Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => The Knowledge => Topic started by: annie on 21 April, 2008, 02:44:26 pm
-
You may all remember my last thread about teaching my friend to ride a bike. Well she did learn and at Christmas she managed a short outing with her husband, he was over the moon.
Today we went out along the road and cycled up the Lord's Highway. We were out for about 2 hours in total. I worked hard to build her confidence, to get her out of the habit of grabbing at the brakes and to have some fun. Going up hill wasn't too bad, most of them she could ride up ok but the steeper one she couldn't as changing gear made her panic at the last minute. Coming down hill is going to take a lot longer so we worked on very gentle slopes and freewheeling whilst making silly noises and giving her something else to think about.
It was hard for me at times to cycle so very slowly but I did enjoy myself. I need to know how I can take this forward. If I am doing the right thing and what else I might say to help her relax. I set her little goals like increasing the cadence between two trees, relaxing the arms, saying 'weeeeeee' down the slopes.
When we set off her speed was 4.2mph, by the end of the ride I had managed to get her to cycle along at around 6.5mph and her maximum speed was 10mph. I am not interested in the actual speed, nor am I concerned about informing her of the speed as I want to build her confidence not squash it completely. What I did explain was that cycling very slowly was more likely to cause a wobble and this helped her to go that little bit faster.
Thank you
-
;D That's great to hear! :thumbsup:
-
...
It was hard for me at times to cycle so very slowly but I did enjoy myself. ....
You should have been on the fixie ;D
-
Excellent stuff annie!
Is good to remember not to push noobs too far too soon. I recently made that mistake with my gf, thought I'd talk to her about countersteering.
That threw a spanner in the works :'( she is now concentrating too much on corners and has lost some confidace and speed :(
Oh well, onwards and upwards eh?
-
I have been working with my friend for many months and have always been careful to only concentrate on the basics. I am aware that anything more than pedalling and steering the bike in the right direction will overload her so am very cautious and ensure that above all else she has a good time and goes home feeling confident.
I think cycling very slowly on the fixie might be even harder. I am tempted to run whilst she cycles, what do you think?
-
I like the fixie for slow speed cycling. I rode home with Mrs Nutty yesterday, she was walking and I was on wheels. I'd taken the fixie on purpose. It's much easier to ride at walking pace than a geared bike.
WTF!!!! I think I've just fallen into the fixie trap! HELP!
-
I like the fixie for slow speed cycling. I rode home with Mrs Nutty yesterday, she was walking and I was on wheels. I'd taken the fixie on purpose. It's much easier to ride at walking pace than a geared bike.
WTF!!!! I think I've just fallen into the fixie trap! HELP!
I think you may be past the stage of helping. :-*
-
Does she drive? In other words do you need to teach traffic awareness and road skills as well? If so then speed might take a little longer. Otherwise, encourage her to ride as she would drive, not as she would walk (if you see what I mean).
-
Does she drive? In other words do you need to teach traffic awareness and road skills as well? If so then speed might take a little longer. Otherwise, encourage her to ride as she would drive, not as she would walk (if you see what I mean).
She does drive Ian. I have always encouraged her to look ahead and not down at the front tyre, I keep reminding her to do this throughout the ride. I have explained about parked cars and tried my hardest to get her to remain calm when a car approaches. I think that more time on the Lord's Highway will help enormously. I think it may be sensible to walk the mile to get there though as she does panic quite a lot when traffic approaches. Time will improve her confidence and ability to cycle and think of more than one thing at a time. I just wonder if I can do more than I am already doing?
-
Great news!