Learning to Ride a Bicycle

LEARNING TO RIDE A BICYCLE

Learning to ride a bicycle is very easy, contrary to what is believed. The idiom 'Tolstoy's bicycle', which tells of Tolstoy learning to ride a bicycle at the age of seventy, is the most famous proof of this. In almost every cycling group, one can come across those who learn to cycle at such advanced ages.

Bicycle Learning

1. Saddle height is adjusted to a level where the feet touch the ground when the bicycle is stationary. It is important for the feet to reach the ground initially. This gives confidence to the person learning for the first time.
2. Brakes are checked; make sure they work correctly.
   Appropriate gear is selected; large and small gears make riding and learning difficult.
3. Balance is the first skill to be gained. Removing the pedals makes this job easier. When balance and stopping skills develop, the pedals are re-mounted.
4. For the first trial, a safe area with a slight slope and no traffic is selected. In the section where the slope is downwards, sit on the bicycle and take the feet off the ground by pushing lightly. When the balance of the bicycle, which has advanced a bit, is disturbed, first reduce speed with the brake, and when the bicycle stops, step on the ground. By repeating this process, the distance the bicycle advances by remaining in balance is increased. After balance, the rider also gains the stopping skill.
5. Hard ground, such as asphalt or concrete, is the most suitable for learning—not grass or soil ground. Soft, wet grounds, sand, and grass make balance difficult and movement harder.
6. When balance is disturbed, what needs to be done is to turn the handlebars in the direction where balance is broken and speed up a bit by pressing the pedal. In the first trials, the person may generally have a tendency to turn the handlebars in the opposite direction of where balance is broken and to stop.