CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 15years old!
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It soon became useful and entertaining. There are regular posters, people who add useful info occasionally and plenty more who drop by to watch. That's fine. If you want to add news/comments it's easy to register and become a member.
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I'm the classic "returning cyclist", and after buying a bike during Olympic fever am now cycling as much as I possibly can.
My wife has never learned to ride, but is now keen to join me. Has anyone for any tips for teaching an adult?
We bought a bike for her at The Bike Stationn at the weekend and she's been scooting up and down the garden without using the pedals, but what next?
Does anywhere offer beginner lessons?
Thanks
Find a bikeability instructor and they should be able to help, though I'm sure there are other brands of instructor available! (I'm unfortunately tied up for the next wee while so I can't help out practically).
Scooting is a good start, if she can scoot down a *gentle* slope (in an empty car park is ideal)that's next, to extend the time available for getting the feel of balance. (*After* learning how the brakes work!!) and practicing stopping.
Once that is easy, then it's put the feet on the pedals and take them off again while scooting/rolling, then you can add a little pedalling, then starting, pedalling and stopping, then move onto gentle turns and start to tie everything together and build onto manoeuvring whilst pedalling, junctions, road position etc etc.
The trick with any practical skills teaching in my experience is to break it down into little easy logical steps and build on them as confidence grows.
Good luck, there will be plenty of good advice on here, so select the best and enjoy :-)
Welcome! And good for you! And her!
The Bike coop has lessons for adult beginners, I believe. Might be worth checking out?
hope she enjoys. It has been a great summer for cycling so far.
My top advice would be to keep her off the road - all roads - for as long as humanly possible.
In my experience people cycle *despite* the numerous issues such as traffic safety (not because they have found a solution to them) and so you need to build up a strong foundation in "cycling is great" before you expose your wife to the inevitably dark reality of trying to get anywhere.
North Edinburgh path network, Innocent railway / park, the canal, Water of Leith, riding in the Pentlands (depending on your bikes, this is fine without having to own a MTB). All of these would be great venues once you've got the basics of riding the bike down to the point that you want more than just a car park, or the road outside your house (if quiet).
Oh, and in my opinion (controversy alert) if you're faced with a moral dilemma regarding giving up cycling or riding on the pavement, you should try to get comfortable with the idea of riding on the pavement until that hump is past. A lot of cyclists, many on CCE included, don't agree with this, but I think society as a whole benefits more from a bit of pavement riding leading to one less car. YMMV ;-)
Hi Stickman,
Welcome to the comunity. I can only echo what those already have stated.
My advice would be to find somewhere nice, quiet, car free, smooth and large to learn in. Supermarket carparks used to be good until shopping 7 days a week came in. As others have said there are some quiet cycle paths. In Fife we have a brilliant path between Dunfermline and Alloa. Find somewhere flat, take the pedals off and drop the saddle so your wife is comfortable. Then get her to push herself around for a while - while she gets used top the balancing. Then add the pedals and get her to pedal along slowly whilst you have your hand on her back, so she feels you are there. You will have to prove that she is not going to fall off by taking the bike firmly at the beginning, perhaps two adults here could be usefull, one either side?
You don't say where you are? I'm a Bikeability instructor and could help if we could find a mutual few hours. I live out in Dalgety Bay, and have had success teaching four children to cycle now!
Dave C
The most useful advice that is rarely given to learner cyclists is that cycling is all about momentum, so don't be afraid to put some force through the pedals. You only fall over when you're stationary. Like the shark. Kind of.
It's also good to learn to stand on the pedals (rather than be glued to the saddle) as this really helps in coming to a rest in a controlled manner.
Good advice PS, Also when on rough ground or where you may loose control, standing on the pedals puts all your weight on the bottom bracket, which is much lower than the seat. This makes centre of gravity much lower and makes the bike less likely to fall over.
And trying to have a relaxed grip on the handlebars.
Look ahead, not at the front wheel. Much easier to anticipate things - a lot of the time with novices it does seem like they only spot things at the last minute.
"...standing on the pedals puts all your weight on the bottom bracket, which is much lower than the seat. This makes centre of gravity much lower and makes the bike less likely to fall over."
I hate to drag this off-topic, but no it doesn't. Standing on the pedals and raising the bottom a centimetre off the seat will fractionally raise the CoG of the rider compared to sitting on the saddle with feet on the pedals.
What standing on the pedals does do is allow the (lighter) bike from wobble or be wobbled from side to side independently of the (heavier) rider.
Perhaps loosen the front brake a wee touch, just enough so that it doesn't cause immediate front-wheel-lock at low speeds if panic-squeezed.
"standing on the pedals puts all your weight on the bottom bracket, which is much lower than the seat. This makes centre of gravity much lower"
Surely not?? Won't the centre of gravity be at the point that splits an imaginary line from cg of bike to cg rider in ratio of their weights? I think you're right that it may be beneficial for stability though, as you then have more control of your own centre of gravity.
Anyway, I only have experience of teaching toddlers, but agree with the above - initially have the saddle low so that both feet are easily placed on the floor, practise somewhere quiet, possibly early morning. My children pretty much mastered it within 10 min, but I guess an adult may take a little longer. They had difficulty at first with braking, due to their small hands and lack of strength - but practising braking may also be useful. Good luck, should be fun!
Damn, I'm so slow at typing, beaten to it by wingpig.
Hello
I'm a cycle tutor based in Edinburgh, and I'd be delighted to help. I have considerable experience teaching both adults and kids to cycle, and then to develop confidence and competence.
PM me if you're interested.
Cheers
Colin
Thanks for all the advice.
We live in west Edinburgh so have easy access to the NEPN etc (part of it goes behind our house!).
The type of cycling set out be Dave is exactly what my wife is interested in - leisure cycling on quiet paths. It was a recent trip to Aviemore, and seeing all the cycle tracks there, that convinced her to learn.
Colin - thanks for the offer, I'll see if she is interested in some lessons and will PM you.
I should also say thanks to the forum in general. I've been lurking here for quite a while and it's really helped me understand more about cycling safely - things like taking primary, watching out for left hooks etc seem obvious now but weren't when I restarted cycling last year.
A new job recently means that I've also been able to start cycling to work and my thought is "why didn't I do this years ago?".
I'm really enjoying cycling again - if you see a tall guy on a decathlon bike with a smile on his face then that will be me!
"I should also say thanks to the forum in general. I've been lurking here for quite a while and it's really helped me understand more about cycling safely"
Don't worry, plenty of people lurk permanently.
I suspect some people are put off because the regular 'we' are all so knowledgable and witty... (and argumentative sometimes!)
Recently someone who registered 3 years ago did their first post!
Plenty of people just post occasionally when the have something useful/important to say or a question to ask.
I think over the past three years this forum has managed to treat 'newcomers' (either to CCE or cycling) with suitable respect and encouragement.
"Plenty of people just post occasionally when the have something useful/important to say or a question to ask."
Others just post to say 'marzipan'.
Marzipan
Well, after a few sessions scooting up and down the garden we went out to the local park rhis afternoon to get more room. My wife is now able to pedal herself for a good hundred metres or more and is only stopping because she is still building up her confidence.
So far I think that it has only taken a couple of hours of 'bike time' to get to this stage, and it's now just a matter of practice and confidence.
My wife is very happy and I'm very proud! We are now a household of cyclists!
Well done (both).
Plenty off-road paths for the next stage.
@Stickman - And who says CCE is full of gloom at the moment...
Nothing like a Monday morning good news story!
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Robert
This would be ideal for building some of that confidence Stickman:
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