Andy in Sig
Vice President in Exile
- Location
- Sigmaringen, Germany
wafflycat said:
If I were admin, I'd suspend you for a whole half hour for that.
Adult Learning
- Thread starter liquidindian
- Start date
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If I were admin, I'd suspend you for a whole half hour for that.
wafflycat
New Member
- Location
- middle of Norfolk
Andy in Sig said:If I were admin, I'd suspend you for a whole half hour for that.
Yebbut, Shaun is lovely and nice and not nasty like that
Arch
Married to Night Train
- Location
- Salford, UK
As ever, everyone but bonj is talking a lot of sense. I taught a middle aged chap to ride at one of our tryout roadshows a few years back, in Kingston. I put him on a Giant Halfway folder, with the pedals folded up, and the saddle down, told him what to do and left him to it, with instructions to come and get me when he felt able to freewheel with his feet up confidently. About 15 minutes later he was back, I flipped the pedals down and told him to have a try pedalling once he was freewheeling. Off he went, and after a total of about 40 minutes from not being able to ride a bike at all, he had progressed to riding a Dutch Bike round with little trouble at all. He was thrilled, and I loaded him up with local cycling maps and factsheets and stuff and advised him on road training. He just wanted to learn so that he and his missus could go out and ride the Thames side path together. It must have taken a bit of courage to come and admit to a complete stranger that he couldn't ride a bike.
Anyway, that's living proof that the scooting method works, and can work very quickly. Perhaps he had a good sense of balance, and it'll obviously vary with different people, but it can certainly be done. And after the actual act is mastered, then yes, road training would be a very good idea...
Anyway, that's living proof that the scooting method works, and can work very quickly. Perhaps he had a good sense of balance, and it'll obviously vary with different people, but it can certainly be done. And after the actual act is mastered, then yes, road training would be a very good idea...
liquidindian
New Member
- Location
- Reading
Thanks for the tips. I think the best course of action is going to be the freewheeling with my bike and no pedals to build confidence, followed by some proper tuition.
Vera Wayfromee
New Member
The Rambling Introduction Bit -
Coming late to this thread... I only found the forum today.
I very nearly didn't register because when I started browsing the 'beginner' section it seemed that the so called beginners were really either returners or bike-builders... then I stumbled on this thread and a chord was struck - so here I am, and now you could be very sorry, as you might be stuck with me!
The On-Topic Bit -
Here are my experiences as an adult learner:
Be Gentle With Me - introductory post
If you can't be bothered reading the whole post, to sum it up in a nutshell, I didn't learn to ride until I was 30 and limited access to a cycle between then and now has meant that I haven't improved much in the 17 years between then and now, though all that is about to change!
No other adult learner seems to have posted here, so I just thought I'd add my perspective, though really all it does is bear out the advice given by the sensible people earlier in this thread. The longer explanation is in the other thread but, as indicated:
- I felt self-conscious and would not have ridden if I thought I was being watched (I started my self-teach sessions at 5.30am)
- I learned by balancing and pushing myself along first... just up and down the lane, not touching the pedals. When I sort of found my balance (albeit still wobbly) I started pedalling.
As I said earlier, limited access to a bike means I still haven't developed all the basic skills I need to, in order to feel like a safe cyclist (hence my nickname) but tomorrow I get a bike of my own and I'm determined that all that will change.
One new thing to add, which might be something for the original poster to consider: I know someone has already posted the link to the CTC adult cycling training website. I considered this, but it wouldn't suit me, simply because I didn't want to be watched, and I didn't want the trainer coming to me and teaching me on home turf. If I had the money to spare right now, I'd be seriously considering this option though:
PedallingForPleasure
(I promise I'm not associated with the above in any way, and I can't really recommend them as I don't know of anyone who can speak about the experiences they offer first hand - it's just that their website, found via Google, looks promising!)
~~~~~
Vera Wayfromee
Coming late to this thread... I only found the forum today.
I very nearly didn't register because when I started browsing the 'beginner' section it seemed that the so called beginners were really either returners or bike-builders... then I stumbled on this thread and a chord was struck - so here I am, and now you could be very sorry, as you might be stuck with me!
The On-Topic Bit -
Here are my experiences as an adult learner:
Be Gentle With Me - introductory post
If you can't be bothered reading the whole post, to sum it up in a nutshell, I didn't learn to ride until I was 30 and limited access to a cycle between then and now has meant that I haven't improved much in the 17 years between then and now, though all that is about to change!
No other adult learner seems to have posted here, so I just thought I'd add my perspective, though really all it does is bear out the advice given by the sensible people earlier in this thread. The longer explanation is in the other thread but, as indicated:
- I felt self-conscious and would not have ridden if I thought I was being watched (I started my self-teach sessions at 5.30am)
- I learned by balancing and pushing myself along first... just up and down the lane, not touching the pedals. When I sort of found my balance (albeit still wobbly) I started pedalling.
As I said earlier, limited access to a bike means I still haven't developed all the basic skills I need to, in order to feel like a safe cyclist (hence my nickname) but tomorrow I get a bike of my own and I'm determined that all that will change.
One new thing to add, which might be something for the original poster to consider: I know someone has already posted the link to the CTC adult cycling training website. I considered this, but it wouldn't suit me, simply because I didn't want to be watched, and I didn't want the trainer coming to me and teaching me on home turf. If I had the money to spare right now, I'd be seriously considering this option though:
PedallingForPleasure
(I promise I'm not associated with the above in any way, and I can't really recommend them as I don't know of anyone who can speak about the experiences they offer first hand - it's just that their website, found via Google, looks promising!)
~~~~~
Vera Wayfromee