Riding no-hands

[billyk]

In my ongoing quest to become "one with the bicycle", I'm learning to ride my Quest 2.0 no-hands. It's surprisingly easy. I'm not a daredevil or a showoff (anyway, I'm too old for girls who'd be impressed with that kind of thing). I just want to feel completely in control of the bike.

I have about 1500 miles on my Quest. Although I've ridden recumbents for 15 years and many thousands of miles, this is the first one I can ride without hands. So far I can confidently go at least 1/4 mile (400m), make shallow turns, and keep a pretty straight track. But only with a very steady cadence and constant pressure on the pedals. It's actually easier up a slight incline for that reason. I can't control it at all without pedalling, in fact I have no idea what to do with my feet in that situation.

* Anyone else trying this? Any hints? Can you keep control without pedal pressure?

* And for the Cruzbike designers: The trickiest part of riding without hands is controlling the swoops. It feels like once the front end starts to turn it wants to flop over. As long I keep the front wheel closely in line with the frame it's very rideable, but a too-hard push with one foot and it is gone. Have you tested any designs with more trail, that presumably would be stabilizing?

An easy experiment would be to put a smaller wheel on the back (which would increase the trail and decrease the head angle) and seeing if it gets easier to ride no-hands. I will try this when I get a chance and report back. Suggestions?

BK

 

[John Tolhurst]

Hi billyk, 
If you are not

Hi billyk,

If you are not pedalling, you can try with one leg at 12:00 on the pedal, then move that knee left and right to balance.

You can try to impove the geometry, but you can also assume we have tested all the obvious permutations.

 

[ak-tux]

Personally I first learnt to

Personally I first learnt to ride hands free while coasting and later learnt to peddle hands free. I think it's just a matter of time and practice and it will come.

As John T once put it, the body requires feedback in order to learn. So you just need to gently and briefly let go of the handlbars while coasting at a moderate speed in a safe open area. It may be for just a few seconds at a time but soon your reflexes "learn" the motion and starts to maintain steering input from the legs.

I actuallly find that riding hands free on this FWD MBB recumbent easier than on a regular upright bicycle.

 

[Charles.Plager]

Hi,
For what it's worth, I

Hi,

For what it's worth, I find pedaling up a small incline the easiest as far as no hands. I've gone 1/10 of a mile (160m), so it looks to me that you're ahead of me.

It used to be that I was best off keeping my hands just over the handlebars. Not so much because I wanted to grab them quickly, but because this was how my body was used to balancing. I can now (very slowly) move my hands behind my head.

Cheers,
Charles

 

[Shakey]

Just keep practicing

Hi BK,
it took me roughly ~600 km before I could ride straight short distances & do simple turns.
After 1500 km I was significantly better, & now after 7000 km I probably ride hands free more often than not, turns, corners, traffic, moderate hills .. all 2nd nature.
I just find it just more comfy/relaxing, now I even get a bit annoyed when the wife & I are riding the BikeE2 (tandem) & I can't let go of the steering for even a couple seconds. One day I fear that I will have a brain fart & let go to clean my glasses & dump us :-0

I too, found at the beginning that a slight uphill grade was good for learning.
For coasting, I rest the heal of my right foot against the chainstay, you can see at about 27 seconds into this vid. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auV3JYbSIzs
Just point your toe in the direction you want to go to steer. I am clipped in so this might not work as well with flat pedels.


But really it all comes down to just keep pushing your limits a little at a time.
Be patient. It is really a worthwhile skill to learn.
cheers
RK

 

[billyk]

Cool video!

Hi Shakey - Great video. Gives me a nice goal.

In fact I'm feeling a lot more comfortable every day. I now do a 1-1/4 mile (2km) stretch easily on my daily commute (that's the longest between major street-crossings). Basically I can do it indefinitely on a fairly straight track, and feel pretty comfortable at a moderate speed, still only while pedaling. But those bridges in your video ... and the dogs and kids ...

This is really making me enjoy the bike even more - I feel like part of it. As I said, I couldn't ride no-handed for more than a couple of seconds on any of my other recumbents, despite many many miles.

You have a Bike-E tandem? I almost bought one once, after riding a Bike-E single for a long time. The advantage is that the rear rider can see over the head of the captain, right? Unlike just about any other tandem.

BK

 

[Shakey]

Hey BK,
if you can ride 2k

Hey BK,
if you can ride 2k then you pretty much have it sussed, just build your confidence in safe places.
Ride that imaginary narrow bridge using the grocery store parking lines.
Dodge the imaginary kids & dogs using pylons or bits of trash, just play & have fun.
Commuting is not a race. Take the scenic route. Relax. Play.

The BikeE2 is a recent acquisition (Craigslist). I am not really sure what the view is from the back, I pilot

My wife is a very nervous cyclist & does not ride on her own. We used to have a tandem mountain bike & one of the things she liked was that all she could see was my back. (less scarey). If the rear shock is pumped up on the BikeE2, she does say that she sees more than she likes at times. (scarey)
But best of all, even though she sometimes finds it nerve wracking, she still enjoys the rides & it takes very little coaxing to get her on it.

I have found the BikeE2 to be a much better bike than I had expected, might not be the best platform for extended touring, but really much better than I was expecting. A very fun, easy to ride, easy to adjust recumbent tandem.
After we bought the BikeE, we literaly rode the tandem mountain bike about 200 metres ...... then sold it.

Now if only there was a Tandem Cruzbike so I could let go of the bars & clean my glasses without dumping into a ditch ......

 

[John Dorlon]

me too

I know this is the Quest thread, but you inspired me to give this a try on my Silvio.

I ride with my daughter to her school in the mornings - it's only a few tenths of a mile - but I've been working on it this week and I'm getting pretty close.

I started off coasting, squeezing my knees. Once I could let go and coast a bit, I tried it with knees in their natural position. Once I could let go and coast a bit that way, I started pedaling. It's been about 4 days of trying so far and today I managed to pedal hands free for up to 15-20 seconds at a time. I'm getting there. This is very light pedaling on flat ground.

I'm getting there!

-John