CbadRider

^^This. Put some small markers on the ground about 10-12 feet apart and practice weaving in and out of them and doing figure-8's. As your skills grow, you can move the markers closer together.

And congratulations to all of the newly-minted cyclists!

steve57

Over a year later. (See my post at the front of this thread: first learned to ride at the age of 57, using a gentle hill, no pedals, and taking plenty of time).

So sorry to hear of your accident NatashaNybbz, I had a couple of falls at the beginning but was on grass so didn't suffer too badly. (The fall into a hedge was pretty painful). I hope you manage it, but if not don't beat yourself up to hard.

I thought some be interested to know how things turned out for me. A month or so after my wobbly start I was lucky enough to get on a free over-50s cycling class in Swindon. A few there couldn't ride. So I ended in the "experts" class, a huge ego boost. There I learned roadcraft and that toughest of all skills, taking your hands off the bars to signal. All really valuable stuff.

A bit later I joined my local Cycle Touring Club which has a very friendly 1* section. The benefit of this was confidence on roads: it's so much safer in a group. And they know all the quiet roads so never too demanding. I can cycle up to about 25 miles now and my speed is improving. I've even been on a couple of 2* rides.

Just bought my second bike.

GM619

After doing a google search last month where I found this forum and after many hours of doing research, I went to a bike shop and purchased a Schwinn Voyager 7 Cruiser, successfully rode a bike for the first time in my life for over 3 hours today. At age 42, this is only my second time on the bike (1st day fell off at the park) with that said I'm pretty stoked and can't believe I waited so long???

Mainly going to use it to commute 3.7 miles to work plus plan on taking a bike road course offered here in San Diego before I start commuting with it. Thanks so much for all the advice in this forum.

tagaproject6

Congratulations! There is a new form of freedom in cycling don't you think?

GM619

Agreed....

Artkansas 

You rock! May you have many happy miles. Definitely take the road course, it will give you much more confidence on the road. San Diego is a pretty place to ride.

steve57

I agree, a road course is great and will teach you a lot. If that works for you then consider going out on a local club ride: the confidence you gain by riding in a group is well worth while. Here in the UK we have Cycle Touring Club and my local group has frequent rides suitable for beginners (very sociable, lots of stops, never leave anyone behind).

GM619

Since I last commented, already been commuting to work plus pretty much ride my bike for small errands. My 7 mile commute (both ways) takes a lot out of me on the return trip and considering a E-Bike or kit for current bike.

tergal

To those who have learnt to ride at a older age great work maybe i should have looked for a post like this before i started riding last year.

I had two options to learn , a small drive way and a long steep down hill run (road).... can tell you i had a dam good idea how the breaks worked before i got to the bottom not the brightest thing one can do .

One point of note , if you want to avoid something don't look straight at it . It may have been said before but it is something that needs to be repeated constantly. panicking and staring at the tree that is fast approaching is a surefire way of running in to it .

Astrozombie

I swear i'm going to get my grandma to ride a bike! She always makes big jokes about it, but that tells me she really does want to learn! Hey it's never too late! The book Just Ride says its best to learn without pedals so you learn to balance yourself first.

BlazingPedals

One more thing to add. Some people just have balance problems and can't ride a 2-wheeler. If you're one of those people, you'll probably know it before you even try to learn riding a bike. But for those people (and anyone else for that matter,) there are trikes. Adult trikes are not the same as your childhood conveyances, they can be quick and maneuverable.

Singlespeed92

OP-No,you aren't alone-my wife is 40 and hass never straddled a bike in her life,though she vows to learn (to "share in that part of my life" ) in 2013 (you know...if we're zombie survivors coem December ).

Good thread,it'll help here too

cplager

+1. How can you go wrong?

(O.k. They are more expensive. But getting off your a$$, and well, back on your a$$, and then exercising makes it all worth while!)

Lindypops

I thought I would update everyone on my progress. It has been slow as I haven't had much spare time over the last few weeks as my daughter was getting married and everything was focussed on that.
anyway, after about 6 weeks of no bike, I went out yesterday. I am sort of ok with the mechanics of pedelling, steering and braking, but it all still seems alien. I am fine in a large area, such as an empty car park or piece of grass, but when i am in a tighter area, such a cycle path (shared or otherwise) I go to pieces. I know it is only practice and I have been riding on quiet roads and I don't feel like this at all as there is more space.

What would anyone suggest to help?

BlazingPedals

Just put in more miles. I've been riding forever, but when I got my first recumbent it was like learning all over again. It took me about 300 miles before I felt confident enough to ride alongside someone else.

Janis 

Bit of a rambling response/progress update:

BlazingPedals, I love my recumbent trike! Got it this past summer because I sometimes have balance problems. It didn't hurt that the trike is a fun, comfy ride. Unfortunately, it doesn't go well on the towpath near my home where I most wanted to cycle (two narrow tracks and a grass median), but it gave me the courage and motivation to try two wheels.

Lindypops, I'm a newbie like you - trying to stay steady around other cyclists, dog-walkers, joggers, etc., on the nearby path. +1 for what BlazingPedals said about practice. I found that I needed to break it down and practice - over and over again - specific skills: starting, stopping, turning, braking, etc. It might sound funny, but getting my body used to stopping and putting a foot down has helped my brain realize that I can stop any time without crashing. I still need to practice shifting gears.

On the local towpath, I found that I stopped a LOT at first - about once a minute - because the fender was rattling, or the pedals didn't feel right, or something needed to be adjusted, or I needed a sip of water.... Happily, before too long, I loosened up and just rode my bike.

In case this helps other newbies, one thing that has made a huge difference for me is the BIKE. The first time I tried to learn (more than 25 years ago), my husband set me up with his idea of what a starter bike should be: a small, diamond-frame, mountain bike hybrid with drop bars. I am short and, even when he switched out the handlebars, never felt that I could comfortably reach the brake levers on that bike.

This time around, I listened to my own instincts about what would work for me, starting with a small folding bike that I could adjust as my comfort level grew. I then found a used "lady's bike" (a mixte, actually) in a frame size that feels perfect for me, added swept-back handlebars, brakes I can reach, and a comfy leather saddle. I tell you, when I look at that bike - and when I RIDE that bike - it feels as though the heavens have parted and I can hear the angels singing!

Congrats to all the new cyclists and happy riding to all!

Latelearner

I started to learn to ride a bike 2 weeks ago at 64. My friend told me to quit after 1 hour, saying that it would break his back and my neck. I found the strider method in this forum and followed the steps. 3 sessions later. I am riding on the bike. Thank you for sharing

10 Wheels

Congratulations...

BlazingPedals

Another suggestion I could make about bike selection here. This usually applies to kids, but the reasoning is the same for adults who are just learning. K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid!) The best platform for learning is a single speed bike with a coaster brake. If you add the requirements for fairly upright body position and the ability to easily reach the ground, what you get is a cruiser-style bike. Adding hand brakes and gears only complicates the process.

And not to sound discouraging, but there WILL be falls. It's inherent in a 2-wheeled machine. You'll hear us talking about "Club Tombay" - it's not a resort in the Bahamas; membership is obtained by falling at low speed, preferably in front of witnesses. The trick to falling is to learn how. Yes, maybe even practice! And the way to fall is to flop. Try to hit butt/hip-first and, well, flop. Spread out the impact so that many body parts get a bit of it, rather than sticking an arm out and trying to stop the fall. Arms aren't as strong as legs and they break a lot easier.

cplager

I'm not sure I agree. You can have gears and not shift (and this is exactly what you should do if you're learning to ride on a bike with gears). And I did grow up with coaster brakes and they worked just fine, but I think that hand brakes are actually more intuitive (although, admittedly, this is after thousands of miles with hand brakes).

So I certainly wouldn't object to somebody learning on a cruiser. But if somebody was buying their first bike on which they wanted to learn to ride, I wouldn't suggest one.

Cheers,
Charles

p.s. Maybe a low-racer 'bent would be better as they could just use their hands to balance when they felt like they were falling over. O.k. Maybe not...

WalterWC

Right, you've convinced me. I'm 51 and have never ridden a bike in my life, except a couple of times in my teens where curiosity took on gravity and lost, painfully. I've found myself here after googling 'learn to ride a bike adult' and I'm ready to have a go. The search for a suitable learning bike starts tomorrow!!

steve57

Don't waste time chosing the perfect bike: anything will do.
Once you've learned you will not want the same bike: just get anything suitable to learn on.
I learned on a bike of my son's so the saddle could drop nice and low for a really safe wide stance, feet able to skim along the ground (feeling confident in the early stages is key, like you I had years of "I can't do this" shouting in my ears). You'll lift the saddle up later as you feel confident. So take a set of spanners, you'll want to play with the saddle quite a bit.
I don't think gears are at all relevant, my son's had 24, but of course for three days I didn't use any of them. Just freewheeling down hill: longer, faster and with increasing control.
When you put the pedals back on, just set a nice gear in the middle.

The right hill is worth looking for: not too steep, nothing much in the way, ideally a flat runout at the bottom. I found short grass worked for me, a bit bumpy but responding to this helps you learn balance. I got a great shock when I first went on tarmac at how much faster it is. (Grass gives a bit of drag).

Things that may surprise you: you don't get balance/stay upright by leaning. Lean to correct and you'll just fall over. In fact very little of bike riding is a concious action. It's the movement of the handlebars that corrects your balance. How? I have no idea, this is the trick, play with the handlebars as you freewheel down hill and your mind/body learns what to do.
So, what about steering? this has surprisingly little to do with the handlebars again. And its not about leaning either (much). All I can help you with is my experience: after a while your mind/body somehow realises the actions it does to balance and change direction. I tricked my mind by "looking where I wanted to go".

Final tip: the super wide low stance really helps with the confidence: but it cannot stop you. Don't try: with any speed your feet will stop but nothing else will, it is not comfortable! Learn to use the brakes right at the outset. Trust that once you've slowed right down you can put your feet down then.

Best of luck. Relax and enjoy.

BTW: catch my thread at the beginning: I learned two years ago and after six sessions was just "riding". Last week I did 60 miles at about 11 miles an hour. I turn 59 next month. I am fit for the first time in my life.

Oh and I disagree that falling is inevitable. You don't want to hear it and it doesn't have to be true. I had "mishaps" sure, but an actual fall "bike on top" and pain - definitely no. Maybe a few "panic, emergency leg down" incidents which was when the bike was still moving and just ended with me and the bike in a wierd position.

Garfield Cat

I think its all about transitioning. Even as a 1 year old, when most children learn to stand up and start walking. The balancing act begins when you walk as you take one step forward, you're balancing for an instant with just one leg.

For runners (or joggers), its even more exaggerated. They're completely off the ground for an instant at a time. That too requires balance.

Other examples are the roller skaters and then the inline skaters. Those inline skaters are like the balance activity of a bike rider.

Next, would be the scooter as I have always thought and stated. Very low platform to the ground, not particularly built for speed, allows for some kind of balancing, relatively inexpensive piece of equipment, even for adults.

FrankMD62

I am 62 and never learnt to cycle as a child. I tried briefly a few times as an adult but never got anywhere. I'm now retired and live in an idyllic English village. So I've tried again. But I can't do it. Taken off pedals? Yup. Scooted around? Yup? Got some balance? No. BlazingPedals says: "One more thing to add. Some people just have balance problems and can't ride a 2-wheeler. If you're one of those people, you'll probably know it before you even try to learn riding a bike." Am I one of these people? Is my inability on a bike proof enough? I did take a long time to learn to ski in my 40s, but that was SO easy compared with cycling. When you are skiing and it gets scary you slow down or stop. I've learnt that doesn't work on a cycle! At what point do you admit defeat? My wife says I'm just not trying but I really am. My fall back is a trike which I'm very happy on. I can ride for miles so I am fit enough. But I would like to lose the label of loser. How many hours should I put in before the bell of inevitability chimes?
Any advice welcome!

Artkansas 

I bought a motorcycle at about the same age. But I was a very experienced bicyclist. My friend, who rode me to the dealership to buy my bike and then went with me to the parking lot I used to practice before driving the motorcycle home, said that he was amazed at my low-speed bike handling skills. All learned on a bicycle.