Originally Posted by
Trakhak
Adults usually feel anxious about trying new things. Make her feel as comfortable as possible about learning to ride.
Start in pleasant surroundings. No traffic, no hills.
You've seen balance bikes that are designed for kids starting to ride. No pedals, low saddle. Set her bike up that way. Saddle all the way down, so that she can sit with her feet flat on the ground. No pedals.
Additional tip I just thought up: do the same to your bike - low saddle, no pedals - so that you can steer and walk your bike while she's learning to do the same.
It's natural for you to want her to learn fast, but stay calm and let her dictate the pace. Maybe ask her every few minutes whether she'd like to take a break, or if she'd like to stop now and continue in a day or two. The more in charge she feels, the better she'll do. (That's not a male/female thing; almost everyone does better at learning when they feel in control.)
Might be best not to have her spend more than 15 or 20 minutes on the bike each day for the first few days. The major hurdle is her learning to steer the bike to keep it under her, feet barely grazing the ground. Once she's completely comfortable with that - don't rush her - she can move on to pedaling, and then to having the saddle gradually raised to the correct height.
As you might be able to tell, I've thought about this before. In fact, I've thought about it ever since a heavyset guy in his 60's stopped in our bike shop back in the mid-80's and asked if we could teach him to ride.
We took him out to a no-traffic street a block from the shop and gave him a cruiser bike to learn on. But he gave up after trying for about 10 minutes. "You can laugh about me after I leave," he said. I've always regretted not having figured out how to get him riding.
Edit:
A beginner doing a charity ride of significant length in 2 months might be a tad ambitious. Just checked the Hilton Head distance choices: 10 miles might be OK, 25 would probably be too much. I hope you'll be OK with doing one of the short rides.
You are right on. My wife and I teach bike safety to 5th graders, and there are always a few kids that do not know how to ride a bike. The method outlined above works on all ages of beginning riders.
It is important to familiarize the beginner with the brakes. Actually, stopping should be one of the first things they learn. Schools usually have flat parking lots and playgrounds that are not very busy in the late afternoon. A very gentle down hill helps progress once they are starting to get the hang of it, but they will generally need to walk back up the hill.
After an hour a day for two weeks, some of the new riders, with very close supervision, can actually navigate our towns streets on the "graduation ride" with the rest of the class.
