My wife has her first real bike. I am proud of that. She is doing well learning it. She has even done the requisite clipless pedal fall in our driveway. I assured her that everyone has done it.
So, we ride together every day when I get home. Even for a short time (10 min or ). She is gaining experience and confidence.
Do you have any suggestions for “drills” that teach bike handling. She is nervous, but is an eager learner. I have been cycling for a long time and feel I have pretty decent skills (I am embarrassed by many triathletes at races) Does the knowledge of ST have any suggestions for teaching bike handling. Stopping skills, turning, maneuvering, balance, etc.
practice? Find a decent sized empty parking lot…use the yellow lines as “cones” to maneuver around to start out…then once confidence builds, use real cones…then subdivisions with turns and such? I dunno thats just what came to mind.
Have her learn how to ride with no hands. Nothing will teach balance on the bike better than that. If she has better balance she will be able to ride a straight line and will have better control overall.
ride on the white line +/- one inch on either side. repeat. Bike handling starts with knowing how to ride straight - very few of us can do it. You can work on bunny-hopping potholes later.
Riding on some smooth grass is helpful. I see a lot of new riders really struggle with stuff like:
unclipping and clipping in in traffic
understanding how to negotiate intersections in traffic
understanding how to take the correct line through a fast turn
drinking from a bottle while riding
using front and rear brakes corectly
riding in the rain
drafting another cyclist or group of cyclists
hopping the bike over curbs and such
If you take skills like that and teach them directly in a low stress way then practice them as part of the normal ride, it will really help her up the learning curve
The other thing that helps is learning to ride with bent elbows and a rotated pelvis
Our local tri club offered a clinic on bike handleing skills. Most of the class was done in a parking lot and on a low traveled parkway. Many of the suggestions already offered here were covered like setting up cones, riding straight on the line etc. Also covered in the clinic was how to corner and climb hills (without weaving all over). Another drill they had us do was to ride very close to another person and tap elbows and then shoulders (done first on the grass). At first I stiffened up and was very nervous doing this but as I kept practicing my comfort level increased and I became more relaxed. This has transferred well to riding on the road, I am less tense and able to handle my bike more comfortably. They also taught bunny hopping potholes, this skill I didn’t master quite so well which is too bad because once it thaws around here there will be tons of potholes.
Thank you all for the advice. I think it might be a bit early for rollers. But the other suggestions are good. Some ideas I had already, some new ones, Some new techniques.
I started thinking about this last night. First I had to ask myself if I was even qualified to guide her through this process. I am thinking that I will do some of the basics, get her comfortable in tight riding, then get her on a beginners group ride. Sometimes husbands are not the best person to teach. But at this point she would be very dangerous in a group so I must get her part way.
It is kind of fun to watch her grow already. She can probably count the number of hours of bike riding in her life on one hand. It has been very similar learning curve to my 9 month old learning to walk. She is so unsteady and unsure. At this point it is just time in the saddle. But it took me 20 years to get to where I am, I would like to speed it up for her.
I think mountain biking would be good. But there are no real options near me (Portland may get props for road riding, but not mountain trails) and she does not have a mountain bike, but the grass is a good place to start.
a good club will have a beginner’s ride (or slow ride) where the ride leader will be happy to shepherd a newcomer and help them learn the essentials of riding in a group
