Never too old to learn?

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ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
Wheelies (on the Brompton of course) that would be good, if less useful. Ditto bunny hops.
I think bunny hops are an essential skill; They have saved me a few times when a swerve would have been too dangerous. One time I jumped a deep pothole at about 80 kph. I was on a fast sweeping descent which appeared safe but the hole was hidden by the way the road surface curved away from me. (Yes, I could have braked downhill for 3 km to keep my speed down, but where's the fun in that! :whistle:!)
 
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Deleted member 1258

Guest
I think bunny hops are an essential skill; They have saved me a few times when a swerve would have been too dangerous. One time I jumped a deep pothole at about 80 kph. I was on a fast sweeping descent which appeared safe but the hole was hidden by the way the road surface curved away from me. (Yes, I could have braked downhill for 3 km to keep my speed down, but where's the fun in that! :whistle:!)

I've never learnt to bunny hop.
 

Dogtrousers

Kilometre nibbler
I think bunny hops are an essential skill; They have saved me a few times when a swerve would have been too dangerous. One time I jumped a deep pothole at about 80 kph. I was on a fast sweeping descent which appeared safe but the hole was hidden by the way the road surface curved away from me. (Yes, I could have braked downhill for 3 km to keep my speed down, but where's the fun in that! :whistle:!)
Hopefully the fact that I never go anything like that fast excuses me from the need for this skill. I hope so anyway as I think getting me and my bike airborne would a long runway and wings like a 747.
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
as long as you ride in front of me, it's all good
A mate was on a group ride when a woman suddenly peed herself. He couldn't quite work out how/why it had happened. He didn't think that it was deliberate because she would presumably at least have gone well back behind the bunch? Pee started spraying off her back wheel towards the riders behind, who were not impressed! (There had been a near multiple pile-up with riders swerving left and right to get out of the firing line...) :eek:
 
As I have got older the ability to do certain things has reduced far too much, some too personal for discussion on a family forum.

WRT cycling, when I was young I could ride long distances no-hands, but these days I am lucky to manage it for 20 yards. I couldn't even imagine putting on a jacket while riding along unless I wanted a trip to A&E.

Balance seems to be one of those things like elasticity in the knees that vanishes and cannot be re-learned.
 
OP
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Jon George

Jon George

Mamil and couldn't care less
Location
Suffolk an' Good
Balance seems to be one of those things like elasticity in the knees that vanishes and cannot be re-learned.
A revealing exercise is to stand, close your eyes and lift one foot slightly off the ground. If you can do it for longer than ten seconds without having to put it back down to stop yourself falling over, you are probably young. ;)
 

T4tomo

Guru
I bunny hopped a cattle grid at that speed once. I did think afterwards that it might have gone pear-shaped if I hadn't quite cleared it...! :whistle:
That's quite impressive. A bunch of us found ourselves heading towards one of those bolt to the road speed humps in Dalby Forest at a fair old lick. It had a couple of narrow gaps towards the edges that some aimed for, the rest of us had to bunny hop over, a mid a few shouts of hump & jump.
Does that mean that Bromptons are somehow scary to ride no-handed despite being fine to ride with hands on bars, or ALL bikes are scary to ride no-handed?
My Brompton is v tricky to ride no hands, its easier to do it, and more stable to ride normally, with the front bag on. People accuse them of being quite a twitchy ride, but I find it fine, even without the front weighted. Its just a "different" ride to road bike that you soon get used to
 

Dogtrousers

Kilometre nibbler
A revealing exercise is to stand, close your eyes and lift one foot slightly off the ground. If you can do it for longer than ten seconds without having to put it back down to stop yourself falling over, you are probably young. ;)
OT but I clean my teeth standing on one leg. I have a 2 minute timer on my toothbrush that buzzes every 30 sec so I do one leg for 1 min, and then the other for 1 min. It's probably pointless but it's 4 minutes per day of exercise of some sort. (I do not do this with my eyes closed!)
 
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