Originally Posted by
Priyank
Hello, everyone. I am 25 years old, 5'6" and, as the title says, learning to ride for the first time. Is there anything I can do to improve this and learn to balance better?
Thank you for taking time to read my post. Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated.EDIT: fixed typos.
A different approach: learning balance is the key and one way is not to use that bike. That bike is second to a scooter. The kind you see kids use, the Lazor. I think they call it "Kick Scooters"
Why is it better as a "first step"? Because the platform to the scooter is way low to the ground, the wheels are small and low to the ground, and the rider has one foot on the platform and one foot on the ground. The "pushing" is made easier with less weight (mass) to deal with than a bike. As a ride begins to push, there will be a natural tendency to keep the "coasting" going for longer periods of time. This means both feet will be off the ground.
Fear of falling: because of the "low-to-the ground" position of a scooter, it allows a rider to adjust to balance practically instantly; just put one foot back on the ground.
Where do you see this in practice? At college campuses where students scoot from one class to another and carry that thing inside the classroom so as to not get stolen.
Stolen: So if you have a scooter like this you can even go to the grocery store to pick up the milk, etc. without using a bike. And even throw that scooter in the trunk of the car for pedestrian type transportation; just carry a backpack like those college students.
Transition: once you develop the scooter handling, the natural transition is to the bike. This makes it much easier as the skill set would have been already learned. Now you have two things to ride. And the scooter is relatively simple and inexpensive.
https://www.razor.com/products/kick-scooters/