Biking Lessons Wanted

[randae]

To Whom It May Concern:

I learned how to ride a bike when I was 13 years old and have never mastered important bike riding techniques for lack of subsequent practice. I would like to ride a bike more often and have been thinking about purchasing a decent bike for once and for all to help me on this path, but I want to couple this with some sort of formal lessons.

For instance, I especially need to practice maintaining control of my bike when I look over my shoulder for motorists or take one hand off my handlebar, and climbing hills while standing and pedaling. In fact, I have never been able to stand and pedal my bike, which means that I literally have to sit and pedal anytime I go up a hill (which means that I am limited to very slight hills and inclines). I have tried many times to pedal while standing, and my body just doesn't let me do it. I don't know if it's fear, or lack of coordination or physical fitness/muscles in my legs (or a combination of all the above) that is preventing me from standing and pedaling, but I thought it might help to take some riding lessons with an experienced biker to overcome this. It is important to note tha tI go to spinning classes, and have no problem doing this on stationary bikes.

Can someone please tell me if there are bike riding classes available through bike shops, or someone I could hire to work with me on my biking skills?

Thank you for all of your help!

Regards,

Erin

[guest_s]

I will be putting on a class at Theo this Thursday. Here is the thread for that one.

http://www.morcmtb.org/forums/showthread.php?t=36032

[Thunder]

Erin, here's a class for you:

Traffic Skills 101 on June 16: http://www.bikemn.org/classscheduledate.cfm?id=415F2AFD-016D-4968-BCF7-07A2EBDCCDA1

Looking over your shoulder for traffic and taking one hand off the handlebar: in my case, these two activities always go together. I would practice in a narrow corridor, on my bike. I would position my bike so that when I flex both elbows (lowering my shoulders toward the handlebar), I can touch the both sides of the corridor at the same time. The object is to be able to rock the bike back and forth with your elbows within this narrow space. With the right hand holding the brake (this is important), and your right elbow supporting your weight, drop your left hand and look over your left shoulder. You want to keep pressure on the corridor wall as light as possible. Repeat this exercise on the other side. By working both sides, I believe you will learn to quickly remove the left hand, then the right, as you rock the bike gently from side to side, pushing off with your elbow to change sides. My handlebars are 23" wide, so I could do this exercise in a standard 36" doorway, but a doorway may be too wide for you. Also pay attention to your position on the bike: keep the pedals level (one foot in front of the other) and one hand holding the brake at all times. When you look back, don't let your weight shift heavily from one side to the other. The idea is to take a quick look, so most of the movement is in your eyeballs, followed by the neck and shoulders. My shoulders pivot about 5" when I look back.

Climbing hills while standing: The most efficient way to climb hills is to remain seated and maintain a steady pedaling cadence. For me, that means a cadence between 85-110 revolutions per minute on the steepest part of the hill. If you can't climb moderate hills while seated, your gear selection is incorrect: look ahead, assess the steepness of the climb, and move into lower gears to maintain a higher cadence (at least 60 RPM but probably closer to 85 RPM) until you completely crest the hill.

I'm not an instructor but I'd be willing to donate an hour to the cause.

[Susannah]

Shad's class would be a good place to start too. I have also learned a ton by going on group rides and watching other more experienced riders.

Good luck!