Break those habits; not that horse
[[Stolen verbatim from another thread]]
Here's the script we use when people come to ride the Quests and see if it's for them. We've refined this over a bunch of people this summer; we are at 20 riders as of August; Some family, some friends, and a good number of former strangers.
If doing this on a Silvio or a Vendetta either sit up for all of these steps or put something behind you back to raise the angle to at least 40 degrees. It's easier to train your hands and feet if you aren't also training your balance. We keep all the quests set at 43 degrees and people learn pretty easy; especially bent riders. The laying back will come easier as a secondary skill. For example going from Silvio 27 degree to Vendetta 20 degrees took me only two full rides; but it was darn shaking for me at first; the lower you go the more balance you have to adjust to; so just take that out of the equation; riding sitting up is a great skill that you will want for intersection and going up step hills, so use it for your learning.
So......
1) Find a parking lot with about a 1-2% pitch. Go to the high end.
2) Do 5 coast down with your feet up in the air spread eagle. Yeah it sounds stupid; but get them as high as you can. This will help you learn the glide and slide mounting trick. Do at least 5, not 1, not 2, at least 5.
3) Do 2 coast downs with you feet just resting on the pedals Do not pedal; your ego will want to, don't do it.
4) Do 3 coast down with you feet just resting on the pedals and steer just a touch using only your foot pressure (this is harder than it sounds; but you need to learn what it feels like) Again resist the urge to pedal the best students wait. You are trying to teach the brain the subtle things.
5) Start doing runs with pedaling 5 or 6 minimum. Straight lines; down and back up the incline. Avoid turning; stop the bike; turn it 180 and go the other direction.
6) Start doing shallow turns; when you turn "DROP" your outside shoulder; it should feel like a reverse shrug; just relax you shoulder muscle so the shoulder drops. This is the same thing you do on racing motorcycles and snowmobiles you have to lean OUT ever so slightly on the turn; this is the opposite of what you do on a road bike. This is the #1 thing DF riders do wrong; they want to lean in to the turn; and coast; at which point they start to fall into the ground. Took watching several struggle to figure that out. This was a hard learned lesson that Bill paid for with his ankle injury. Those that came later owe him one for that.
7) After you can do the shoulder drop; do some pedaling figure-8's. Start big and work smaller; go Both directions; one side will be way easier that the other; that is you dominate side. Make note if it's easier to go left or right. Pedal through the turns if you feel tipping. This is the first bike you've had that you can pedal through any turn. You may have to slam a foot down on your weak direction the first few times.
8 ) Now consider your #7 results. If you turn left and it feels like you will fall into the ground then your right foot is dominate; if you feel like when you turn right you will fall into the ground then you left foot is dominate. If you feel like you are going to fall doing both you are a freak and need to continue practicing #7. Using your dominate foot Practice your up hill starts using this technique
http://cruzbike.com/looking-riding-tips-toe-clips-or-snap-shoes-general-steering-and-uphilldownhill-riding#comment-27416
After you can do the hill starts you are ready for riding out of the parking lot.
Regarding #6 Eric has wisely pointed out that one for the most fun aspects of these bikes is leaning into the turn and carving out the corner like no other bike can. That aggressive riding is indeed fun. Eric was a Gymnast, and I spent years slalom skiing. If you have good balance and time on the bike you might be carving out corners too with vigor, check out the cruzmoose's videos like this one http://cruzbikesilvio.wordpress.com/2014/08/02/chasing-ms-daisy/ For the learning phase, that's best left as a future goal.
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