The day you learned to cycle, do you remember it?

Greenmachine · 31-05-2014 09:16AM

Sunglasses Ron wrote: »

I knew a bird who was 28 or so and claimed she couldn't ride a bike due to a psychological condition called dyspraxia that affected her confidence of balance, and a whole load of other things.

I blame the fact she was easily 27 stone. She was one strange fish it must be said.

Dyspraxia isn't a psychological condition at all. It's a physical one that effect co-ordination and motor movement. Hence why my best handwriting looks like that of an 8 year old boy.

It hasn't stopped my ever learning to cycle.

Nadser · 31-05-2014 09:17AM

I got the hang of it out of pure fear. I was on my granny's in the country, late at night, pitch black. I was outside, sitting on the bike with my older brother and sister when they ran off and started teasing me about vampires. I'd seen Dracula not long before and was completely terrified.

In pure panic, I cycled towards them, then realised what I'd done. That of course was their evil plan. Bastards!

JohnMearsheimer · 31-05-2014 09:33AM

I learned to cycle at 27 years of age in Stanley Park in Vancouver. A friend who couldn't believe I couldn't cycle taught me. We rented bikes for the day. I picked it up in about 5 minutes.

amdublin · 31-05-2014 09:35AM

Oh my gosh the fear mixed with the excitement!

"don't let go of me, don't let go" oh sh1t she has let go, I'm on my own

Mam - "keep pedalling, keep pedalling" *Amdublin stops pedalling and falls over*

Penny Tration · 31-05-2014 09:37AM

I can't remember learning, but I remember cycling every day as a child.

Stopped cycling when I was 11 or so.

Tried again recently, and can't do it. I've tried quite a few times, and I either crash or fall off.

So, i think I can live without cycling

amdublin · 31-05-2014 09:38AM

green_screen wrote: »

I can't remember learning, but I remember cycling every day as a child.

Stopped cycling when I was 11 or so.

Tried again recently, and can't do it. I've tried quite a few times, and I either crash or fall off.

So, i think I can live without cycling

Seriously?

Penny Tration · 31-05-2014 09:45AM

amdublin wrote: »

Seriously?

Yes. What's the big deal?

amdublin · 31-05-2014 09:46AM

green_screen wrote: »

Yes. What's the big deal?

Well you know what they say "it's just like riding a bike, you never forget" etc etc

It seems you have forgot.

Penny Tration · 31-05-2014 09:49AM

amdublin wrote: »

Well you know what they say "it's just like riding a bike, you never forget" etc etc

It seems you have forgot.

Oh, I've used that line before. It's not for lack of trying either! I bought a bike, intending to start cycling to and from work, and train for a triathlon with my dad and sister. I've tried more times than I can count. Best attempt, i made it to the bottom of my road, before crashing when I tried to turn a corner :pac:

Shakespeare's Sister · 31-05-2014 12:18PM

Yes I do. I was nine years of age, and it was on my neighbour's lovely pink bike. And it was my neighbour's wall that I crashed into on that lovely pink bike (both bike and wall were unscathed thankfully).

crockholm · 31-05-2014 12:35PM

Yup,out the back with the father,he took the stabilisers off,I wobbled a bit and then panicked and Went straight into the shed wall.The feeling of fear beforehand about crashing or falling off and the pain that would follow dissipated,it wasn't so bad after all.loved cycling aftr that.

Unfortunately about a year later,I was carried on the back of an old bike and my ankle got caught in the spokes which lead to me being sent to hospital and worse again,a fear of bikes for a long while,and the teasing that came with it.

Santa bought me a brand new bike that year,so I had to start all over again,but it was Worth it,I loved by brand new bmx rip-off bike,pity that my asshole older brother was Always taking it.

Anecdote over *looks wistfully out the window*

beks101 · 31-05-2014 01:02PM

Ah, so clearly. I must've been about five.
It was an uber-girly purple bike with rainbows drawn on, a basket and stabilizers and one day my Dad decided that it was time to de-stabilize. I remember cycling around the estate with him holding onto my seat behind me, promising not to let me go….and then he let go…and I had cycled a good half mile down the street before realizing…at which point I freaked out, pulled on the brakes and went flying over the handlebars.
I didn’t talk to him for about a week. “You promised not to let go!”
That split second between realizing and panicking was the most freeing, liberating moment ever – I remember thinking it felt like I was flying. The sensation of pumping my legs and the bike picking up speed and the wind in my hair…ah, god to be that young and easily awe-inspired again.
Can’t remember the last time I got on a bike these days.

Talib Fiasco · 31-05-2014 01:19PM

Yeah I remember it was a Sunday morning after mass. I was about 6 or 7 I'd say. I had mastered cycling with stabilisers but Dad was pushing me to get used to cycling without them. I remember him taking them off my bike and holding the back of the saddle as I began cycling. I was cycling a while when I realised my father was a good bit away from me and I was actually cycling on my own. I panicked completely and nearly crashed into the wall. But yeah I had learned to cycle. It was really a psychological thing because by the end of the day I was racing around the place with my older brother. Ah that was a good day.

Greenmachine · 31-05-2014 03:05PM

JohnMearsheimer wrote: »

I learned to cycle at 27 years of age in Stanley Park in Vancouver. A friend who couldn't believe I couldn't cycle taught me. We rented bikes for the day. I picked it up in about 5 minutes.

I am sorrry but you are about the third person in your late 20's to post that you didn't know how to cycle and had a friend or partner teach. Serious nothing to teach at that age. :eek:
Just get on the bike and do it.

HugsiePie · 31-05-2014 03:14PM

Ive pretty much always been cycling, I cant remember the exact day I learned how to cycle, but I remember the day I got the stabalisers off, I was 5. I could just do it, no parents needed, I was really proud to be like "one of the big kids", and I cycled everywhere all of the time, I kept that same bike till I was 9 years of age.....the new bike had gears and was like a mountain bike and I hated it as a result....I only started cycling again this year, with a 30 year old bike, intended for an 8 year old :rolleyes:

dee_mc · 31-05-2014 03:28PM

I was about 6, it was a tiny red bike that my grandfather got for me... stabilisers for a while, but my first un-stabilised cycle was down the (not very steep) hill from our house, nearly ended up in the ditch

JohnMearsheimer · 31-05-2014 03:30PM

Greenmachine wrote: »

I am sorrry but you are about the third person in your late 20's to post that you didn't know how to cycle and had a friend or partner teach. Serious nothing to teach at that age. :eek:
Just get on the bike and do it.

Ya he gave me a few pointers and really helped me to get my start off right. That's where I kept messing up initially.

Peregrine · 31-05-2014 03:41PM

Yeah, I do. I was probably like 7 or something. I got a bike when I was 6 and after a few months, I got my Dad to take the stabilisers off. I tried to learn, gave up and left it for a few months. Then one afternoon, I kept trying and trying and eventually I cycled it down a 20m stretch along my house without putting my foot down

Don't know how but I did it. No parents involved, unfortunately.

No Pants · 31-05-2014 03:44PM

I think it was just before my 4th birthday. It was an old, tiny bike that my uncle loaned me. It was blue, had big fat white tyres and just one set of brakes (front). The brake lever was long, fully the length of one half of the handlebars. No stabilisers. Generations of kids had learned on this.

It's a Friday night and my Da is putting a racing motorbike onto a trailer for a race the following day. I'm wheeling the bike up to the top of a slight slope, then lifting my feet and freewheeling down the slope. Over and over.

The following day, Da's car and the trailer are out of the way, so I have more room to work with. I start putting my feet on the pedals and pedaling and the next thing I know, I'm cycling. After a few more goes, I had to get my Ma and show her.

I still couldn't turn yet. I kept at it and by the time my Da came back on Sunday morning, I could turn the bike and cycle back up the slope.

Felexicon · 31-05-2014 03:48PM

Yep. It was my sisters red bike. Had a lever for the front brake and you had to pedal backwards to stop the back wheel.
Was cycling down the back garden(lived in the country so it was fairly long) with my Mam holding the saddle. To show me she let go she ran past me and put her hands on front of my face thus scaring the crap out of me and I immediately panicked and fell off. Great thing was I got to see that falling off didn't hurt at all so had no fears on a bike from that day on.

DEFTLEFTHAND · 31-05-2014 04:03PM

Some vivid memories of falling off, we had chipped gravel in our drive and it would tear through your flesh like a knife through butter. The problem was the front wheel of the bike was prone to locking up on this crap. It was horrible moment when you realised you were going over, my knees were destroyed all the time as a child.

Mint Sauce · 31-05-2014 04:12PM

You mean the day I was going down a hill, still thinking my dad was holding on untill I looked around.

Yeah I remember, after that I just learned not to look around.

Pumpkinseeds · 31-05-2014 04:30PM

_Redzer_ wrote: »

Yep. Had stabilisers for a while that didn't work and one day dad just pushed the bike down the hill. It was learn then or crash into a wall.

Great parenting as always when I was growing up.

Are you my brother/sister by any chance? As that is the exact approach my Dad took with me.

failinis · 31-05-2014 04:44PM

Took me a long while to learn, (excluding small bikes with stabilizers), but when I was 10 my dad spent the best part of a week trying to get me to stay on my silver bike, so many grazes on my knees and elbows. (Horrific balance)
Eventually was pushed down a hill, which worked. I think a good dose of fear really helps.

The day you learned to cycle, do you remember it?

Comments