I can ride a fucking bike.
 
the great thing about bikes is that they've essentially got two gyroscopes on 'em
the slower you go, the less stable you are, but there is a speed where it's too fast and becomes unstable, so don't race cars down hills :p

also, some good advice about proper seat position: you want it to be about hip height when standing next to it, and when sitting your leg should be slightly bent at the knee when the pedal is at the bottom. you don't want to lock your knee on the downstroke, and you also want to be able to touch the ground with the toes of both feet when stopped
 
I think you could pick it up in a couple of days, maybe less, if you really go for it and practice, practice, practice. No descriptions will help, you will have to see how it feels for yourself. The only thing I remember having difficulty with the first few days are sharp turns while going quite fast, I used to fall off because I did not slow my peddling on the turn, ovoid this while you are still getting the hang of it, as it will make you loose your balance, and you'll save yourself many scrapes.

I think I learned quite late when I got an 18 gear mountain bike for my 10th birthday - my mother was not much of a runner who could push me along so I did it on my own, on a bike so big my toes didn't touch the ground when I was on the seat. My mother wanted to get me a tiny pink ladies mountain bike, but I was having none of it, I got a medium frame men's bike. :lol: Riding a bike can be so much fun - see it as that and you'll have a wonderful time learning.

Also tape your trouser leg down if you don't want to destroy your trousers! I wouldn't go for shorts or short sleeves the first few days if you don't want to loose too much flesh. :p
 
An Officer said:
Also tape your trouser leg down if you don't want to destroy your trousers! I wouldn't go for shorts or short sleeves the first few days if you don't want to loose too much flesh. :p
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some bikes have a chain guard
also tie your shoes tight :D
 
backstept said:
and you also want to be able to touch the ground with the toes of both feet when stopped
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Yeah, but not while sitting on the seat.

And in regards to what bike; I'd recommend any cheap bike that strikes your fancy (but not department store junk please, go to a real bike shop for advice) or depending on your budget a used bike. After riding a couple months you'll have a better idea of what you really want.

I think road bikes are more fun though unless you really use it the way mountain bikes are intended though; I used a more-or-less-mountain bike for commuting for years until I bought a half-way decent road bike and it was so much more fun I can't even say, it was a revelation. Mostly I guess because it weighed at most half as much as the other bike, although it's steel and the other one was aluminium (and even carbon is really getting affordable these days, I think in a couple year most bikes will be carbon).
 
Since you're older and probably won't have someone running along holding you up, there's one bit of advice I heard recently that would probably help. At first, forget about the pedals (you may even want to remove them). Put the seat down far enough so that your feet can touch the ground, and *walk* your bike along. You should be able to get up to at least jogging speed this way, and it will help you learn to balance & steer without the fear of falling over. After you're comfortable with that, then you start trying the pedals.
 
Start with a unicycle and gradually build up the number of wheels. To provide a more direct man-machine interface, remove the saddle and insert the seat tube up your anus.
 
I really don't accept the stereotype that Web Developer types can't ride bicycles.

In fact I think not being able to ride a bike is so rare that no particular group bears that stereotype.
 
trekkiedane said:
JarodRussell said:
I'd recommend training wheels. The rest about riding a bike is self-explanatory.
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I'd warn against them!

Training wheels only prolong the process because once they're off you'll need to learn to ride a bike all over again.
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I agree. Training wheels will teach you to ride a bike wrong. The key to riding is maintaining balance, which is a combination of turning and leaning, but mostly leaning. Training wheels prevent you from leaning, so you never learn that part of it.

Besides, I'm not sure you can even get training wheels for an adult-sized bike.

As for advice on how to do it, here's how I taught my kids: I took them to a nearby park with a small hill. I had them sit on the seat and coast down the hill over and over until they could do it without falling. Then, I had them try to turn while coasting down the hill. Once they could more or less do that, we moved to the sidewalk and added pedaling to the process. This method teaches the different parts separately, so that one doesn't have to learn them all at once. It worked for my kids.
 
backstept said:
the great thing about bikes is that they've essentially got two gyroscopes on 'em
the slower you go, the less stable you are, but there is a speed where it's too fast and becomes unstable, so don't race cars down hills :p

also, some good advice about proper seat position: you want it to be about hip height when standing next to it, and when sitting your leg should be slightly bent at the knee when the pedal is at the bottom. you don't want to lock your knee on the downstroke, and you also want to be able to touch the ground with the toes of both feet when stopped
Click to expand...
Comparing the mass of the rider to the much smaller mass of the wheels and tires I doubt gyroscopic effects are contributing much, especially with the light wheels on racing style bikes.

I'm thinking most of the benefit comes from the ability to turn when the rider and bicycle start to lean. The momentum of the rider in the direction before the corrective turn counteracts the force of gravity which would otherwise make the lean increase. The round cross section of the tires and geometry of the handlebar bearing and front fork allows that turning action to still function when a more experienced rider takes both hands off the handlebars (I never had the courage to try that!).

Unicycles would be a bit more challenging because the rider has to simultaniously pedal frontwards or backwards, often alternately, to keep the tire's contact point under their center of gravity. On that unicycle forward motion occurs when the rider leans a little forward and pedals at the right speed to continuously counteract the force that would otherwise make them fall forward.
 
RobertVA said:
backstept said:
the great thing about bikes is that they've essentially got two gyroscopes on 'em
the slower you go, the less stable you are, but there is a speed where it's too fast and becomes unstable, so don't race cars down hills :p

also, some good advice about proper seat position: you want it to be about hip height when standing next to it, and when sitting your leg should be slightly bent at the knee when the pedal is at the bottom. you don't want to lock your knee on the downstroke, and you also want to be able to touch the ground with the toes of both feet when stopped
Click to expand...
Comparing the mass of the rider to the much smaller mass of the wheels and tires I doubt gyroscopic effects are contributing much, especially with the light wheels on racing style bikes.

I'm thinking most of the benefit comes from the ability to turn when the rider and bicycle start to lean. The momentum of the rider in the direction before the corrective turn counteracts the force of gravity which would otherwise make the lean increase. The round cross section of the tires and geometry of the handlebar bearing and front fork allows that turning action to still function when a more experienced rider takes both hands off the handlebars (I never had the courage to try that!).

Unicycles would be a bit more challenging because the rider has to simultaniously pedal frontwards or backwards, often alternately, to keep the tire's contact point under their center of gravity. On that unicycle forward motion occurs when the rider leans a little forward and pedals at the right speed to continuously counteract the force that would otherwise make them fall forward.
Click to expand...
I'm guessing you've never held a bike wheel as it's spinning and tried to turn it . . . gyroscopic stabilization is very real, even on something as light as a bike wheel
 
backstept said:
RobertVA said:
backstept said:
the great thing about bikes is that they've essentially got two gyroscopes on 'em
the slower you go, the less stable you are, but there is a speed where it's too fast and becomes unstable, so don't race cars down hills :p

also, some good advice about proper seat position: you want it to be about hip height when standing next to it, and when sitting your leg should be slightly bent at the knee when the pedal is at the bottom. you don't want to lock your knee on the downstroke, and you also want to be able to touch the ground with the toes of both feet when stopped
Click to expand...
Comparing the mass of the rider to the much smaller mass of the wheels and tires I doubt gyroscopic effects are contributing much, especially with the light wheels on racing style bikes.

I'm thinking most of the benefit comes from the ability to turn when the rider and bicycle start to lean. The momentum of the rider in the direction before the corrective turn counteracts the force of gravity which would otherwise make the lean increase. The round cross section of the tires and geometry of the handlebar bearing and front fork allows that turning action to still function when a more experienced rider takes both hands off the handlebars (I never had the courage to try that!).

Unicycles would be a bit more challenging because the rider has to simultaniously pedal frontwards or backwards, often alternately, to keep the tire's contact point under their center of gravity. On that unicycle forward motion occurs when the rider leans a little forward and pedals at the right speed to continuously counteract the force that would otherwise make them fall forward.
Click to expand...
I'm guessing you've never held a bike wheel as it's spinning and tried to turn it . . . gyroscopic stabilization is very real, even on something as light as a bike wheel
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As a matter of fact I have, and it's not powerful enough to hold a bike upright without a lot of help from the constant small course corrections. If the gyroscopic effects were the greater contributor to balancing the bicycle it would be much easier for someone who had never rode a bike to jump on and ride down the street without a learning period.
 
Well now I'm off to a flying start, I visited a bike shop late yesterday and picked up a bike. The chap that runs the place even showed me how to go about teaching myself to ride.

Leaning into curves is counterintuitive especially at lower speeds but I swear to god I am getting the hang of this. I will be riding in no time.

You guys were dead right about ignoring the theory and getting out and doing it.

The biggest lesson of yesterday though was how much my crotch / arse/ thighs hurt from sitting on those awful little seats.
 
Collingwood Nick said:
Well now I'm off to a flying start, I visited a bike shop late yesterday and picked up a bike. The chap that runs the place even showed me how to go about teaching myself to ride.

Leaning into curves is counterintuitive especially at lower speeds but I swear to god I am getting the hang of this. I will be riding in no time.

You guys were dead right about ignoring the theory and getting out and doing it.

The biggest lesson of yesterday though was how much my crotch / arse/ thighs hurt from sitting on those awful little seats.
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I wish you the best of luck Nick. You'll pick it up in no time and take advice about the seat/padding thing.

Remember speed is the answer ~ not too fast (potential lack of control) but not too slow (potential falling off whilst at a standstill).

A couple of cautionary tales...

Whilst overseeing cycling proficiency training for 10 yr olds, one little boy just stopped at a junction, didn't put a foot down and fell (I swear in slow motion) sideways and wondered why that happened.

A chap I used to work with at IBM bought himself a racing bike and all the gear, including the pedals with the straps on to make you not lose your pedaling rhythm (apparently)
On stopping at a junction he again fell over because he couldn't get his foot out of the strap.

The moral of this story is either put a foot down or aim for a lamppost so you can grab on to it :)

Good luck
 
Just like the way they do on motorcycles right? I've seen guys do that at intersections enough to know what you're talking about.

When I get the hang of this biking lark, I will move onto motorbikes 8)
 
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