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Main
Date: 17 Aug 2007 04:46:07
From: bob syr
Subject: adult who has NEVER been on a bicycle
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Having spent the last few days re-learning how to ride, I find I keep
remembering things I learned as a kid. I'm curious about something.
Have any of you guys ever met an adult who wants to learn to ride, and
who has never ridden a bicycle in their life?
How would an adult learn to balance him / herself from scratch? The
same way a kid would? Do they have a hard time with it, after all
there would be no early imprinting to fall back on? Any one with
experience in this please let me know. I'm very curious.
Bob
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Date: 31 Aug 2007 02:15:15
From: The Historian
Subject: Re: adult who has NEVER been on a bicycle
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On Aug 17, 9:04 am, "David L. Johnson" <david.john...@lehigh.edu >
wrote:
> bob syr wrote:
> > Have any of you guys ever met an adult who wants to learn to ride, and
> > who has never ridden a bicycle in their life?
>
> My daughter fits the category. I taught her how to ride at age 21. I
> suppose it was my fault that she had not ridden before that point, but
> that is another story.
Forgotten me already, David? :-)
I connected with David after I posted to rbm asking for advice. I had
just purchased my bike, taking up cycling at age 40 after losing 111
pounds. I'm now an additional 32 pounds lighter and riding my first
century next weekend. I've already completed a metric century. And
logged 1800 miles on my bikes - yes, I got a second one. I am hooked.
My bike blog is:
http://historian2wheels.blogspot.com/
> > How would an adult learn to balance him / herself from scratch? The
> > same way a kid would? Do they have a hard time with it, after all
> > there would be no early imprinting to fall back on? Any one with
> > experience in this please let me know.
>
> You start out just getting them used to balancing, by finding a flat or
> slightly downhill stretch of quiet road, and have them coast down.
> Lower the seat way too low for real use, so the novice can put his/her
> feet down whenever needed. Remove the pedals so they don't get in the
> way. My daughter went through an hour or so of this before she was
> ready to put the pedals back on.
In my case, I learned the hard way - on the road, with the pedals on.
I crashed trying to avoid a mailbox that jumped in front of me after
about a mile or so. I posted about it here on rbm.
> After 2-3 sessions, keeping the pedals on after the first one, my
> daughter managed to propel herself around a bike-path loop, and she
> could also manage starting, stopping, and all that. Gears will be the
> next thing we tackle.
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Date: 19 Aug 2007 23:46:28
From: Artemisia
Subject: Re: adult who has NEVER been on a bicycle
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bob syr wrote:
> Have any of you guys ever met an adult who wants to learn to ride, and
> who has never ridden a bicycle in their life?
That was the case for me five years ago: I had never been on a bike
unitl I was 46 years old.
I taught myself to balance using the common method of riding with the
seat down, on a path with a slight downhill slope.
However, despite much enthusiasm and commitment, I never did gain full
biking skills. I still can't take my hands off the bars to signal, for
example, or ride standing, or all sorts of other things that normal
cyclists take for granted.
So I've finally decided to take the plunge for a recumbent trike. It
seems to be the must of the moment, as everyone has suddenly started
talking about them.
EFR
Ile de France
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Date: 18 Aug 2007 02:55:01
From: Tom Keats
Subject: Re: adult who has NEVER been on a bicycle
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In article <1187325967.235061.290720@k79g2000hse.googlegroups.com >,
bob syr <rcranger@syr.edu > writes:
>
> Having spent the last few days re-learning how to ride, I find I keep
> remembering things I learned as a kid. I'm curious about something.
>
> Have any of you guys ever met an adult who wants to learn to ride, and
> who has never ridden a bicycle in their life?
They frequently crop-up here in r.b.m.
> How would an adult learn to balance him / herself from scratch?
Balancing is not rocket surgery.
Anyone who can walk, can ride. After all,
walking bipedally involves balancing. I wouldn't
be surprised if kangaroos & wallabees could ride
bikes, if they could keep their tails outa the
rear wheel spokes.
The Russians have even demonstrated that bears can ride
bikes. Those circus bears might not necessarily wanna,
but they can pull it off in a pinch. I note they're
mostly Trackies, and I respect 'em for it.
Same as Sean Eadie (with the beard.)
cheers,
Tom
--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca
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Date: 18 Aug 2007 07:19:21
From: Tom \Johnny Sunset\ Sherman
Subject: Re: adult who has NEVER been on a bicycle
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Tom Keats wrote:
> In article <1187325967.235061.290720@k79g2000hse.googlegroups.com>,
> bob syr <rcranger@syr.edu> writes:
>> Having spent the last few days re-learning how to ride, I find I keep
>> remembering things I learned as a kid. I'm curious about something.
>>
>> Have any of you guys ever met an adult who wants to learn to ride, and
>> who has never ridden a bicycle in their life?
>
> They frequently crop-up here in r.b.m.
>
>> How would an adult learn to balance him / herself from scratch?
>
> Balancing is not rocket surgery.
That is the kind of mixed metaphor I would expect gene daniels to come
up with.
Speaking of Rockets, I have seen very experience upright riders fail to
ride my RANS Rocket, since they try to over-control the bicycle, while
relative newbies ride it with no problem.
> Anyone who can walk, can ride. After all,
> walking bipedally involves balancing. I wouldn't
> be surprised if kangaroos & wallabees could ride
> bikes, if they could keep their tails outa the
> rear wheel spokes....
They need to hold their tails stiffly like Zoot the Dinosaur. ;)
--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
BEER IS FOOD
--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com
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Date: 17 Aug 2007 17:17:22
From: Dart70ca
Subject: Re: adult who has NEVER been on a bicycle
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On Aug 17, 1:06 pm, catzz66 <catz...@threeletterservice.com > wrote:
> Dart70ca wrote:
> > My parents have never learned to ride bikes. We're from a small
> > fishing village on the Canadian East coast. There were no roads there;
> > only great expanses of rolling granite and bush. The town is/was so
> > small you could walk it end to end in less than 1/2 hour.
> > While my father has never expressed an interest, last year I got
> > my mom into a Sun EZTad recumbent trike. She never seemed to get the
> > knack of a 2-wheeler and adult training wheels were hard to come by.
> > At her age I really didn't want her taking a tumble anyway. She has
> > some rare ailment with her legs that causes muscle weakness, loss of
> > tone and the resulting stiffness and pain after exercise. She was
> > worried the trike would make this worse but has found that the
> > opposite seems to be true. Walking and standing makes it much worse
> > than riding.
> > We've spent a little time exploring those places one would
> > normally not go unless one can ride, as well as those little shortcuts
> > and easements through neighbourhoods you would never see in a car. So
> > far she's having a ball with it.
>
> > Keith
>
> I tried to get my parents (both seniors) interested in a three wheeler,
> but they couldn't overcome the stigma they'd built up against it from
> some eccentric person in my old home town who used to ride one
> scavenging around the neighborhoods. Where they live now is so small a
> town that it would be very safe. I told them trikes were very hip
> around here, but they weren't interested. Their doctors had both
> discouraged them from starting out on a two wheeler, which I was happy
> about.
They might think differently once they see the current crop of
recumbent trikes. The Sun bikes aren't that expensive and are sporty-
looking enough to appeal. The tadpole configuration looks very little
like the old upright 3-wheelers and are much more comfortable. I first
considered the upright 3-wheeler from Sun for her but after she tried
out a Catrike she was sold on the tadpole.
She said there's been a couple times people have looked at her
like she's 'special' but she got a real laugh out of it. There aren't
any other trikes like hers around here and I'd say that most people
around here have never even seen a picture of one.
Being able to ride with the grandkids and have them show her
around the bike paths and local roads has been great.
Grandkids like to ride it, too...:)
Keith
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Date: 17 Aug 2007 10:04:58
From: David L. Johnson
Subject: Re: adult who has NEVER been on a bicycle
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bob syr wrote:
> Have any of you guys ever met an adult who wants to learn to ride, and
> who has never ridden a bicycle in their life?
>
My daughter fits the category. I taught her how to ride at age 21. I
suppose it was my fault that she had not ridden before that point, but
that is another story.
> How would an adult learn to balance him / herself from scratch? The
> same way a kid would? Do they have a hard time with it, after all
> there would be no early imprinting to fall back on? Any one with
> experience in this please let me know.
You start out just getting them used to balancing, by finding a flat or
slightly downhill stretch of quiet road, and have them coast down.
Lower the seat way too low for real use, so the novice can put his/her
feet down whenever needed. Remove the pedals so they don't get in the
way. My daughter went through an hour or so of this before she was
ready to put the pedals back on.
After 2-3 sessions, keeping the pedals on after the first one, my
daughter managed to propel herself around a bike-path loop, and she
could also manage starting, stopping, and all that. Gears will be the
next thing we tackle.
--
David L. Johnson
What is objectionable, and what is dangerous about extremists is not
that they are extreme, but that they are intolerant.
--Robert F. Kennedy
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Date: 17 Aug 2007 20:28:08
From: Jim Flom
Subject: Re: adult who has NEVER been on a bicycle
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"David L. Johnson" <david.johnson@lehigh.edu > wrote...
>
> After 2-3 sessions, keeping the pedals on after the first one, my
> daughter managed to propel herself around a bike-path loop, and she
> could also manage starting, stopping, and all that. Gears will be the
> next thing we tackle.
Here's a helpful link for newbs...
http://sheldonbrown.com/beginners/index.html
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Date: 17 Aug 2007 05:53:08
From: Dart70ca
Subject: Re: adult who has NEVER been on a bicycle
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My parents have never learned to ride bikes. We're from a small
fishing village on the Canadian East coast. There were no roads there;
only great expanses of rolling granite and bush. The town is/was so
small you could walk it end to end in less than 1/2 hour.
While my father has never expressed an interest, last year I got
my mom into a Sun EZTad recumbent trike. She never seemed to get the
knack of a 2-wheeler and adult training wheels were hard to come by.
At her age I really didn't want her taking a tumble anyway. She has
some rare ailment with her legs that causes muscle weakness, loss of
tone and the resulting stiffness and pain after exercise. She was
worried the trike would make this worse but has found that the
opposite seems to be true. Walking and standing makes it much worse
than riding.
We've spent a little time exploring those places one would
normally not go unless one can ride, as well as those little shortcuts
and easements through neighbourhoods you would never see in a car. So
far she's having a ball with it.
Keith
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Date: 20 Aug 2007 08:35:23
From: dgk
Subject: Re: adult who has NEVER been on a bicycle
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On Fri, 17 Aug 2007 05:53:08 -0700, Dart70ca <ksgg@telus.net > wrote:
> My parents have never learned to ride bikes. We're from a small
>fishing village on the Canadian East coast. There were no roads there;
>only great expanses of rolling granite and bush. The town is/was so
>small you could walk it end to end in less than 1/2 hour.
> While my father has never expressed an interest, last year I got
>my mom into a Sun EZTad recumbent trike. She never seemed to get the
>knack of a 2-wheeler and adult training wheels were hard to come by.
>At her age I really didn't want her taking a tumble anyway. She has
>some rare ailment with her legs that causes muscle weakness, loss of
>tone and the resulting stiffness and pain after exercise. She was
>worried the trike would make this worse but has found that the
>opposite seems to be true. Walking and standing makes it much worse
>than riding.
> We've spent a little time exploring those places one would
>normally not go unless one can ride, as well as those little shortcuts
>and easements through neighbourhoods you would never see in a car. So
>far she's having a ball with it.
>
>
>Keith
>
>
My mom is also having a lot of trouble walking anything more than half
a block. However, she took up biking several years back and bikes all
over her community. Given her heart condition, biking is keeping her
alive (that according to her doctor).
However, she had biked as a child so doesn't fit the problem of the
OP.
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Date: 17 Aug 2007 15:06:49
From: catzz66
Subject: Re: adult who has NEVER been on a bicycle
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Dart70ca wrote:
> My parents have never learned to ride bikes. We're from a small
> fishing village on the Canadian East coast. There were no roads there;
> only great expanses of rolling granite and bush. The town is/was so
> small you could walk it end to end in less than 1/2 hour.
> While my father has never expressed an interest, last year I got
> my mom into a Sun EZTad recumbent trike. She never seemed to get the
> knack of a 2-wheeler and adult training wheels were hard to come by.
> At her age I really didn't want her taking a tumble anyway. She has
> some rare ailment with her legs that causes muscle weakness, loss of
> tone and the resulting stiffness and pain after exercise. She was
> worried the trike would make this worse but has found that the
> opposite seems to be true. Walking and standing makes it much worse
> than riding.
> We've spent a little time exploring those places one would
> normally not go unless one can ride, as well as those little shortcuts
> and easements through neighbourhoods you would never see in a car. So
> far she's having a ball with it.
>
>
> Keith
>
>
>
I tried to get my parents (both seniors) interested in a three wheeler,
but they couldn't overcome the stigma they'd built up against it from
some eccentric person in my old home town who used to ride one
scavenging around the neighborhoods. Where they live now is so small a
town that it would be very safe. I told them trikes were very hip
around here, but they weren't interested. Their doctors had both
discouraged them from starting out on a two wheeler, which I was happy
about.
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Date: 16 Aug 2007 21:56:57
From: Zoot Katz
Subject: Re: adult who has NEVER been on a bicycle
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On Fri, 17 Aug 2007 04:46:07 -0000, bob syr <rcranger@syr.edu > wrote:
>
>Having spent the last few days re-learning how to ride, I find I keep
>remembering things I learned as a kid. I'm curious about something.
>
>Have any of you guys ever met an adult who wants to learn to ride, and
>who has never ridden a bicycle in their life?
>
>How would an adult learn to balance him / herself from scratch? The
>same way a kid would? Do they have a hard time with it, after all
>there would be no early imprinting to fall back on? Any one with
>experience in this please let me know. I'm very curious.
>
http://www.momentumplanet.ca/features/true-story-adult-bicycle-beginner
--
zk
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