iLearnToCycle by FindingCalm

FindingCalm was inspired by her workmates who cycled daily to and from work. She got a bike and literary taught herself how to ride, with help from said workmates. Her tips

 

Learning how to cycle when you are an adult is not difficult. There’s the frustration of not having learnt how when you were a child and the general shock from peers of your having missed out on a ‘childhood rite-of-passage’. However, learning how to cycle is easy regardless of age. All you need is patience; and if you can manage it, a fun attitude.

 

If you are fortunate as I was, you’ll have all your buddies offering to teach you. It was sweet, but they all had different approaches to how I should go about starting, and in the end, I chose to try and teach myself. It is possible to teach yourself how to cycle in under an hour.

You need to have a bicycle suitable to your height, and a bicycle helmet.

 

If you have to struggle to get on the bicycle, then it’s too big for you. It should also not be too low that you have to bend over; this will strain your back. A bicycle that you can sit on with your feet firmly planted on the ground is the ideal fit. It often is necessary, to completely lower the bicycle seat. The more comfortable you are, the better your experience and confidence. It makes you calm when you don’t have to worry about falling over.

 

The first cycling skill to learn is steering, i.e. being able to steer the bicycle along a straight line. A location with a smooth and very gentle slope is best.  The idea of finding a gentle slope is so that you will not have to propel yourself forward and instead roll down gently.

 

To start, go to the top of the top of the gentle slope, hold the bicycle brakes, sit comfortably on the bicycle, and then when you are ready, gently let go of the brakes, raise both your feet off the ground (do not peddle, just keep your feet raised above ground), and gently coast down the slope. At the end of the slope, get off the bicycle, push the bicycle back up the slope, and do it again, until you are confident that you have mastered steering the bicycle in a straight line.

 

I repeated this up to 20 times. It’s just one of those things, when you have no experience, it seems daunting, but with experience, it becomes darn easy. You’ll notice that you tend to steer towards where you are looking. So focus on what’s ahead of you to quickly get a hang of steering on a straight line.

 

When you are comfortable that you have the steering down, you can move onto peddling. Before you attempt peddling, if your bicycle has gears, adjust the gears to the lower gears (i.e. the front gear should be at 1, the back gear should be at 4 or lower). Go back up to the top of the slope, and this time, instead of coasting down the slope, try peddling down the slope, gently.

 

Your peddling should be smooth and gentle. Don’t be forceful. Breathe in, relax, and gently peddle.

 

Repeat this, until you are comfortably steering and peddling. W hen you are confident that you have reasonably mastered steering and peddling, you can then try cycling on a flat surface.

 

The more time you spend cycling, the more your confidence will grow and so will your cycling skill.

 

Cycling is such fun, and is a fun way to enjoy the “great outdoors”. Cycling opens up new opportunities, not only in fitness, but in learning about yourself. It tests your boundaries, and builds courage in facing your fears, so you also grow as a person.

This video demonstrates how an adult learns to cycle.