Cycling

LegacyUser

Heres the long and short of it; i'm in my 20's and I never learned to ride a bike. Most of my friends know this and I find it quite embarrassing. So, I want to learn.

Is it feasible to learn to ride a bike on your own? Any step by step guides to look at?:D Any help or tips well appreciated....

davyjose

Start out on an exercise bike maybe, after that (with an adults, not a child's, coordination) you should pick it up fast.
Does it matter much though? I mean, I used to cycle 100+ miles a week in my teens, but it wouldn't massively surprise me if I never sit on a saddle again.

Mucco

I can see why you might find it embarrassing as most people learn to ride when they're kids, but, to be honest, it's nothing to be ashamed of. There are some very nice people over on the cycling forum who will help you out. You'll find it easy, and wonder what all the fuss was about.
A couple of tips:
Find a bike where you can lower the saddle right down so both feet can be on the ground. You can then push yourself along with your feet, which can act as stabilisers when starting out - great for the confidence. It might be easier to remove the pedals for this.
When you put the pedals back on to start pedalling, keep the saddle low, so you can easily put a foot down to keep yourself steady.

Bike's are great, so I'd say go for it.

M

Tails142

I cant imagine it being that hard to learn to ride a bike as an adult - for example I can stay up on a bike after many drinks so I suppose the only problem that kids have is that their balance mightn't be quite the same or they arent used to moving so fast...

Faith

The way I learned was someone held the back of the bike to keep me steady, while I figured out steering and pedalling. Next thing I knew, I was cycling past the person who had been holding on to the bike - she'd let go without telling me, so I didn't panic and fall off. It takes a little while, but you get it really suddenly and that's it. Maybe ask a friend to help you out in the same way?

luckat

Borrow a bike that's a bit too small for you, and set the saddle down so you can sit on it while your feet are touching the ground.

Scoot along until you're used to steering it. Then get your feet onto the pedals and start turning them.

This is the method used by the Cyclists' Touring Club when they're teaching people.

(I'm in the same situation with skating - I'd love to be able to skate, but until I can find somewhere with a lunge line so I can learn to balance and turn without falling, I'm not going to be able to learn.)

loismustdie

fear is what holds adults back so just try not be nervous and you'l be fine

dame

I got a bike one Christmas and couldn't seem to get the hang of the cycling business no matter how hard I tried. I had this terrible fear of falling. My younger sister got a bike the following Christmas and one day when we were both outside trying to cycle she suddenly managed to cycle to the gate! It was amazing, something just flipped in my head, I thought "I can cycle" and just headed off and kept going! I swore blind I'd been able to cycle for months.....couldn't have my little sister showing me up!

Just believe you can do and don't think about it too much OP. When you think about trying to balance you find it harder to actually balance. Could you get a friend to give you a "carrier" on the back of their bike? You'll find yourself balancing automatically without thinking about it. That's exactly the same way you need to balance when you're cycling yourself.

Best of luck!

twanda

Kids feet can't reach the ground easily and therefore the whole learning to cycle thing is more difficult for them. If they hit the breaks or lose their balance, they fall.

I would imagine it is easier for adults to learn as they can always hit the breaks and put their foot down on the ground.

I think you will be fine learning on your own. Best of luck with it.

LegacyUser

'Thanks for the support folks, gonna buy a bike this week and give it a go then. Cheers!'