My Experience Learning to Ride

[KneeDrachen]

so is counter-steering effective?

 

[Brad R]

I got my T50 last July. It has been so long since I had “wobbling” while attempting to go straight, that I don’t remember enough to provide useful advice.

I can provide encouragement that you can get past this in less than a hundred miles if you spend time on the low speed skill drills.

If coasting, I consciously choose to put my straight leg on the side I don’t want to turn or drift toward. Your legs can really help to stabilize the path that the bike follows.

Also, if wobbling at a higher speed, stop pedaling and try to relax. If you have really got the feel of turning through the low speed drill you can turn a wobble into a sweeping turn to help stop the wobble.

 

[bladderhead]

so is counter-steering effective?

I think it is counter-leaning. When I first got the Silvio I realised that I kept falling towards the inside when turning at low speed. So, when entering a low-speed turn I forced myself to lean less, so I felt that I was about to fall outwards. This worked. This bike leans less than other bikes.

Learn to go slowly. Just after you set off, and just before you stop, you are going slowly. In order to ride at all, you have to be going slowly sometimes.

 

[Peder Torgersen]

I did see a comment in this thread about unicycles I used European crutches when I learned to ride a unicycle. I adjusted them in length so I could reach the ground when sitting on the seat of the unicycle. The crutches worked very well for me but it took me a long time to learn to ride a unicycle.

It also took me five long rides on a Sofrider of 50 km before I was able control it.

After I learned to ride a Sofrider I decided to learn to ride a unicycle since I had some in stock.

When I got a Vendetta, it was easy to ride on the first ride.

It did take several rides on the Vendetta to be comfortable with the handling.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/sykkel-bent/albums/72157627836652656

https://www.flickr.com/photos/sykkel-bent/albums/72157630975551608

https://www.flickr.com/photos/sykkel-bent/albums/72157667000902551

 

[Osiris]

While out on a ride yesterday, I happened to meet someone else on a recumbent who wanted to know more about my Vendetta. He had evidently never heard of a recumbent without a fixed boom, and was understandably puzzled by the MBB. In answer to his question about how difficult it would be to ride a MBB bent, I suggested that the learning curve for an experienced recumbent rider wouldn't be that steep. After all, it had only taken me one ride on the Vendetta before I felt pretty comfortable on it, but then I've been riding various fixed boom recumbents for years. I'm less optimistic that the MBB would be just as easy to learn on as a fixed boom design for someone completely new to recumbents. Not only would he have to learn all the basic stuff, like getting started from a dead stop and being able to avoid falling over without shifting your weight (as commonly done on a road bike), but in addition to that, he would have to simultaneously learn to overcome pedal steer, which introduces a whole new dimension of difficulty. Even after 600 miles on my Vendetta, I still have problems with pedal steer when starting from a complete stop, when resuming pedaling after coasting down a slope, and when shifting gears when sprinting or climbing a steep hill. In all of these cases, the problem occurs when your upper body movements temporarily get out of sync with your pedaling, so that you aren't able to produce the right amount of pull/push on the handlebars to perfectly counterbalance the amount of force produced by your legs. I imagine I'll get better at this as I accumulate more experience, but I don't expect that there will ever come a time when the problem will completely vanish.