Need advice on actually riding please!

[Cheesewoman]

Hi everyone!

I'm 21 years old and up until the last couple of weeks have never really ridden a bike. My partner rides bikes quite a lot (he's got a Kona Dew) and is quite often doing long rides, and sometimes I would like to go too! So he got me a little bike (just a ladies mountain bike, cost £25 second hand). It's quite a nice little bike for me to learn on so I got no problems there.

I have been up the local air field a couple of times and done a couple of laps, having to stop here and there if I lose my balance. This is fine, but I'm finding it to be very hard on my wrists and shoulders, and I think my weight is being distributed all wrong. I try to shift my weight onto my body rather than my hands, but immediately start wobbling all over the place. I can't take my hands off the handlebars at all and I just can't understand why I find it so difficult. (It really sucks seeing little kids riding their bikes with so much ease!)

Is there anything I can do to improve my balance or is it all just practice?

 

[John the Monkey]

Practice is defnitely the key - if you feel too much weight is on your hands, it might be worth having a look at whether your bars will go higher though.

Otherwise, try to look where you're going (rather than at the bars) and just keep at it.

There's some ideas here;
http://www.wikihow.com/Ride-a-Bicycle
that might help.

 

[Banjo]

Hi everyone!

I'm 21 years old and up until the last couple of weeks have never really ridden a bike. My partner rides bikes quite a lot (he's got a Kona Dew) and is quite often doing long rides, and sometimes I would like to go too! So he got me a little bike (just a ladies mountain bike, cost £25 second hand). It's quite a nice little bike for me to learn on so I got no problems there.

I have been up the local air field a couple of times and done a couple of laps, having to stop here and there if I lose my balance. This is fine, but I'm finding it to be very hard on my wrists and shoulders, and I think my weight is being distributed all wrong. I try to shift my weight onto my body rather than my hands, but immediately start wobbling all over the place. I can't take my hands off the handlebars at all and I just can't understand why I find it so difficult. (It really sucks seeing little kids riding their bikes with so much ease!)

Is there anything I can do to improve my balance or is it all just practice?

Well done for having a go.

It maybe that the bike is too small for you making you lean too heavilly on the handle bars so the instant one hand lets go the weight on the other hand will push the bar making you wobble.

On some bikes it is possible to raise the bars a bit which may help you if that is the problem.

The seat should be high enough that your leg is almost straight at the bottom of the pedal stroke.
This means that you can normally only put one foot on the ground while sat on the seat.


Also the seast itself should be level when viewed from the side.If it tilts forward that will make your body tilt forward again putting more weight on your hands.

You only need a couple of Allen keys to make the adjustments and hopefully will make a difference.

Good Luck

 

[John the Monkey]

The seat should be high enough that your leg is almost straight at the bottom of the pedal stroke.
This means that you can normally only put one foot on the ground while sat on the seat.

I'd disagree slightly on that for someone learning to balance on a bike - teaching my kids, they both had the seat lower than this until they were more confident/experienced - it seemed to help.

 

[Silver Fox]

Hi everyone!

I'm 21 years old and up until the last couple of weeks have never really ridden a bike. My partner rides bikes quite a lot (he's got a Kona Dew) and is quite often doing long rides, and sometimes I would like to go too! So he got me a little bike (just a ladies mountain bike, cost £25 second hand). It's quite a nice little bike for me to learn on so I got no problems there.

I have been up the local air field a couple of times and done a couple of laps, having to stop here and there if I lose my balance. This is fine, but I'm finding it to be very hard on my wrists and shoulders, and I think my weight is being distributed all wrong. I try to shift my weight onto my body rather than my hands, but immediately start wobbling all over the place. I can't take my hands off the handlebars at all and I just can't understand why I find it so difficult. (It really sucks seeing little kids riding their bikes with so much ease!)

Is there anything I can do to improve my balance or is it all just practice?

Balance and confidence on your bike is something that will come with practice. If you're finding it uncomfortable you may need to adjust a few things on your bike so it fits you, seat height, reach etc. Getting the right 'fit' on a bike, whether it be a road or mountain bike is very important to the overall enjoyment and perforance of the machine.

The link is for fitting a road bike but the principles can apply to a mountainbike.

Hope it helps and enjoy your cycling.


View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAl_5e7bIHk

 

[slugonabike]

Well done on learning to ride your bike! I was 50+ when I started to cycle, I know it's not easy to learn as an adult.

I second the comments about having your seat slightly lower when you're learning, it gave me a lot more confidence knowing I could put my feet down whenever I needed to (and boy, I needed to a lot!). I also have my handlebars quite high cos it takes the weight of my arms and shoulders and lets me sit more upright. In fact, I know my seat should really go up a bit more but I'm too chicken to do it ...

Other than your bike set-up, it's all down to practice. Have fun!

 

[G81]

Well done for having the courage to get out there and start, I'm with the practice, practice, practice idea. Look where you want to go, dont worry about gears or anything yet, just spend some time getting your confidence up, I'm sure you will be fine. Your partner should be able to have a look at your riding stance, maybe give a few more hints/tips to help you.
Most of all, relax and enjoy your cycling.
This forum is really great, so much advice and support.
Also as a little personal thing think about keeping a log/diary about how you feel and how your cycling is going, it will be good for looking back and seeing your development.
Stay safe and have fun.

 

[Cheesewoman]

Thanks everyone for your advice and support! I will try raising my handlebars a bit to see if it helps take the weight off my hands.

Wish me luck and thank you all again!

 

[xpc316e]

I echo most of what others have written. I am a Bikeability Instructor and we get youngsters riding through slalom courses at an early stage. You could easily improvise with paper plates for the cones on a non-windy day. It would be good if your boyfriend could assist by riding along and doing stuff like riding with one hand on his head, chest, knee, etc and you doing a Simon Says and copying him. Get him to hand you things like a rolled up newspaper as you ride around, and next time you pass him, hand it back with the opposite hand. It really is all about practice and a bit of self-belief. Ride past him and look behind to see how many fingers he's holding up - this will really help you maintain balance when looking around on a road. Good luck.

Maximum respect to you for learning to ride at your age!

 

[summerdays]

I'd disagree slightly on that for someone learning to balance on a bike - teaching my kids, they both had the seat lower than this until they were more confident/experienced - it seemed to help.

Seconded (well probably thirded etc), you need to be sure that you can put your feet down easily in the early stages and then gradually increase the seat height as your confidence grows.

Another thing is to look ahead not down at the ground immediately infront of the bike and sit back. If you are nervous there can be a tendenacy to grip the handlebars tightly, and put more weight onto them, instead sit up and do the looking straight ahead bit and RELAX!! If you need to put your foot down - do so - don't feel guilty about it ... just enjoy the bits when you are actually riding.

Also make sure that you are not in a really high gear - if you have to push hard on each pedal that can swing your balance from side to side. Pick a gear that is fairly easy - but not that your legs are going round and round frantically.

Good luck! And keep practising.

 

[ufkacbln]

We have all been there...

The trick is building your confidence and experience at your own pace.

If you prefer cycle tracks and quiet roads then these will get you where you want to go, then adapt as you feel happy.

 

[Arch]

Welcome!

Plenty of good advice there - getting yourself sitting as upright as possible will help to take the weight off your wrists, which will help the balance. If you're still finding you're leaning too far forward, then you (or your boyfriend!) might be able to swap the stem to bring the bars closer to you.

But there is a certain amount of practice too. Once your position is good, then the more you ride, the better you'll be. It's a good idea practicing off the road - you'll be able to do things like looking behind you, and indicating, without worrying about passing cars.

Before you know it, you'll want your own new bike

 

[johnr]

All very sensible advice...

So now for something completely different

Before going out with your partner, pick up a couple of bricks and slip them into the back pockets of his shirt - you'll need to slow him down a bit.