Success! I am now able to ride my bike. The breakthrough came yesterday when I did what I should have done when we first got our bikes; I embarked on a major Googling session. I found a US site with an instructional video (cheap but not free otherwise I’d reproduce it here) which spelled out the most crucial bit of advice every non-bicycle-riding adult needs, and it’s not advice you’ll get from someone who learned to ride as a child because the whole process is too instinctual for them.
The advice is simply this: when the bike starts to lean, correct it by temporarily turning the front wheel in the same direction as the lean. That’s it. Once you’ve got that idea loaded into your head, progress comes fast. I spent a little time in a deserted car park last night just practicing the balancing side of things, and ten minutes later I was pedaling. This morning we went for another practice session on a bike trail and by the end of it I was getting bursts of 1-2 mins without any mishaps. I haven’t collected any new injuries either, though my arse is sore thanks to that medieval instrument of torture which is laughingly called a bike seat. Anyway, anybody reading this who also managed to survive childhood without ever learning to ride a bike will find the following link very useful:
http://www.hembrow.eu/personal/howtorideabike.html
I’ve still got a ton of photos from yesterday’s lure coursing to sort through and process before my next post, but for now here are a few snaps from a flyball demo we attended (but did not participate in this time) at James Lindsay Park, Baillieston. The demo was given by the Lomond Flyball Club, and here are a few shots:
