Teaching adult to ride?

My wife has little/no biking experience. She shudders at the idea
based on bad childhood experiences.

But now she has expressed some interest. And I think she is in much
better shape to handle it, physically.

My question: what's the best way to teach an adult to ride?

In particular, would it be better to start on an individual bike or a
tandem bike?

(Note: Eventually she will need to ride individually.)

I have no tandem experience myself. So I worry that starting her on a
tandem might be demotivating as I, too, have some learning to do. Or
so I presume.

That is, I presume that tandem riding is different from individual
riding. Right?

But my reason for starting her on a tandem is: it would acclimate her
to the rhythm and movement of the bike while she alone would not have
to contend with the mechanics of
turning and even shifting.

(A stationary bike at the gym would not accomplish that.)

I assume that if I take the front seat, I control all of the
mechanics. Right?

On the other hand, I worry that the back seat might be disconcerting
because she would not have a clear view of the road and the ability to
anticipate turns, etc. At least, that would be a disadvantage for me
if I were in the back.

Anyway, I would like to hear from someone who has had to go through
this -- teaching an adult to ride. What did you do for the first few
rides?

On Apr 27, 1:15*pm, WhatsUp wrote:
My wife has little/no biking experience. *She shudders at the idea
based on bad childhood experiences.

But now she has expressed some interest. *And I think she is in much
better shape to handle it, physically.

My question: *what's the best way to teach an adult to ride?

I'd recommend using a bicycle for starters. Let them fool around with
it in a traffic free space without hovering all over them until they
can scoot around and pedal a little. No yapping, less thinking, more
riding. Work on finesse later.

On Apr 27, 3:04*pm, landotter wrote:
On Apr 27, 1:15*pm, WhatsUp wrote:

My wife has little/no biking experience. *She shudders at the idea
based on bad childhood experiences.

But now she has expressed some interest. *And I think she is in much
better shape to handle it, physically.

My question: *what's the best way to teach an adult to ride?

I'd recommend using a bicycle for starters. Let them fool around with
it in a traffic free space without hovering all over them until they
can scoot around and pedal a little. No yapping, less thinking, more
riding. Work on finesse later.

uh, tandems are a good way to break up a marriage... most of them have
the two cranks chained together so that both riders have to pedal at
the same rate or "cadence" as they call it. I would not think this a
good way to start out.

I've taught a couple kids, and I don't imagine that teaching adults
would be nearly as easy... mostly because adults are more surly and
less well behaved than my kids were. The ticket is no not start on
pavement, but rather a nice grassy knoll. Start at the top: mount,
coast, stop, dismount, walk it back up to the top and repeat. After
only a few trips the student will figure out what the pedals are for
and how to get their feet on them.

There are a lot of advantages to this:
tipping over on grass is much less likely to abrade skin off of the
student.
people that learn with this technique usually don't develop the
miserable habit of 'paddling' when starting from a stop.
the teacher is much less prone to having a heart attack while trying
to keep up running along side holding the seat.
this strategy emphasizes the student learning rather than being taught
- the student's ownership of the process greatly increases the
probability of success.

"WhatsUp" wrote in message
...
My wife has little/no biking experience. She shudders at the idea
based on bad childhood experiences.

But now she has expressed some interest. And I think she is in much
better shape to handle it, physically.

My question: what's the best way to teach an adult to ride?

In particular, would it be better to start on an individual bike or a
tandem bike?

(Note: Eventually she will need to ride individually.)

I have no tandem experience myself. So I worry that starting her on a
tandem might be demotivating as I, too, have some learning to do. Or
so I presume.

That is, I presume that tandem riding is different from individual
riding. Right?

But my reason for starting her on a tandem is: it would acclimate her
to the rhythm and movement of the bike while she alone would not have
to contend with the mechanics of
turning and even shifting.

(A stationary bike at the gym would not accomplish that.)

I assume that if I take the front seat, I control all of the
mechanics. Right?

On the other hand, I worry that the back seat might be disconcerting
because she would not have a clear view of the road and the ability to
anticipate turns, etc. At least, that would be a disadvantage for me
if I were in the back.

Anyway, I would like to hear from someone who has had to go through
this -- teaching an adult to ride. What did you do for the first few
rides?

A tandem might not be such a good idea, as it can bring out the worst in a
couple. If she's very light and "compliant" (doesn't try to control things)
it could work out OK... but I think you're better off having her get used to
something slow & steady, like a cruiser, and going from there. Big wide
tires slow down the handling and make it easier to get used to.

Best of luck in the endeavor-

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA

On Apr 27, 6:13*pm, "Mike Jacoubowsky"
wrote:


A tandem might not be such a good idea, as it can bring out the worst in a
couple. If she's very light and "compliant" (doesn't try to control things)
it could work out OK... but I think you're better off having her get used to
something slow & steady, like a cruiser, and going from there. Big wide
tires slow down the handling and make it easier to get used to.

I agree with Mike's comments above. A novice captain on a tandem
(that's you) is likely to be unsteady and a bit scary, especially with
a novice stoker (that's her) on the back. I'd not be surprised if the
experience scared her away from cycling. Even an expert captain has to
be very careful and gentle with a new stoker.

The best way to teach a kid to balance is to take off the pedals,
lower the seat until it's very easy to touch ground with both feet
while seated, and let the kid treat the bike as a seated scooter,
pushing around with his/her feet. (Well, some people say a classic
push scooter is even easier.)

But adults learn slower than kids. One of those Electra cruisers
http://www.electratownies.com/flat_foot.htm
might be a good bet for your wife. Again, she can scoot pedal-free
until she's comfortable with balancing. Then pedaling while balancing
is just a slight adjustment. Later, if desired, she can try a bike
that's a bit more nimble.

Good luck!

- Frank Krygowski

On 4/27/2010 3:28 PM, DennisTheBald wrote:
[...]
I've taught a couple kids, and I don't imagine that teaching adults
would be nearly as easy... mostly because adults are more surly and
less well behaved than my kids were. The ticket is no not start on
pavement, but rather a nice grassy knoll. Start at the top: mount,
coast, stop, dismount, walk it back up to the top and repeat. After
only a few trips the student will figure out what the pedals are for
and how to get their feet on them.

There are a lot of advantages to this:
tipping over on grass is much less likely to abrade skin off of the
student.
people that learn with this technique usually don't develop the
miserable habit of 'paddling' when starting from a stop.
the teacher is much less prone to having a heart attack while trying
to keep up running along side holding the seat.
this strategy emphasizes the student learning rather than being taught
- the student's ownership of the process greatly increases the
probability of success.

I find uprights are hard to get going compared to a 'bent, where all one
has to do is pedal and steer, as opposed to all the body movement
required on the upright.

--
Tom Sherman - 42.435731,-83.985007

On 4/27/2010 1:15 PM, WhatsUp wrote:
My wife has little/no biking experience. She shudders at the idea
based on bad childhood experiences.

But now she has expressed some interest. And I think she is in much
better shape to handle it, physically.

My question: what's the best way to teach an adult to ride?

In particular, would it be better to start on an individual bike or a
tandem bike?

(Note: Eventually she will need to ride individually.)

I have no tandem experience myself. So I worry that starting her on a
tandem might be demotivating as I, too, have some learning to do. Or
so I presume.

That is, I presume that tandem riding is different from individual
riding. Right?

But my reason for starting her on a tandem is: it would acclimate her
to the rhythm and movement of the bike while she alone would not have
to contend with the mechanics of
turning and even shifting.

(A stationary bike at the gym would not accomplish that.)

I assume that if I take the front seat, I control all of the
mechanics. Right?

Unless you are on one of these:
http://www.bilenky.com/viewpnt.html,
http://hasebikes.com/140-1-tandem-pino-custom.html.

On the other hand, I worry that the back seat might be disconcerting
because she would not have a clear view of the road and the ability to
anticipate turns, etc. At least, that would be a disadvantage for me
if I were in the back.

Anyway, I would like to hear from someone who has had to go through
this -- teaching an adult to ride. What did you do for the first few
rides?

The ideal tandem stoker sits upright and shifts his/her weight as little
as possible - the exact opposite of riding an upright bicycle.

--
Tom Sherman - 42.435731,-83.985007

On Apr 27, 6:26*pm, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On Apr 27, 6:13*pm, "Mike Jacoubowsky"
wrote:



A tandem might not be such a good idea, as it can bring out the worst in a
couple. If she's very light and "compliant" (doesn't try to control things)
it could work out OK... but I think you're better off having her get used to
something slow & steady, like a cruiser, and going from there. Big wide
tires slow down the handling and make it easier to get used to.

I agree with Mike's comments above. *A novice captain on a tandem
(that's you) is likely to be unsteady and a bit scary, especially with
a novice stoker (that's her) on the back. *I'd not be surprised if the
experience scared her away from cycling. Even an expert captain has to
be very careful and gentle with a new stoker.

The best way to teach a kid to balance is to take off the pedals,
lower the seat until it's very easy to touch ground with both feet
while seated, and let the kid treat the bike as a seated scooter,
pushing around with his/her feet. *(Well, some people say a classic
push scooter is even easier.)

But adults learn slower than kids. *One of those Electra cruisershttp://www.electratownies.com/flat_foot.htm
might be a good bet for your wife. *Again, she can scoot pedal-free
until she's comfortable with balancing. *Then pedaling while balancing
is just a slight adjustment. *Later, if desired, she can try a bike
that's a bit more nimble.


The steering on the Electras is surprisingly light due to the weight
distribution. However, wide bars will moderate the sensation.

On Apr 27, 7:34*pm, Tom Sherman °_°
wrote:
On 4/27/2010 3:28 PM, DennisTheBald wrote:



[...]
I've taught a couple kids, and I don't imagine that teaching adults
would be nearly as easy... mostly because adults are more surly and
less well behaved than my kids were. *The ticket is no not start on
pavement, but rather a nice grassy knoll. Start at the top: mount,
coast, stop, dismount, walk it back up to the top and repeat. *After
only a few trips the student will figure out what the pedals are for
and how to get their feet on them.

There are a lot of advantages to this:
tipping over on grass is much less likely to abrade skin off of the
student.
people that learn with this technique usually don't develop the
miserable habit of 'paddling' when starting from a stop.
the teacher is much less prone to having a heart attack while trying
to keep up running along side holding the seat.
this strategy emphasizes the student learning rather than being taught
- the student's ownership of the process greatly increases the
probability of success.

I find uprights are hard to get going compared to a 'bent, where all one
has to do is pedal and steer, as opposed to all the body movement
required on the upright.

--
Tom Sherman - 42.435731,-83.985007

Yes, learning to ride a 'bent took way less time than learning to ride
a wedgie.
But I still haven't mastered that track sit. And I gotta have
clipless pedals so that I can pull the pedal back to 10:00 in the case
of a false start.

If you're gonna go for the recumbent posture, why not go ahead and get
one with three wheels.
the new Wiz Wheels Rover might be just the ticket.

A crank forward two wheeler like the Electra might be a good choice
too, my 70 yo mother rides one of the Rans CF models

Starting a wedgie is a piece of cake if you follow the proper
procedu
start with one foot on the ground, the other on a pedal, the pedal at
1:00, both knees slightly bent, with your but in front of the saddle.
Then straighten both legs at once, briskly. Several things will
happen all at the same time, your but goes up, the pedal goes down,
the wheel goes 'round, the bike goes forward and the saddle slides
under your but. It's difficult for a beginner to trust that all of
these things are actually gonna happen as smoothly as they do. It's
easy to believe that the bike will roll down the hill and that all
they have to do is to sit on it.

On Apr 27, 7:39*pm, Tom Sherman °_°
wrote:
On 4/27/2010 1:15 PM, WhatsUp wrote:

My wife has little/no biking experience. *She shudders at the idea
based on bad childhood experiences.

But now she has expressed some interest. *And I think she is in much
better shape to handle it, physically.

My question: *what's the best way to teach an adult to ride?

In particular, would it be better to start on an individual bike or a
tandem bike?

(Note: *Eventually she will need to ride individually.)

I have no tandem experience myself. *So I worry that starting her on a
tandem might be demotivating as I, too, have some learning to do. *Or
so I presume.

That is, I presume that tandem riding is different from individual
riding. *Right?

But my reason for starting her on a tandem is: *it would acclimate her
to the rhythm and movement of the bike while she alone would not have
to contend with the mechanics of
turning and even shifting.

(A stationary bike at the gym would not accomplish that.)

I assume that if I take the front seat, I control all of the
mechanics. *Right?

Unless you are on one of these:
http://www.bilenky.com/viewpnt.html,
http://hasebikes.com/140-1-tandem-pino-custom.html.

On the other hand, I worry that the back seat might be disconcerting
because she would not have a clear view of the road and the ability to
anticipate turns, etc. *At least, that would be a disadvantage for me
if I were in the back.

Anyway, I would like to hear from someone who has had to go through
this -- teaching an adult to ride. *What did you do for the first few
rides?

The ideal tandem stoker sits upright and shifts his/her weight as little
as possible - the exact opposite of riding an upright bicycle.

--
Tom Sherman - 42.435731,-83.985007

yeah, those look like fall back positions for dragging her out on
rides after she has failed to learn to ride. Quite the opposite of the
objective.