Teaching adults to ride bikes: Lesson One – Balance
Without a doubt the most important aspect of learning how to ride a bike is balance. If you can’t balance you can’t ride a bicycle!
Initially when learning to ride you want to be able to build up confidence in balancing whilst riding at a slow speed in a straight line. If you start off focusing on balance you’ll find later on learning other techniques such as pedalling, turning, standing on the pedals, avoiding obstructions will all come easier.
Nearly everything you can do on a bicycle relies on a good sense of balance whilst saddled up. In this lesson we’re going to focus on getting you comfortable with balance. At the end of the lesson you should be able to maintain your balance whilst coasting.
Important considerations when approaching bicycle balance
Approaching balance on a bicycle is going to be slightly different for everyone. Some people have a natural sense of balance whilst others are walking disaster zones.
If you need proof of this just go to any school playground with some balance equipment. Some kids will just dance through it whilst others, despite giving their full concentration to the task, will fall down every time.
Fine motor skills vary from person to person so be aware this can dictate how long you spend learning to balance on a bicycle. If you aren’t naturally able to balance be prepared to spend a bit of time on this aspect of learning to ride.
One test you can do is to try and put your shoes on whilst standing and without leaning on anything. I’m not saying I’m captain awesome at balancing but I can put both shoes on and tie my laces whilst maintaining perfect balance on one foot at a time.
If you can do this then there’s a good chance you’ve got a decent sense of balance already.
Starting to learn how to balance on a bicycle
The easiest way to start learning how to balance on a bicycle is to find a good narrow hallway. You should be able sit on the bicycle (lower the seat so that you can reach the floor with your feet) and while resting on one shoulder be able to reach the other wall comfortable with your opposite arm.
It’s worth covering your handlebar ends with a bit of tea towel for this stage. Worst case scenario and you fall the last thing you want are your handlebars scratching or damaging your walls.
If you’ve got a friend get them to help guide you. Try not to rely on them steadying you though. Initially they can help but it’s important you establish a sense of balance without relying on a safety net.
If the hallway is narrow enough and you should be able to rock from shoulder to shoulder against the wall. What you want to do here is see how long you can balance stationary for.
Balancing stationary is harder then when in motion but rather then worry about braking at this stage it’s important you get to feel what balancing on a bicycle is like.
The end goal for this stage of the lesson is to feel comfortable with neither shoulder against a wall, even if this is for a few seconds. Stick with the hallway until you have a sense of confidence between the walls.
If you’re a panicker stick with it, confidence will come eventually.
Another thing you can do to get a sense of balance is to jump on a motorcycle arcade machine and practice swinging from side to side. Sitting on one of these is different to riding a bicycle position wise but knowing you won’t fall off if you swing can help alleviate a phobia of falling.
Don’t solely rely on a motorcycle arcade though as the confidence of not being able to fall doesn’t translate over when you’re actually on a bicycle learning!
Introducing motion
After you’ve got a feel for balancing on a bicycle the next step is to introduce motion into the equation. Before going further though there are a few safety checks you should go over.
Don’t worry about bicycle fit, sitting ergonomically or feeling like an idiot. Trust me if you’re about to fall you want to be able to slam your feet down as quickly as possible.
Later on you’re going to be relying on them so it’s important we start getting you used to using your brakes early.
If your brakes are loose, don’t stop you well, are improperly aligned (rubbing against the rim or tire) or there’s any play in the brake levers then get them serviced.
Initially you want to practice using your feet to balance you with the bicycle stationary. Using your brakes to keep the bike from moving get a feel for putting your feet down by rocking from side to side and alternating your resting foot.
If you’re struggling to land on a foot after pushing off with the other one try lowering your seat a little more.
Once you’re comfortable with this ease off on the brakes and push off slowly. Keep your feet near the ground, maintain a straight line and see how far you can get. The first few times you might only get a few inches before you feel like you’re going to fall.
Don’t worry, just keep practicing. Initially you’ll be able to use your feet to stop you but as you gain confidence you might have to rely on your brakes to stop you.
Once confident with balancing whilst pushing off the next step is to find an incline. Ideally you want an incline that is very gradual, just enough to coast down without you pushing off, then has a flat patch and then a slight incline to stop you slowly.
Push the bike to the top of the incline. Again familiarise yourself with your brakes and then sit down on the bike. With your feet on either side try and roll down the hill maintaining a straight line. Don’t worry about your pedals at this stage, just make sure they don’t obstruct your feet from landing on the ground.
Rolling with momentum is a lot easier then balancing at slow speeds. The counter however is that new riders often have difficulty with the descent speed.
Just keep reminding yourself that you’ve got access to your brakes and feet if you feel out of control.
Repeat this process until you’re comfortable rolling down the hill. It might take a while or even a few days out there, but eventually the goal is to be able to roll down in one motion and stop at the bottom either by using your brakes or letting incline do the work.
Once you’ve achieved this step it up by trying some slightly steeper inclines (make sure you gradually increase the incline!). As you get steeper you’ll find that you’re relying on the brakes more then your feet. If you’re not having any issues with balancing you might even want to practice placing your feet on the pedals (but don’t worry about pedalling that’ll come next).
Additionally don’t be afraid to coast down hills with your brakes applied to control your speed. The key here is confidence, not how fast you can balance at.
After achieving familiarity and confidence balancing down inclines the next step is using your own power to get you going whilst still maintaining balance. Once you’ve got that down pat congratulations, you’ve overcome the biggest obstacle most people have when it comes to learning to ride a bicycle.
In the next lesson we’ll introduce pedalling!
Article photo by KarolusLinus
March 21st, 2010 at 6:43 pm Suzie(Quote)
Thank you. You’ve given me lots of think about and work on. I hadn’t thought about using the hallway. Unfortunately, I don’t have time this side of the religious days so it’ll have to wait until next month.
Till the next post!
March 22nd, 2010 at 2:55 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
No worries Suzie. When you do get around to giving it a go let us know how it works out.
A lot of this stuff is from my own personal experience, I did the hallway balancing when I was testing different seats and heights for example. I’m trying to keep my mindset from a learner’s perspective but I’m sure there’s little tweaks and tips that will emerge when someone new to riding gives it a try.