How do you learn to ride a bike without holding on?

[nigelloring]

I ride a couple of times a week but I always have to hold on to the handlebars.

How do I learn to let go?

[ChipWrecked]

Go fast.

And set a video camera on a tripod, post results here. Thanks in advance.

[FouTight]

This is stupid.

Slowly take your hands off until you are comfortable.

[jakethebake]

[ QUOTE ]
I ride a couple of times a week but I always have to hold on to the handlebars.

How do I learn to let go?

[/ QUOTE ]

It helps to practice this skill on a busy street during rush hour.

[steelcmg]

Just let go!

[Slow Play Ray]

just do it.

[jakethebake]

Can you ride with one hand?

What the hell? First graders are posting on OOT now?

[BruceZ]

It becomes easier once you understand and accept the fact that your moving bicycle is a gyroscope, and as such, it wants to stay balanced. It takes more energy to tip it over than it does to keep it upright. Think about this as you remove your hand for brief periods, and notice how the bike wants to track straight as long as you don't lean to either side. Soon your hands will become superfluous. To turn, lean your body in the direction you want to turn.

I haven't ridden since I was a kid in high school, but I used to go grocery shopping on my bike, and I'd have both arms full of grocery bags while I rode with no hands in traffic. Not the smartest thing, but I grew up with no broken bones nor broken eggs.

[Vish]

[ QUOTE ]
It becomes easier once you understand and accept the fact that your moving bicycle is a gyroscope, and as such, it wants to stay balanced. It takes more energy to tip it over than it does to keep it upright. Think about this as you remove your hand for brief periods, and notice how the bike wants to maintain its course. Soon your hands will become superfluous. To turn, lean your body in the direction you want to turn.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thinking about it consciously like this is probably not going to help. It's like dancing: someone can tell you all the steps, but that's not really how you learn it. After all, seven year olds everywhere learn this without the above description. Just do it.

[BruceZ]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
It becomes easier once you understand and accept the fact that your moving bicycle is a gyroscope, and as such, it wants to stay balanced. It takes more energy to tip it over than it does to keep it upright. Think about this as you remove your hand for brief periods, and notice how the bike wants to track straight as long as you don't lean to either side. Soon your hands will become superfluous. To turn, lean your body in the direction you want to turn.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thinking about it consciously like this is probably not going to help. It's like dancing: someone can tell you all the steps, but that's not really how you learn it. After all, seven year olds everywhere learn this without the above description. Just do it.

[/ QUOTE ]

I liken it to teaching adults to ski, where an understanding of the physics of how skis turn helps to build confidence and reinforces the proper body movements, which are not natural. Its a left-brain right-brain thing. Seven year olds don't need to learn this way because they don't have a critical left-brain telling them that it won't work and that they are going to fall, but adults often need to learn physical tasks very differently, especially if they are very analytical. We learn things faster if we can use both halves of our brain.

I'm not a sports psychologist, but I play one on OOT. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[nigelloring]

I think so. I'll try next time. Thanks for the cool advice everyone.

[bennyk]

also, you want your weight to be further back than normal when you take your hands off. practice riding with your weight shifted back (centered over the saddle) and steer with 1 or 2 fingers only.

then let go.

bk

[swede123]

http://www.physics.ubc.ca/HSE/HSE_Manual/Local/Training_wheels.jpg

There you go, sport.

Swede

[nigelloring]

Yeah, why don't more people use stabiliser wheels or ride tricycles? They're a lot easier than balancing on 2 wheels, and I would guess they're safer too.

Look man DONT TRY. The other people here,NO good, They dont know you and they dont like you. Keep your hands on the bike.

Here is more hints

Always wear a helmet that fits your head – not too big or too small.

Wear the helmet flat on your head.

Before you ride your bike, make sure it is safe and working right. Ask an adult to check your bike for safety, especially if your bike has been in a crash.

Test your brakes.

Make sure the handlebars are straight and there’s enough air in the tires.

If you fall off your bike, tell an adult right away. You might not know that you’re hurt.

Be sure to follow the Rules of the Road:
Make sure you know and obey all traffic laws.
Always ride on the right side of the road.
Use proper hand signals to let others know that you are turning.
Look both ways before crossing the street with your bicycle. Walk, don’t ride, your bike across the street.
Never ride in between parked or moving cars.
When riding through a curve, ride in single file, slow down and stay to the side of the road.
Never ride out from a driveway or hillside.

[asofel]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I ride a couple of times a week but I always have to hold on to the handlebars.

How do I learn to let go?

[/ QUOTE ]

It helps to practice this skill on a busy street during rush hour.

[/ QUOTE ]

It can get scary so you might want to close your eyes while trying.

[Vish]

That was really funny, thanks.

[JihadOnTheRiver]

Try it first on an Interstate.

[Blarg]

[ QUOTE ]
It becomes easier once you understand and accept the fact that your moving bicycle is a gyroscope, and as such, it wants to stay balanced. It takes more energy to tip it over than it does to keep it upright. Think about this as you remove your hand for brief periods, and notice how the bike wants to track straight as long as you don't lean to either side. Soon your hands will become superfluous. To turn, lean your body in the direction you want to turn.

I haven't ridden since I was a kid in high school, but I used to go grocery shopping on my bike, and I'd have both arms full of grocery bags while I rode with no hands in traffic. Not the smartest thing, but I grew up with no broken bones nor broken eggs.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's nice to see you can sometimes still find a non-idiotic and non-hostile answer among the crowd of OOT buttholes.

[evil_twin]

Jake wins with his one hand advice. Start off learning to ride with one hand. It should be easy. Once you can do this, take the other hand off the handlebars for short periods of time. As explained by other clever people, the bike will actually try and stay upright. Only you unbalancing it will cause you to fall. Remove the one hand a tiny amount, for short periods of time, and increase as your confidence increases.

Do this loads and eventually you'll beable to ride along with your arms crossed like a pro, it's not that hard. Once you can do that you might want to try it out in a car park to learn to steer with no hands, which you can do easily enough by leaning.

[Sponger15SB]

If you want to try something fun, reverse your hands so your left hand is on the right handle bar, right hand on left handle bar.

If you can do this for more than 3 seconds, you win!