Learn How To Ride A Bike
July 16, 2015 9:33 AM Subscribe
This post was deleted for the following reason: Poster's Request -- Brandon Blatcher
This is a little more trial and error than I'd be comfortable with (ow, my shins!) so I'll add some more specific info on how to start and stop on a bicycle. Starting in a more consistent way definitely helps with the wobbling and only going ten feet at a time described in this article. "Keep trying" is practically always good advice, though!
posted by asperity at 9:39 AM on July 16, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by asperity at 9:39 AM on July 16, 2015 [3 favorites]
I mostly panicked about turning--everything is so fast!--the last time I tried to (re) learn how to ride a bike. Mind, since I was trying to learn to ride it for commuting purposes and immediately found myself terrified of cars, I wound up giving up on it.
That said, I really loved this article, even though I have approximately zero desire to try and re-learn how to ride a bike again. I thought it struck a pretty good balance between "this basic skill is completely essential and if you don't have it already you MUST LEARN IT" and "meh, don't need it, only learn if you absolutely have to." Which is pretty tricky to do.
posted by sciatrix at 9:44 AM on July 16, 2015 [4 favorites]
That said, I really loved this article, even though I have approximately zero desire to try and re-learn how to ride a bike again. I thought it struck a pretty good balance between "this basic skill is completely essential and if you don't have it already you MUST LEARN IT" and "meh, don't need it, only learn if you absolutely have to." Which is pretty tricky to do.
posted by sciatrix at 9:44 AM on July 16, 2015 [4 favorites]
I have become a dedicated bike commuter since moving to my new city last year, so I studiously obey traffic laws and safety regulations. (I still won't bike at night as I am too nervous.) I have really been enjoying it, but have been enjoying less the mentality of drivers who would rather get super close to me on a city street than their neighbouring car or bus. I guess I never noticed--as this is new to me, this bike as transport thing--but I now do.
I am totally scared of it eating it but surely it has to happen.
posted by Kitteh at 9:44 AM on July 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
I am totally scared of it eating it but surely it has to happen.
posted by Kitteh at 9:44 AM on July 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
This reminds me a lot of something fresher in my memory: learning to drive with a manual transmission.
If you learned to ride decades ago maybe you’ve forgotten how it first felt, but it’s an incredible sensation to race through the park or down a busy road, the air whooshing in your face and the world flying by. You are free to go wherever you want and capable of getting there without having to resort to shutting yourself off from the world in a car or train. You feel excellent in body and mind; it is a workout, and it is a joy.
About a quarter century later for me and yeah, still this.
posted by indubitable at 9:55 AM on July 16, 2015 [10 favorites]
If you learned to ride decades ago maybe you’ve forgotten how it first felt, but it’s an incredible sensation to race through the park or down a busy road, the air whooshing in your face and the world flying by. You are free to go wherever you want and capable of getting there without having to resort to shutting yourself off from the world in a car or train. You feel excellent in body and mind; it is a workout, and it is a joy.
About a quarter century later for me and yeah, still this.
posted by indubitable at 9:55 AM on July 16, 2015 [10 favorites]
If you learned to ride decades ago maybe you’ve forgotten how it first felt
No, it's always like that. Freedom on wheels.
posted by chavenet at 9:58 AM on July 16, 2015 [7 favorites]
No, it's always like that. Freedom on wheels.
posted by chavenet at 9:58 AM on July 16, 2015 [7 favorites]
I wrote the snarkier, 201 version of this a while back: Don’t Bike Like A Dickweed: 10 Rules for New Cyclists
posted by Juliet Banana at 10:00 AM on July 16, 2015 [24 favorites]
posted by Juliet Banana at 10:00 AM on July 16, 2015 [24 favorites]
although also there's the HOLY SHIT I'M DOING IT YOU GUYS that's pretty big
posted by indubitable at 10:02 AM on July 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by indubitable at 10:02 AM on July 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
I can't really speak with authority, as I can't ride a bike, but really, get the lessons. Sure, some stuff is 'this is how you ride a bike', and some stuff is 'this is how you ride a bike safely', but some of it is, 'this is how to set the height and angle of your seat, and how you tell if the bike is properly maintained and safe to use'.
I couldn't be bothered to keep up the practice, and then someone stole the bike I was using, but really, the lessons are probably well worth it.
posted by YAMWAK at 10:05 AM on July 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
I couldn't be bothered to keep up the practice, and then someone stole the bike I was using, but really, the lessons are probably well worth it.
posted by YAMWAK at 10:05 AM on July 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
I can't really ride a bike anywhere like nyc because by default bike-riding makes the normal thinking human part of my brain turn off completely leaving only the flappy-eared puppy with its head out the car window part of my brain in charge of all decision making.
posted by poffin boffin at 10:05 AM on July 16, 2015 [16 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 10:05 AM on July 16, 2015 [16 favorites]
I learned how to ride a bike a few months before I turned 18, which sounds pretty young to me now, but of course that is still unusually late and I did feel like an adult learning to do something most children had already mastered. It's pretty awkward and embarrassing - my fellow-teenager friends running behind my bike, pushing me, then letting go, and me falling over. Meanwhile little 5-year-olds are zipping past on their sweet new two-wheelers. But the "I'M DOING IT!" moment was awesome. (I made all my friends walk away and not look at me while I tried to make the bike go all by myself, and after a few false starts I did it. It really was a thrill!)
Now, anywhere I go in my town, I'm usually traveling by bike. I ride a bike pretty much every day. So the embarrassment of learning at a late age absolutely paid off. I know very little about proper bike maintenance, though.
posted by mandanza at 10:11 AM on July 16, 2015 [3 favorites]
Now, anywhere I go in my town, I'm usually traveling by bike. I ride a bike pretty much every day. So the embarrassment of learning at a late age absolutely paid off. I know very little about proper bike maintenance, though.
posted by mandanza at 10:11 AM on July 16, 2015 [3 favorites]
I learned to ride a bike as a grownup, and was helped by the advice of Sheldon Brown and Mark Twain. "Accept that you're going to eat it" is shitty advice; you don't actually have to get hurt or fall over. "Find a good place" is very good advice — empty parking lots worked best of all for me, being flat, smoothly paved, and most importantly free from pretty much anyone watching. (Getting through the embarrassment is probably as important a factor as the physical skill-learning stuff for a lot of adult bike learners, or at least it was for me.) Missing from this article are two other little things that were most important for me during the first couple of hours of learning: 1. lower the seat to start out so that you can scoot with your toes on the ground if you freak out, and 2. if you feel yourself tipping, steer in that direction.
posted by RogerB at 10:12 AM on July 16, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by RogerB at 10:12 AM on July 16, 2015 [4 favorites]
*boggles*
Adults who have ridden a bike as a child actually struggle when they get back in the saddle? I'm grateful the longest I've gone without riding a bike was only something like six years. Today, I commute via bicycle whenever possible and I'm happier and healthier than I've ever been in my life.
posted by entropicamericana at 10:14 AM on July 16, 2015
Adults who have ridden a bike as a child actually struggle when they get back in the saddle? I'm grateful the longest I've gone without riding a bike was only something like six years. Today, I commute via bicycle whenever possible and I'm happier and healthier than I've ever been in my life.
posted by entropicamericana at 10:14 AM on July 16, 2015
I mostly panicked about turning--everything is so fast!--the last time I tried to (re) learn how to ride a bike.
Steer with your head, not your hands. You'll feel much more stable once you get the hang of it.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 10:18 AM on July 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
Steer with your head, not your hands. You'll feel much more stable once you get the hang of it.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 10:18 AM on July 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
but the helmet keeps interfering with the handlebars
posted by backseatpilot at 10:20 AM on July 16, 2015 [23 favorites]
posted by backseatpilot at 10:20 AM on July 16, 2015 [23 favorites]
I may well be helping a 57 year old to learn to cycle at the weekend so this is timely, though I'm not actually going to let them read it since I also think the accept you're going to eat it is poor advice, you will likely have a few falloffs early but if you choose a location wisely this will not be that problematic and you will be going at low speed anyway.
I was 26 before I learned, I picked it up reasonably quickly which surprised me since I had failed in my youth. I just went around in circles on a big cycle path junction. Turning was the barrier, I fell into the same thorn bush on a corner 4 times before realising that if I went round anti-clockwise instead I would be landing on flat grass, I think this goes to stupidity rather than the process. I felt good about what I had achieved in that first session even though some morons let their border collie puppy off the leash on the bike path and it ran up alongside me, stuck its head under my front wheel and I cycled over its neck, coming to a fairly hard stop knackers to cross bar.
posted by biffa at 10:21 AM on July 16, 2015
I was 26 before I learned, I picked it up reasonably quickly which surprised me since I had failed in my youth. I just went around in circles on a big cycle path junction. Turning was the barrier, I fell into the same thorn bush on a corner 4 times before realising that if I went round anti-clockwise instead I would be landing on flat grass, I think this goes to stupidity rather than the process. I felt good about what I had achieved in that first session even though some morons let their border collie puppy off the leash on the bike path and it ran up alongside me, stuck its head under my front wheel and I cycled over its neck, coming to a fairly hard stop knackers to cross bar.
posted by biffa at 10:21 AM on July 16, 2015
oh and for learning about bike maintenance, Zinn's book is great (mountain bike version)
posted by indubitable at 10:23 AM on July 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by indubitable at 10:23 AM on July 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
Ooh, the not-steering-with-your-hands was mind-blowing to me. I was jerking the handlebars all over the place and was so confused. Why wouldn't the bike turn?! Why did it sometimes turn when I didn't want it to?! What the heck are these handlebars for if not for steering?! Yeah.
I agree with RogerB also - I never "ate it" while learning to ride. When I say that I fell over, what I mean is that I tipped over and caught myself with my foot. I didn't hurt myself at all while learning to bike. Maybe I was more cautious than the writer of this article. I also had friends helping me rather than learning totally on my own. (My worst bike injuries have been in the last year: I skidded out on ice during some rain that, unbeknownst to me, turned out be freezing rain).
posted by mandanza at 10:24 AM on July 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
I agree with RogerB also - I never "ate it" while learning to ride. When I say that I fell over, what I mean is that I tipped over and caught myself with my foot. I didn't hurt myself at all while learning to bike. Maybe I was more cautious than the writer of this article. I also had friends helping me rather than learning totally on my own. (My worst bike injuries have been in the last year: I skidded out on ice during some rain that, unbeknownst to me, turned out be freezing rain).
posted by mandanza at 10:24 AM on July 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
Just to add to Juliet Banana's advice - Stay off the Damn Sidewalks!
Sidewalks are for pedestrians. I'm sideswiped (often closely) by cyclists relatively frequently as I walk to work. (I'd bike, but it's not really that far and there's no good place to lock my bike on the work end.)
A couple weeks back I was walking somewhere on a narrow sidewalk with a construction fence on one side and a guy on a bike came up behind me and yelled at me until I got off the sidewalk so he'd have room to get by. The street didn't even have much vehicular traffic so no good reason for him to be on the sidewalk.
Also, I've seen it recommended to remove the pedals from a bike for learners and just let them scoot along with their feet until they get the steering/balance part right.
posted by Death and Gravity at 10:26 AM on July 16, 2015 [11 favorites]
Sidewalks are for pedestrians. I'm sideswiped (often closely) by cyclists relatively frequently as I walk to work. (I'd bike, but it's not really that far and there's no good place to lock my bike on the work end.)
A couple weeks back I was walking somewhere on a narrow sidewalk with a construction fence on one side and a guy on a bike came up behind me and yelled at me until I got off the sidewalk so he'd have room to get by. The street didn't even have much vehicular traffic so no good reason for him to be on the sidewalk.
Also, I've seen it recommended to remove the pedals from a bike for learners and just let them scoot along with their feet until they get the steering/balance part right.
posted by Death and Gravity at 10:26 AM on July 16, 2015 [11 favorites]
Last time I did any real bike riding was around age 13. My parents kept my bike in storage, and I had them get it out during a transit strike in Philly, after I'd moved on my own. Sure enough, the next day, the strike ended. A few days later, someone stole the bike off my building's porch, breaking a railing to do so.
Now I live in NYC, in Outer Queens, too far from anywhere to bike to work.
posted by SansPoint at 10:29 AM on July 16, 2015
Now I live in NYC, in Outer Queens, too far from anywhere to bike to work.
posted by SansPoint at 10:29 AM on July 16, 2015
POR RAZONES ESCANDALOSOS
posted by poffin boffin at 10:30 AM on July 16, 2015 [8 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 10:30 AM on July 16, 2015 [8 favorites]
that is our new telenovela about bike riding failures
posted by poffin boffin at 10:31 AM on July 16, 2015 [9 favorites]
posted by poffin boffin at 10:31 AM on July 16, 2015 [9 favorites]
My advice for someone who has never ridden and wants to learn would be to start out with a kid's bike in an empty parking lot (or some other large flat area). When I say "kid's bike" I mean a bike so low that you can sit on the saddle comfortably with both feet flat on the ground on either side. Then forget about peddling (ideally you'd take the peddles off, in fact--but that may be more bother than it's worth)--just propel yourself with your feet. That way you can get used to the feel of steering and balancing and all that, without ever feeling worried about falling over (you just put your feet down again if you feel unstable). Work towards being able to pick your feet up and coast for longer and longer stretches. When you're confident at that, then you can put the saddle up as high as it will go (on a kid's bike) and try doing some peddling.
But, really, the key thing is just getting that feeling for how a bike balances and how a bike turns. Once you have that down, the rest comes pretty easily.
posted by yoink at 10:44 AM on July 16, 2015 [7 favorites]
But, really, the key thing is just getting that feeling for how a bike balances and how a bike turns. Once you have that down, the rest comes pretty easily.
posted by yoink at 10:44 AM on July 16, 2015 [7 favorites]
This article is for those of us who didn't learn how to ride a bike when we were kids, some of us for VERY sordid reasons!
Oh, well, in that case, my sympathies. Welcome to the tribe!
"Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race." - attributed to H.G. Wells
posted by entropicamericana at 10:44 AM on July 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
Oh, well, in that case, my sympathies. Welcome to the tribe!
"Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race." - attributed to H.G. Wells
posted by entropicamericana at 10:44 AM on July 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
I taught myself when I was 22. I was afraid of getting scraped up so I practiced on an empty baseball diamond. One time some small children rode past me through the park and I was sort of mortified but kept on. I remember the moment it clicked and I could stay upright for a few feet.
The next year was one of the best years of my life. I was living in Bozeman, Montana, which is small enough that you can easily bike from one end of town to the other. You can easily bike right up into the mountains. (And very rapidly back down, hence the scar on my knee and elbow.)
I don't bike much anymore, partly due to crazy drivers and partly because of inertia and bad knees. Oh, to be 22 again!
posted by desjardins at 10:44 AM on July 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
The next year was one of the best years of my life. I was living in Bozeman, Montana, which is small enough that you can easily bike from one end of town to the other. You can easily bike right up into the mountains. (And very rapidly back down, hence the scar on my knee and elbow.)
I don't bike much anymore, partly due to crazy drivers and partly because of inertia and bad knees. Oh, to be 22 again!
posted by desjardins at 10:44 AM on July 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
Although I like and agree with most of this article, I disagree with the statement "Here’s the secret to learning to ride a bike: Just keep trying it, you’ll get it soon." Speaking as someone with balance and coordination difficulties, I would never had mastered the art if this was all the advice I had been given. I spent THIRTY SIX years trying. I tried as a child, a teenager, a young adult, helped by various parents, friends and partners. The only thing that worked for me was a combination of:
1) this technique
2) reading up on the science behind how a bicycle works, in particular how it manages to stay up. In particular, I had a proper "lightbulb moment" when I read the instruction "if your bicycle starts to fall over, turn the wheel in the direction it is falling and it will right itself"
I basically learned to cycle sitting at my computer. I think for people with my kind of issues, being told to keep trying/try harder/etc is the most frustrating thing ever. But I am SO glad I actually got the hang of it. I love cycling and even now sometimes find it hard to believe I am actually doing something that I thought I would never be able to.
posted by intensitymultiply at 10:45 AM on July 16, 2015 [10 favorites]
1) this technique
2) reading up on the science behind how a bicycle works, in particular how it manages to stay up. In particular, I had a proper "lightbulb moment" when I read the instruction "if your bicycle starts to fall over, turn the wheel in the direction it is falling and it will right itself"
I basically learned to cycle sitting at my computer. I think for people with my kind of issues, being told to keep trying/try harder/etc is the most frustrating thing ever. But I am SO glad I actually got the hang of it. I love cycling and even now sometimes find it hard to believe I am actually doing something that I thought I would never be able to.
posted by intensitymultiply at 10:45 AM on July 16, 2015 [10 favorites]
The article is missing one key point that helped me learn to ride a bike:
Keep your head up!
...as opposed to looking at your pedaling feet, the handlebars, and whatever else. When you keep your head up, and you look in the direction you go, it makes it waaay easier to let yourself naturally and unconsciously wiggle the handlebars right.
The funny thing was this advice was given to me by my Dad who doesn't know how to ride a bike! I was sixteen at the time and trying my best, on the family driveway. While my Dad was watching. It wasn't working. After fifteen minutes of that, he yelled: "Keep your head up!" It worked and I was off and pedaling.
Something else helpful is to start at the top of a very gentle incline, the faster you go, the easier to balance.
(Other advice my Dad has given me has not been so helpful including: "You can eat however much you want, as long as you exercise")
posted by storybored at 10:50 AM on July 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
Keep your head up!
...as opposed to looking at your pedaling feet, the handlebars, and whatever else. When you keep your head up, and you look in the direction you go, it makes it waaay easier to let yourself naturally and unconsciously wiggle the handlebars right.
The funny thing was this advice was given to me by my Dad who doesn't know how to ride a bike! I was sixteen at the time and trying my best, on the family driveway. While my Dad was watching. It wasn't working. After fifteen minutes of that, he yelled: "Keep your head up!" It worked and I was off and pedaling.
Something else helpful is to start at the top of a very gentle incline, the faster you go, the easier to balance.
(Other advice my Dad has given me has not been so helpful including: "You can eat however much you want, as long as you exercise")
posted by storybored at 10:50 AM on July 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
If you're very unsure about learning from the few teaching efforts I'd been successful at, I'd suggest looking for a huge empty empty parking lot with a gentle slope. There are several things going on what with peddling and steering and unfamiliar brakes. Get comfortable with how the breaks work, much less scary being able to stop when you want to stop. Try just coasting and stopping.
But really, I'm not a gungho special outfit kind of biker but it is just one of the best things. Going along looking at the world at a close up pace, faster than walking or running, a warm breeze, just wonderful. Totally worth the effort.
posted by sammyo at 10:50 AM on July 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
But really, I'm not a gungho special outfit kind of biker but it is just one of the best things. Going along looking at the world at a close up pace, faster than walking or running, a warm breeze, just wonderful. Totally worth the effort.
posted by sammyo at 10:50 AM on July 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
I would love to see this article for swimming. I'm 40 years old and can't swim. Can't float either. (For all you people who are going to insist it's not true, I really cannot in actual fact float, I promise.)
posted by desjardins at 10:54 AM on July 16, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by desjardins at 10:54 AM on July 16, 2015 [4 favorites]
And remember to be safe and follow the rules of the road! If you've forgotten those rules, watch this bicycle safety film and let a gang of doomed monkey-children instruct you.
posted by octobersurprise at 11:17 AM on July 16, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by octobersurprise at 11:17 AM on July 16, 2015 [3 favorites]
I wrote the snarkier, 201 version of this a while back: Don’t Bike Like A Dickweed: 10 Rules for New CyclistsTHANK YOU
posted by circleofconfusion at 11:27 AM on July 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
> This article is for those of us who didn't learn how to ride a bike when we were kids, some of us for VERY sordid reasons!
internet fraud detective squad, station number 9: You can't do this to me! I didn't think I needed to know about the reasons, but since they're sordid, I must!
posted by cardioid at 11:31 AM on July 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
internet fraud detective squad, station number 9: You can't do this to me! I didn't think I needed to know about the reasons, but since they're sordid, I must!
posted by cardioid at 11:31 AM on July 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
Great article. Biking is near and dear to me, and I encourage everyone to do it as often as possible.
If you're just learning, once you feel comfortable pedaling a bike I definitely think you should take a beginners' class. I've never stopped riding bikes, but when I decided to get semi-serious about mountain biking I showed up for the local bicycling association's how-to session and had a blast. Not only did I learn some proper technique (always keep the ring of your index finger and thumb around the handlebars; brake with your other fingers) but it was a great way to educate myself on riding/trail etiquette and basic bike maintenance. Plus it was a great entryway into the local association membership. Bicycling socially is an incredible aspect to the activity that didn't originally occur to me.
I didn't have a bike when I moved out here to Los Angeles. After coming out here with high hopes a bunch of junk happened and I wound up in a low place, pretty depressed. Went to some counseling and couldn't really sort it out there. Psych said I needed some more friends. True enough, but I didn't feel capable of making friends while in that state of mind. Then one time just before a session, I had an idea to buy a bike. I could get a used one for real cheap from a bike shop down the street, for about twice as much as this session was going to cost me. So I called my counselor and told her I had an idea, then I went and bought a too-small beater bike. Took it to the river path near my house, and rode for miles wearing the biggest smile my face had seen for years.
My cycling habit has gotten much more serious lately, but the joy in my heart is just as fierce now when I ride as it was back then. Bicycling is good for your soul. Good for your body, too, just ask any of the 70+ year-old dudes who beat me up the mountain on our weeknight club rides.
posted by carsonb at 11:43 AM on July 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
If you're just learning, once you feel comfortable pedaling a bike I definitely think you should take a beginners' class. I've never stopped riding bikes, but when I decided to get semi-serious about mountain biking I showed up for the local bicycling association's how-to session and had a blast. Not only did I learn some proper technique (always keep the ring of your index finger and thumb around the handlebars; brake with your other fingers) but it was a great way to educate myself on riding/trail etiquette and basic bike maintenance. Plus it was a great entryway into the local association membership. Bicycling socially is an incredible aspect to the activity that didn't originally occur to me.
I didn't have a bike when I moved out here to Los Angeles. After coming out here with high hopes a bunch of junk happened and I wound up in a low place, pretty depressed. Went to some counseling and couldn't really sort it out there. Psych said I needed some more friends. True enough, but I didn't feel capable of making friends while in that state of mind. Then one time just before a session, I had an idea to buy a bike. I could get a used one for real cheap from a bike shop down the street, for about twice as much as this session was going to cost me. So I called my counselor and told her I had an idea, then I went and bought a too-small beater bike. Took it to the river path near my house, and rode for miles wearing the biggest smile my face had seen for years.
My cycling habit has gotten much more serious lately, but the joy in my heart is just as fierce now when I ride as it was back then. Bicycling is good for your soul. Good for your body, too, just ask any of the 70+ year-old dudes who beat me up the mountain on our weeknight club rides.
posted by carsonb at 11:43 AM on July 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'm a commuter cyclist, and have gradually come to view cycling as a commuter activity -- for leisure, I'd rather walk or run -- but the one thing I've wanted to be able to do for a while and just can't figure out is that walking-with-your-bike thing that people do by putting one foot on a pedal and pushing the ground with the other, effectively turning the bike into an unwieldy scooter. I just can't figure out how balance is supposed to work.
posted by Shepherd at 11:48 AM on July 16, 2015
posted by Shepherd at 11:48 AM on July 16, 2015
Don’t Bike Like A Dickweed: 10 Rules for New Cyclists
Hah, fantastic article. Before I fucking read it, I was tempted to snark on the title and say that I definitely bike like a dickweed on my commute. But I'm never a dickweed to other riders. And I'm really not being a dickweed, I just have that word flung at me out of car windows as people zoom past, racing to the next red light. Because I take the lane, as I am allowed to do, rather than ride in the parking lane door zone where many drivers think I belong. I say to them, "Sir! I left you a whole other lane to use!" or "Why don't you drive in the door zone and see how it goes?" and that probably makes me a dickweed, but it is oh so satisfying when they're stop-and-go and I am simply go.
posted by carsonb at 11:49 AM on July 16, 2015 [3 favorites]
Hah, fantastic article. Before I fucking read it, I was tempted to snark on the title and say that I definitely bike like a dickweed on my commute. But I'm never a dickweed to other riders. And I'm really not being a dickweed, I just have that word flung at me out of car windows as people zoom past, racing to the next red light. Because I take the lane, as I am allowed to do, rather than ride in the parking lane door zone where many drivers think I belong. I say to them, "Sir! I left you a whole other lane to use!" or "Why don't you drive in the door zone and see how it goes?" and that probably makes me a dickweed, but it is oh so satisfying when they're stop-and-go and I am simply go.
posted by carsonb at 11:49 AM on July 16, 2015 [3 favorites]
POR RAZONES ESCANDALOSOS
"...but you see, my father was killed by a roving peloton of Basque road-racers while traveling in the foothills of the Pyrenees. I have never learned to ride a bike; and since that dark day, I have sworn my revenge against all cyclists, and against THE BASQUES."
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 11:50 AM on July 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
"...but you see, my father was killed by a roving peloton of Basque road-racers while traveling in the foothills of the Pyrenees. I have never learned to ride a bike; and since that dark day, I have sworn my revenge against all cyclists, and against THE BASQUES."
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 11:50 AM on July 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
Someone put out some safety poetry on the bike path I use to commute. There are a few of them, and they're double sided and have a different saying whether you're coming or going.
posted by backseatpilot at 12:01 PM on July 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by backseatpilot at 12:01 PM on July 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
That's fantastic!
I must give it a fav.
Burma Shave.
posted by Monochrome at 12:06 PM on July 16, 2015
I must give it a fav.
Burma Shave.
posted by Monochrome at 12:06 PM on July 16, 2015
Also, I've seen it recommended to remove the pedals from a bike for learners and just let them scoot along with their feet until they get the steering/balance part right.
Six days ago I taught my nine-year-old how to ride a bike, and this is basically what we did. She had a bike with training wheels but was nervous about transitioning to balancing herself. Finally, she got a new bike for her birthday and I told her that we weren't going to put training wheels on it. It was time to learn.
At the park near our house there is a paved area with a very slight slope--just enough to keep you rolling slowly without pedaling. We went there and I told her that her first mission was to make it all the way down the slope (about 50 feet, with two gently curves) without her feet touching the ground. It took about 25 tries, but she finally did it. Then we went to a level area and I told her it was okay to try pedaling now. She began to pedal, wobbled just a bit, straightened out, and then biked completely around the park four times in a row. Less than an hour and she was amazing, never falling once. I really believe mastering balancing first got her there much quicker than if we had let her pedal from the start.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 12:30 PM on July 16, 2015 [3 favorites]
Six days ago I taught my nine-year-old how to ride a bike, and this is basically what we did. She had a bike with training wheels but was nervous about transitioning to balancing herself. Finally, she got a new bike for her birthday and I told her that we weren't going to put training wheels on it. It was time to learn.
At the park near our house there is a paved area with a very slight slope--just enough to keep you rolling slowly without pedaling. We went there and I told her that her first mission was to make it all the way down the slope (about 50 feet, with two gently curves) without her feet touching the ground. It took about 25 tries, but she finally did it. Then we went to a level area and I told her it was okay to try pedaling now. She began to pedal, wobbled just a bit, straightened out, and then biked completely around the park four times in a row. Less than an hour and she was amazing, never falling once. I really believe mastering balancing first got her there much quicker than if we had let her pedal from the start.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 12:30 PM on July 16, 2015 [3 favorites]
Juliet Banana, omg, thanks for posting that! I didn't know there was a word for "shoaling" before. Last night on my way home from work this spandex-clad dude totally kept shoaling on me at every single red light and stop sign we ran into, and right now I feel so validated.
The part that really got me is that my route home has a lot of reds and stop signs that are really not safe to glide through -- like, intersections with a few lanes of uncontrolled cross-traffic going towards or from the freeway, or places where visibility is pretty poor. So I was stopping at these, including one where I stopped literally because the #22 bus was descending rapidly down the hill (which he did not see immediately, and which to my immense gratification forced him to awkwardly balk partway into passing me on the right into the intersection). And yet I STILL ended up having to pass him three or four times because he was going so slowly. And that's not a humblebrag about me being a speed demon, I'm an out of shape commuter with roughly the VO2max of a tuber. Smh.
Anyway, vent over, thx for speaking directly to my soul
posted by en forme de poire at 12:30 PM on July 16, 2015 [6 favorites]
The part that really got me is that my route home has a lot of reds and stop signs that are really not safe to glide through -- like, intersections with a few lanes of uncontrolled cross-traffic going towards or from the freeway, or places where visibility is pretty poor. So I was stopping at these, including one where I stopped literally because the #22 bus was descending rapidly down the hill (which he did not see immediately, and which to my immense gratification forced him to awkwardly balk partway into passing me on the right into the intersection). And yet I STILL ended up having to pass him three or four times because he was going so slowly. And that's not a humblebrag about me being a speed demon, I'm an out of shape commuter with roughly the VO2max of a tuber. Smh.
Anyway, vent over, thx for speaking directly to my soul
posted by en forme de poire at 12:30 PM on July 16, 2015 [6 favorites]
Yeah, "shoaling" is one of BikeSnobNYC's great contributions to cycling jargon, along with "crabon fibre," "filth prophylactic," and the power meter that's just a sticker you put on your stem that reads "YOU SUCK" in a digital font.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:39 PM on July 16, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:39 PM on July 16, 2015 [3 favorites]
Just to add to Juliet Banana's advice - Stay off the Damn Sidewalks!
Sidewalks are for pedestrians. I'm sideswiped (often closely) by cyclists relatively frequently as I walk to work. (I'd bike, but it's not really that far and there's no good place to lock my bike on the work end.)
This really should be rule zero on Juliet Banana's list. My block has that rarest of things: a dedicated, paved bike path set apart from both motorized vehicle traffic and sidewalks. It is only on one side of the road, however. When I walk up to the nearest stores, I am always on the side opposite the bike path and -- without exaggeration -- seven times out of ten an irate, entitled cyclist swoops past me at full speed, with shouted curses optional. I doubt that on one trip in twenty do I see someone in the cycle path on the far side of the road. After years of fairly dedicated cycling I have had to give it up due to disability, and it pisses me off to see people on bikes ignoring the road and the fantastic cycle path for the opportunity to piss off pedestrians.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:46 PM on July 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
Sidewalks are for pedestrians. I'm sideswiped (often closely) by cyclists relatively frequently as I walk to work. (I'd bike, but it's not really that far and there's no good place to lock my bike on the work end.)
This really should be rule zero on Juliet Banana's list. My block has that rarest of things: a dedicated, paved bike path set apart from both motorized vehicle traffic and sidewalks. It is only on one side of the road, however. When I walk up to the nearest stores, I am always on the side opposite the bike path and -- without exaggeration -- seven times out of ten an irate, entitled cyclist swoops past me at full speed, with shouted curses optional. I doubt that on one trip in twenty do I see someone in the cycle path on the far side of the road. After years of fairly dedicated cycling I have had to give it up due to disability, and it pisses me off to see people on bikes ignoring the road and the fantastic cycle path for the opportunity to piss off pedestrians.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:46 PM on July 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
Sidewalks are for pedestrians.
Is this where I can complain about the people running against traffic in the bike lanes?
posted by backseatpilot at 12:49 PM on July 16, 2015 [4 favorites]
Is this where I can complain about the people running against traffic in the bike lanes?
posted by backseatpilot at 12:49 PM on July 16, 2015 [4 favorites]
just can't figure out is that walking-with-your-bike thing that people do by putting one foot on a pedal and pushing the ground with the other, effectively turning the bike into an unwieldy scooter. I just can't figure out how balance is supposed to work.
Here's how I do it, as best as I can recall from my desk: Typically, I'm doing this maneuver as I am reaching a pedestrian area at the end of a ride, so I am coasting. With your left foot is at the bottom of a stroke, simultaneously stand and swing your leg over the rear wheel. Make sure to shift your weight to keep the bike stable. You end up kind of leaning against your frame, with your right calf tucked behind your left. Coast and break.
posted by entropicamericana at 12:51 PM on July 16, 2015 [3 favorites]
Here's how I do it, as best as I can recall from my desk: Typically, I'm doing this maneuver as I am reaching a pedestrian area at the end of a ride, so I am coasting. With your left foot is at the bottom of a stroke, simultaneously stand and swing your leg over the rear wheel. Make sure to shift your weight to keep the bike stable. You end up kind of leaning against your frame, with your right calf tucked behind your left. Coast and break.
posted by entropicamericana at 12:51 PM on July 16, 2015 [3 favorites]
Or brake. Whatever you prefer.
posted by entropicamericana at 1:03 PM on July 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by entropicamericana at 1:03 PM on July 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
When I lived in Copenhagen, one of my most favorite sights was when I spotted the groups of immigrants (mostly women) being taught to bike around the town by representatives of the local Red Cross immigrant/refugee assistance volunteers (initial classes happened in the parks).
I hope I don't sound condescending, but the sense of concentration (and, well, liberation) displayed during this process was palpable and just something that made me happy to see. And God knows that biking in Copenhagen, even for the most experiences of us, especially during rush hour, can be harrowing.
Great on him for picking it up.
(some relevant reading).
posted by AwkwardPause at 1:15 PM on July 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
I hope I don't sound condescending, but the sense of concentration (and, well, liberation) displayed during this process was palpable and just something that made me happy to see. And God knows that biking in Copenhagen, even for the most experiences of us, especially during rush hour, can be harrowing.
Great on him for picking it up.
(some relevant reading).
posted by AwkwardPause at 1:15 PM on July 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
>Don’t Bike Like A Dickweed: 10 Rules for New Cyclists
Oh, this is my everything. I get cussed out all the time for having the gall to stop at stop lights and signs like I'm controlling an actual vehicle. Which I am.
If anyone that wants to learn to ride a bike is in Ithaca NY, I would be only to happy to go to the basketball courts near my house and let you play on my granny bike for an hour. It's really fun, and extra fun with the family.
posted by tchemgrrl at 1:39 PM on July 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
Oh, this is my everything. I get cussed out all the time for having the gall to stop at stop lights and signs like I'm controlling an actual vehicle. Which I am.
If anyone that wants to learn to ride a bike is in Ithaca NY, I would be only to happy to go to the basketball courts near my house and let you play on my granny bike for an hour. It's really fun, and extra fun with the family.
posted by tchemgrrl at 1:39 PM on July 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
Juliet Banana, thank you, also, for speaking to my cyclist SOUL.
not trying to be first in line at a Free Ice Cream and Makeout Party.
Thinking about this every time I deal with speed demons on my commute (which is multiple times a day now that it's nice out and there are more bikelanes and bikeshares) will make it So. Much. Better.
My favorite - the guy who wiped out while trying to jump a curb to pass me on the right at a red light. He was fine, I was smug.
To be fair, these days I do get a Lot more "On Your Left"s , and I always say thank you, because I appreciate them. So here's to newbs learning from the wisdom of folks like Juliet Banana!
posted by ldthomps at 1:50 PM on July 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
not trying to be first in line at a Free Ice Cream and Makeout Party.
Thinking about this every time I deal with speed demons on my commute (which is multiple times a day now that it's nice out and there are more bikelanes and bikeshares) will make it So. Much. Better.
My favorite - the guy who wiped out while trying to jump a curb to pass me on the right at a red light. He was fine, I was smug.
To be fair, these days I do get a Lot more "On Your Left"s , and I always say thank you, because I appreciate them. So here's to newbs learning from the wisdom of folks like Juliet Banana!
posted by ldthomps at 1:50 PM on July 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
This thread is the perfect mix of practical and delightful. I might even get up the nerve to try it again, for like the fiftyseventh time. Thank you to everybody contributing.
posted by Don Pepino at 2:01 PM on July 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Don Pepino at 2:01 PM on July 16, 2015 [1 favorite]
I commute daily in Chicago.
1) Use lights (front and rear), even in day. I've avoided numerous collisions as a result, especially in downtown Chicago.
2) Just point left and right as needed. No need for archaic L-shape turn signals.
3) Get a bell. Seriously, it's easy and helps you navigate cars, pedestrians and the occasional dog that can't (or won't) see you.
posted by kurosawa's pal at 2:06 PM on July 16, 2015 [4 favorites]
1) Use lights (front and rear), even in day. I've avoided numerous collisions as a result, especially in downtown Chicago.
2) Just point left and right as needed. No need for archaic L-shape turn signals.
3) Get a bell. Seriously, it's easy and helps you navigate cars, pedestrians and the occasional dog that can't (or won't) see you.
posted by kurosawa's pal at 2:06 PM on July 16, 2015 [4 favorites]
Is this where I can complain about the people running against traffic in the bike lanes?
It is definitely where I leave an open invitation to anyone who wants to bitch mightily with me about anyone running or cycling (WHAT THE FUCK WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS) against traffic in the bike lanes. Or basically anyone doing anything in the bike lanes other than cycling with traffic.
posted by kalimac at 3:34 PM on July 16, 2015
It is definitely where I leave an open invitation to anyone who wants to bitch mightily with me about anyone running or cycling (WHAT THE FUCK WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS) against traffic in the bike lanes. Or basically anyone doing anything in the bike lanes other than cycling with traffic.
posted by kalimac at 3:34 PM on July 16, 2015
Juliet Banana: you are the best.
8. Learn to trackstand-REALLY trackstand-or put a fucking foot down.
I have biked my entire life. I have done a 700 km multi-day camping trip, I've done centuries, I've biked to work daily, I biked to class in university, I biked to high school. I've ridden a 10-speed, mountain bikes, road bikes. I'd probably rather walk than ride without cycling shoes with clips. I wear a fucking bib for crissakes.
And I cannot trackstand. There is no shame. Put your damn foot down people.
However, I must disagree with you on one thing.
10. It’s not a Cat 6 race.
HELL NO.
Well, ok, there's a time and a place. In San Francisco on Market St it's dodge death, obey the lights and GTFO of the way.
But in the burbs? And you shoal up past me at a light? OH IT'S ON LIKE CAT 6 DONKEY KONG.
posted by GuyZero at 3:38 PM on July 16, 2015 [7 favorites]
8. Learn to trackstand-REALLY trackstand-or put a fucking foot down.
I have biked my entire life. I have done a 700 km multi-day camping trip, I've done centuries, I've biked to work daily, I biked to class in university, I biked to high school. I've ridden a 10-speed, mountain bikes, road bikes. I'd probably rather walk than ride without cycling shoes with clips. I wear a fucking bib for crissakes.
And I cannot trackstand. There is no shame. Put your damn foot down people.
However, I must disagree with you on one thing.
10. It’s not a Cat 6 race.
HELL NO.
Well, ok, there's a time and a place. In San Francisco on Market St it's dodge death, obey the lights and GTFO of the way.
But in the burbs? And you shoal up past me at a light? OH IT'S ON LIKE CAT 6 DONKEY KONG.
posted by GuyZero at 3:38 PM on July 16, 2015 [7 favorites]
Geese do not respect the bell.
posted by crush-onastick at 4:58 PM on July 16, 2015 [6 favorites]
posted by crush-onastick at 4:58 PM on July 16, 2015 [6 favorites]
Geese do not respect the bell any power on Earth.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 6:17 PM on July 16, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by Pater Aletheias at 6:17 PM on July 16, 2015 [3 favorites]
Geese do not respect the laws of God or Man.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:51 PM on July 16, 2015
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:51 PM on July 16, 2015
Adults who have ridden a bike as a child actually struggle when they get back in the saddle?
Although not the point of this article (which is delightful--more adults ought to pick up a skill that they 'should have' learned as a child!), I wanted to grumpily point out that yes, this is possible.
I hadn't touched a bike in at least fifteen years when I got on one to ride on a paved trail a few years ago. It didn't go well. There exists in the world those folks who a) haven't ridden a bike in a long, long while and b) have trouble connecting with the physical element of their bodies in many arenas (dancing, walking, and yes, biking).
posted by librarylis at 9:12 PM on July 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
Although not the point of this article (which is delightful--more adults ought to pick up a skill that they 'should have' learned as a child!), I wanted to grumpily point out that yes, this is possible.
I hadn't touched a bike in at least fifteen years when I got on one to ride on a paved trail a few years ago. It didn't go well. There exists in the world those folks who a) haven't ridden a bike in a long, long while and b) have trouble connecting with the physical element of their bodies in many arenas (dancing, walking, and yes, biking).
posted by librarylis at 9:12 PM on July 16, 2015 [2 favorites]
BTW, "I just live right there!" is NOT an excuse for operating a bicycle on the sidewalk.
posted by trip and a half at 12:41 AM on July 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by trip and a half at 12:41 AM on July 17, 2015 [1 favorite]
Heh. This thread is also reminding me how easy it is to be outraged at others' behavior while excusing our own. I don't have a driveway, so I usually bike up my neighbor's driveway and along our sidewalk to get to our alley and back door. And yet I also glare mightily at other bikers on the sidewalk usually. It reminds me of my "be a buddha behind the wheel" Bostonian mantra, and my own recent efforts to Not police the other bikers, purely for my own peace of mind.
Knowing that those sidewalk bikers might be on their way to an ice cream and makeout party will probably at Least make me less grumpy about it, which is a win.
posted by ldthomps at 7:22 AM on July 17, 2015 [3 favorites]
Knowing that those sidewalk bikers might be on their way to an ice cream and makeout party will probably at Least make me less grumpy about it, which is a win.
posted by ldthomps at 7:22 AM on July 17, 2015 [3 favorites]
The real enemies are skateboarders.
posted by desjardins at 8:07 AM on July 17, 2015
posted by desjardins at 8:07 AM on July 17, 2015
What we really need is Space For Pootling!
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 9:17 AM on July 17, 2015
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 9:17 AM on July 17, 2015
To be fair, these days I do get a Lot more "On Your Left"s
American bikes don't have bells then?
not that Dutch bikes seem to, from how infrequently they're used
posted by MartinWisse at 1:13 PM on July 17, 2015
American bikes don't have bells then?
not that Dutch bikes seem to, from how infrequently they're used
posted by MartinWisse at 1:13 PM on July 17, 2015
American bikes don't have bells then?
It's pretty ridiculous how difficult it is to get a good bell. The one I have switches at the touch of a button between dinger-only and free-ringing, but I had to order the damn thing from China after determining that not a single one of the forty-odd bike shops in Hollywood stocked anything other than your stock-basic (or flower-printed) dinger-only bells. They seem to be regarded as frivolous accessories, much to my bewilderment. As I was looking for the bell I wanted, I kept describing it to proprietors who all agreed that that particular type of bell would be fantastic for city riding, but they hadn't ever even heard of such a thing. But yeah, so no, American bikes don't come with bells generally.
It's this n+1 bell if you're curious.
posted by carsonb at 2:47 PM on July 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
It's pretty ridiculous how difficult it is to get a good bell. The one I have switches at the touch of a button between dinger-only and free-ringing, but I had to order the damn thing from China after determining that not a single one of the forty-odd bike shops in Hollywood stocked anything other than your stock-basic (or flower-printed) dinger-only bells. They seem to be regarded as frivolous accessories, much to my bewilderment. As I was looking for the bell I wanted, I kept describing it to proprietors who all agreed that that particular type of bell would be fantastic for city riding, but they hadn't ever even heard of such a thing. But yeah, so no, American bikes don't come with bells generally.
It's this n+1 bell if you're curious.
posted by carsonb at 2:47 PM on July 17, 2015 [2 favorites]
I just got complimented on my (small loudish dinger) bell! It's not as nice as my old enormous doorbell-style bell, but then it doesn't take up several inches of precious handlebar space.
posted by asperity at 3:05 PM on July 17, 2015
posted by asperity at 3:05 PM on July 17, 2015
Short on handlebar space? Can I just tell you about yet another bike product I love?
posted by carsonb at 3:12 PM on July 17, 2015
posted by carsonb at 3:12 PM on July 17, 2015
Nice! My bike has drop handlebars, though, so I've been thinking about an accessory bar; there seem to be several companies making them but none of my local shops ever stock them, so I can't just impulse-buy one. (My preferred method for non-essential bike crap acquisition.)
posted by asperity at 6:59 PM on July 17, 2015
posted by asperity at 6:59 PM on July 17, 2015
This is the bike accessory I love: U-lock holster from Walnut Studiolo
I was fortunate enough to get mine when they were less busy/popular, so mine's custom-sized.
posted by crush-onastick at 2:35 PM on July 18, 2015
I was fortunate enough to get mine when they were less busy/popular, so mine's custom-sized.
posted by crush-onastick at 2:35 PM on July 18, 2015
holy shit that's even more expensive than the lock that it's supposed to hold
posted by indubitable at 8:39 PM on July 18, 2015
posted by indubitable at 8:39 PM on July 18, 2015
like, do you use the Sheldon Brown method to lock up the lock holster along with your bike?
posted by indubitable at 8:41 PM on July 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by indubitable at 8:41 PM on July 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
« Older Cage of Thrones | Funky Israeli (sampled) hip-hop from Socalled... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
Also true for juggling & unicycles.
posted by chavenet at 9:38 AM on July 16, 2015 [2 favorites]