Adult Learning

[liquidindian]

Does anyone have any experience of teaching an adult (or learning as an adult) to ride, from scratch?

Since I bought my bike, my girlfriend has shown an interest in getting a bike so we can go cycling together at the weekend. But - incredibly, to me - she never learned to ride a bike without stabilisers when she was younger, so she'd be pretty much starting from the beginning. Now, it's a longer way from the saddle to the ground as an adult, and I seem to remember a few bleeding knees when I was younger...

Any advice on where to start?

 

[Noodley]

Maybe start minus the pedals, sit on the saddle and learn to balance whilst pushing along with her feet?

Works for kids.

 

[Noodley]

well, that's two of us posting the same advice at the same time so it might be worth a try

 

[wafflycat]

Adult cycle training

 

[bonj2]

It's a myth that ANY adults don't know how to ride a bike anyway.
If you teach kids how to do it then they can learn from the age of 3, 4 or even 2. But if you don't teach them they'll be able to just get on and ride straight off from about the age of 11 or 12. An adult not being able to ride a bike is just something that doesn't exist!
It might feel a bit weird to her at first, and she'll no doubt be a bit wobbly, but the balance will be there from the outset, unlike, say, with a 3 year old kid from the outset.

 

[Noodley]

That's rubbish.

That's another chapter for the Bonj Book of Riding a Bike

Let's just hope bonj has never learned to swim. Then we can apply the same logic and throw him into the Channel...

 

[bonj2]

i can swim. I couldn't swim the channel, though. Wouldn't want to!

 

[Noodley]

i can swim. I couldn't swim the channel, though. Wouldn't want to!

I'm sure you'd pick it up as you went...

 

[tdr1nka]

i can swim. I couldn't swim the channel, though. Wouldn't want to!

Using your arms is a myth.

 

[ufkacbln]

Swimming the Channel is a myth - you simply go through the "motions"!

 

[tdr1nka]

Swimming the Channel is a myth - you simply go through the "motions"!

Ahh, you've seen the sewage outflow pipe at Dover then?

 

[wafflycat]

Using your arms is a myth.

Myths don't use their arms as they don't have any. Myths have wings: a myth being a female moth...

 

[Amanda P]

Leaving the silliness aside for a minute (we can always come back to it), I agree with Noodley and Mr Paul, having taught one of my (adult) students to ride a bike this way.

Maybe, Bonj, if he'd really tried, he could have just got on and ridden, but he didn't think he could and so it proved.

The other important bit of advice is probably privacy. If you, as an adult, couldn't ride a bike, you'd probably feel pretty self-conscious trying to learn. Find somewhere quiet, set the bike up with the saddle low and pedals off, and leave your pupil alone to mess about in privacy. If they suspect you're watching, it'll take 'em much longer to get the hang of it. (Reversing trailers works much the same way, I find).

Later, put the pedals back on and let 'em try that for a while, then raise the saddle to a sensible level (probably still not ergonomically ideal height until there's lots more confidence).

 

[Andy in Sig]

I would imagine that it could be helpful if a gentle downhill slope could be found as this takes care of a lot of forward motion leaving her free to concentrate on balancing.

 

[wafflycat]

Leaving the silliness aside for a minute (we can always come back to it),

Leaving silliness aside, I'd already given a link in my post

http://www.cyclechat.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=360316&postcount=5

to where the OP could locate information on how to get a hold of an accredited cycle trainer...