I was out for my fifth long workout on my Joshua conversion, still having problems with my tight turns. I seemed to be able to go left quite smoothly, but my right turns were tentative, jerky and disquieting (I felt like I was leaning too far and about to slide out of the seat or fall over).
At first I thought this was due to my tendency to rely on my left leg for support when stopping and that I felt more comfortable falling to that side. I don't know why I would feel better about sacrificing a certain side of my body, but that was my best explanation.
I have learned over years of juggling, attempting to learn and reverse new tricks, that it is often the opposite side of a manifested difficulty that causes a juggler to muff a pattern. Mulling this over whilst executing lazy circles in the parking lot, the following occurred to me. This may be obvious to the rest of you, but it wasn't to me until this AM.
I am right handed, and my right leg dominates in my pedal stroke. This doesn't make much difference in a standard bicycle, but in a FWD it is critical. The outside pedal stroke determines and controls the angle of attack in the turn. Hence, my comfort in a left hand turn and my discomfort in a right hand turn. The right leg dominance in a right hand turn caused me to bob into the turn, sometimes turning too sharply.
Peddling this bike is a remarkable conversation between the two halves of my body. When I allowed the left leg to dominate the conversation in the right turns, they were as smooth, effortless, and comfortable as turns in the opposite direction.
One step closer to prime time!!
Alan
At first I thought this was due to my tendency to rely on my left leg for support when stopping and that I felt more comfortable falling to that side. I don't know why I would feel better about sacrificing a certain side of my body, but that was my best explanation.
I have learned over years of juggling, attempting to learn and reverse new tricks, that it is often the opposite side of a manifested difficulty that causes a juggler to muff a pattern. Mulling this over whilst executing lazy circles in the parking lot, the following occurred to me. This may be obvious to the rest of you, but it wasn't to me until this AM.
I am right handed, and my right leg dominates in my pedal stroke. This doesn't make much difference in a standard bicycle, but in a FWD it is critical. The outside pedal stroke determines and controls the angle of attack in the turn. Hence, my comfort in a left hand turn and my discomfort in a right hand turn. The right leg dominance in a right hand turn caused me to bob into the turn, sometimes turning too sharply.
Peddling this bike is a remarkable conversation between the two halves of my body. When I allowed the left leg to dominate the conversation in the right turns, they were as smooth, effortless, and comfortable as turns in the opposite direction.
One step closer to prime time!!
Alan
