JMK wrote:I have put the bike in the back of a car, found a quiet parking lot and practiced. My balance isn't as bad as I first thought (I can freewheel but balance does need work) I am having issues getting my feet on and pedalling. I find the positioning awful - feet are tip toe and the pedals themselves seem ok but my feet keep falling off. The bike shop says I'm sitting too low - If I sit any higher my feet will not touch the ground.
I don't think that you need to consider driving miles to find someone to guide you. The above comments remind me very much of how my wife reacted to her first several attempts at riding her bike. I'l relate those experiences and maybe it'll give you some food for thought. When we went for our first learning day she was terrified that she wouldn't be able to balance the bike and spent a lot of time trying to set off, wobbling a bit and stopping. With that fear she was also afraid of getting pedalling as she was sure that there was a risk that she'd fall and not reach the ground with her feet. Something to understand about cycling is that the bike doesn't stay upright because of the rider balancing the bike. Bikes balance themselves due to the forces exerted by the spinning wheels (think of the scene in Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid when Paul Newman shoves his bike down a hill and it rolls down hill on it's own). So your first goal can be to get the bike moving fast enough for you to be able to feel the bike doing that for you. The problem my wife had was due to not getting the bike moving fast enough and trying to balance it before having built up enough speed. The speed you need for this self balancing is remarkably low, but as a new cyclist it may take time for you to get the feel for it. If you have already begun freewheeling you're well on the way. So get back to the car park and practice by setting off with a good push on the pedal and let the bike carry you. If you can do this on a hill all the better as it'll go further and you'll become more comfortable with just how secure a moving bike is. When you push off don't try to do it while sitting on the saddle, straddle the top tube and lift yourself onto the saddle as the bike moves off, using the pedal that you've just pushed down to lift yourself on. This will ensure that you feel stable at the point of setting off. Setting off and letting the bike do the balancing is the biggest hurdle in learning to ride. Don't worry about the pedalling at all.
With regards to the gears while you're at this learning stage, just set the bike up with a gear that will get the bike moving when you put your weight on the pedal as you start off, put the chain on the middle ring at the front and a large to medium cog at the back. This should give you the push off speed and be a good sized gear for when you're ready to start pedalling.
As you become more confident that the bike isn't going to fall over and leave you an embarrassed heap have a go at pedalling to keep the bike rolling a little further.
Another fear that my wife had was not being able to stop and putting her feet down. For this just do the opposite to how you started off. As you slow down and start to apply the brakes ease yourself off the front of the saddle with your weight carried by the pedals and handlebars and you'll be able to comfortably put a foot on the ground.
Allow yourself as much time as it takes to get these basics right. It may be frustrating and perhaps embarrassing, but there will come a moment when you 'go for it', and will find yourself riding properly around the car park. The biggest joy in learning to ride is that the leap from stuttering starts to riding happens very quickly as you suddenly feel yourself in control. Ally rode around the car park whooping with happiness after spending a few hours of getting frustrated and feeling incompetent.
With regards the positioning. You don't need to be able to touch the ground with your feet when on the saddle, what you need is a saddle position which enables a comfortable (and healthy) pedalling motion. As Fraxinus says, this is usually explained as being where your leg is slightly bent on the bottom stroke.
). I have bought a new bike (having been to a cycle shop and asking to be sized up first). The bike isn't exactly the most expensive one (a falcon) is grey and umm... has loads of gears
At least that's what I told myself...