How I did it: I had several "failed" attempts to learn over a period of years. I wanted to learn when I started as a freshman in college. Some of my friends had me sit on their bikes while they guided me along, holding me upright, but that didn't help much. Junior year, while I was abroad, some friends did the same thing. Again, to no avail.

Senior year, I had some friends come with me and help me choose a bike that fit me. Buying the bike itself was even more of a motivation, because I'd see it sitting there, taunting me. For awhile I tried sitting on it without pedaling, seeing if I could stay up. My big fear was going fast and falling.

Finally, after I graduated, I gave it one final shot, with some friends, in the quiet residential neighborhood where I lived, and it all came together. Once the initial balance clicked, my boyfriend helped me through a series of tougher courses until I was street and dirt riding.

Lessons & tips: First, get access to a bike at the height where you can put your foot down if you start to fall, and a helmet. That helps a lot with the fear if you're about to tip over.

Then, see if you can propel yourself forward on a flat, smooth street without pedaling, by pushing off from your foot on the ground. Just for a second, to feel yourself balancing.

Get to know your brakes and use them, to reassure yourself that if you start going fast, you can stop dead.

Once you get the feeling of staying upright by gliding, start putting your feet on the pedals and going very short distances. Once you're comfortable doing that, start pedaling a little.

The breakthrough is the second you allow yourself to go fast, your wheels will literally straighten out. Going fast is much easier than going slowly, but you have to feel the bike first.

Find quiet streets where you can go straight for a long while before you start doing turns. Also, steer gently so you don't tip your bike. Then learn the gear shifts, and begin to ride on different surfaces. You're on your way!

Resources: Friends who know how to bike, know how to advise the care of your bike, and who remember the fears when they were learning. If they don't, it helps to remind them that most of them learned with training wheels when they were little ;) You can do it!! Don't give up!

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Oct 18, 2008, 04:01PM PDT | 0 comments | 1 cheer