How to ride a bike?
Peddle Up!
Posts: 2,040
Well. 
Possibly a stupid question but it came up when I was trying to convince a friend of the fun of cycling. Unlike me he'd never cycled at a child and "learnt how to do it". I made some suggestions and pointed him towards some helpful local cycling groups, but it got me thinking. I learnt to cycle as a child, but not in a particularly structured way. Have I picked up bad habits and fallen into techniques that can be bettered?
It might sound like a trivial point but I learned from taking up advanced driving that many of the things we do "naturally" as drivers can be improved upon. I guess this is the same for cycling.
How would you go about "auditing your riding technique (cornering, climbing, descending, braking etc.?)". Riding with a group would be the obvious way, I suppose.
Possibly a stupid question but it came up when I was trying to convince a friend of the fun of cycling. Unlike me he'd never cycled at a child and "learnt how to do it". I made some suggestions and pointed him towards some helpful local cycling groups, but it got me thinking. I learnt to cycle as a child, but not in a particularly structured way. Have I picked up bad habits and fallen into techniques that can be bettered?
It might sound like a trivial point but I learned from taking up advanced driving that many of the things we do "naturally" as drivers can be improved upon. I guess this is the same for cycling.
How would you go about "auditing your riding technique (cornering, climbing, descending, braking etc.?)". Riding with a group would be the obvious way, I suppose.
Purveyor of "up"
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Comments
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Yup you have answered your own question.
Get to a decent local club and watch what they do. They'll soon pick you up on anything stupid/dangerous.
ETA: didn't mean to suggest that you are doing anything stupid or dangerous in your riding, but as you say we develop bad habits without realising."That's it! You people have stood in my way long enough. I'm going to clown college! " - Homer0 -
Now this is really basic but helped me alot when i went clipless. I used to mount a bike by pushing off with one foot on the pedal and swinging my leg over while on the move. I've stopped this after learning it can cause stress to a frame. I also used to remain seated with one foot on tip toe when stopped at traffic lights. With the clipless pedals i didn't feel confident on tip toe with the other foot clipped in, as i'd lost balance in the past and had to put the other foot down quickly. I now start with one foot on the pedal and the other flat on the floor and push off and up onto the saddle, i come off the saddle with a foot flat on the ground everytime i stop. Very basic but useful.
I've been riding bikes a long time and didn't think i needed to learn how to get on and off a bike but i was wrong.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5SjHvHD ... ure=relmfuPinno, מלך אידיוט וחרא מכונאי0 -
seanoconn wrote:Now this is really basic but helped me alot when i went clipless. I used to mount a bike by pushing off with one foot on the pedal and swinging my leg over while on the move.
Crikey that brings back memories. When I was a boy that was how the older men mounted their bikes and to dismount was the reverse.
Must admit my stopping at junctions is very untidy so I found the videos quite useful.
I do envy at the general bike handling skills of the pros, they make it look so easy.Specialized Venge S Works
Cannondale Synapse
Enigma Etape
Genesis Flyer Single Speed
Turn the corner, rub my eyes and hope the world will last...0 -
ive started using rollers an it helps quite a bit
im only 13 so not much experience but hope it helps.
+ when people stops at the traffic without tacking their feet off the pedals and kinda ballance their i know ur meant 2 be in a low gear so bad for hill start.
kinda a random fact but.....
Eat.Ride.Sleep.0 -
The bible seems to be book called Cycle Craft, the cycling equivalent of the Police driver Training manual.
www.cyclecraft.co.uk0
