Learning how to ride a bike

 Hi there!

Note: I have not proofread any of this and I will probably correct it later, but anyway... here it comes!

I was actually planning on writing about why I don't like the way the internet is nowadays, or rather how we interact with content, but I don't feel like talking about that, so instead I decided to talk about my biking adventures...

Back in Nepal where... ok nevermind. I am not THAT adventurous, however after 30 years of being unable to ride a bike, I finally learned how to do it. I found a nice course that helped me learn and it was such a good course that after 4 hours we were all able to ride the bike pretty confidently. 

The course began by all of us introducing ourselves and saying what we expected from the course. Some people wanted to just be able to go on small bike tours with their kids while other people wanted to use their bikes to commute or just be able to go to more places without relying on their cars. The course took place on the grounds of where their official building was. There were some cobblestones and stuff, but it was alright.

The scooter

We were all given these scooters that were as big as regular bikes. The first thing we learned was to pull on the brakes and try to stand on the scooter with both of our feet until we inevitably fell to one side. That way we learned a bit about our balance and that it is completely normal to eventually stop and lean towards one side. Once we were used to that the next step was trying to push ourselves with one foot and try to keep our balance until the scooter stops and, as previously experienced, we'd lean to one side. We were encouraged to always stop the scooter by pressing the rear brake first. For this we also used a section of the place we were on that had a small incline so we would not need to push ourselves too much. 

At first it is really weird and you brake a lot because you feel like you are going to fall. The trick was to put your foot down and push yourself some more until you get enough speed and you stay "in air". We did not have to put our second foot back on it, we would just keep it next to the scooter in air. 

The bike

Step 1:

At this point we were able to ride these scooters so well that a couple of us considered only getting a scooter if we were not able to learn a bike because they were so much fun! 

The bikes we were given were already adjusted to our weight, which we had been asked about days before the course took place, by email. Everything was ready for us. In order to learn to ride the bike we went to this parking lot of the city's town hall where there only a few cars parked. The advantage of the parking lot was obvious. There was way more space and the parking lot also had a decline which was a big advantage for us later on. 

The bikes had no petals on. The seat was adjusted in such a way that we could fully reach the ground with our feet. We were then asked to just push ourselves with our feet and learn to keep our balance. Just like with the scooter, it was pretty difficult at first, but we got the hang of it at some point. Here too, we were encouraged to use the rear breaks to stop whenever we felt unsure. At this point we had practiced braking so often that it had become second nature. Our instructors told us they did not want to see us scream and jump off the bike, but rather brake and get off the bike gently. 

We practiced this for an hour or so and then once we were all able to pretty much ride the bike between our legs, we were given one pedal. We first started with our dominant foot and yes a lot of us struggled to figure out which one that was. For me it was the left one. So I learned to push the pedal with my foot on position so that it is like 2' o'clock or 10 o'clock, I don't remember exactly. The idea was to be able to push on it and get some speed. 

We practiced starting our bike ride with the pedal and just going down the decline. It was weird at first again, but we eventually got used to it. While practicing it, we also tried to lift our other foot to where the second pedal would be. Not only did this keep with the balance but it prepared us for step 2. 

Step 2:

Step 2 was riding the bike with two pedals. Up until now we were already used to braking, starting off with one pedal and just keeping our balance while our second foot was where the second pedal is... so the second step was the easiest... we just rode off. It was crazy! Not only did it almost feel like second nature already because of all the steps before, but we were just riding our bikes! That was insane!

Ok we can ride the bikes, now what?

We were already "experts" so we practiced riding down the parking lot, braking. Looking left and right and going left or right around the entire parking lot. Once we were done with that, we practiced going slalom around some cones which was pretty damn difficult, but I kinda managed to go around some of it. After that we tried to go around two cones in an 8 shape which was super difficult. I would just almost fall off the bike and have to brake all the time. Once we were done with that, we rode our bikes around a tree making smaller and smaller circles. We also rode our bikes and tried following each other while keeping distance. That was pretty nice and easy to do 

What we would have also practiced:

Well, our asses were in pain, it was already a second day, so a lot of people dropped out by the end of the course, so we did not get to simulate incoming traffic and stuff. There was an option to actually go on a small bike tour, but I chickened out and just stayed on the parking lot to practice some more. Two women went and had lots of fun but were just EXHAUSTED from it.