Can you ride a bike?

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I can ride a bike, but it took me a lot longer than most kids to learn.

I can ride a comfort bike; that is to say sitting straight up. Can't balance on a mountain bike where you are leaning forward. Also, can't turn my head to the sides while riding, and can't lift one or both hands off the steering without a wobble/wipeout. I'm enjoying reading this thread; I though it was just me Used to have Meniere's Disease, wondering if it did something to my inner ear/balance.

I can't remember at what age I learned to ride a bike. I think I got my red bike for Christmas when I was five, but I can't remember how long it took me to learn. I do remember that my Dad put a lot of effort into helping me learn. At first I tore up and down the driveway on training wheels. Then Dad put a helmet on my head (and maybe pads on my knees and elbows) and took me to some very grassy parkland. When I fell off, which happened a lot, it didn't hurt. I'm never going to be Cadel Evans or Lance Armstrong, but I can ride well enough to get me places. I now ride a bicycle and a motor scooter (though not a motorbike - too much coordinatation required and I find them too heavy).

[quote="JayJayEff"]I can ride a comfort bike; that is to say sitting straight up. Can't balance on a mountain bike where you are leaning forward. Also, can't turn my head to the sides while riding, and can't lift one or both hands off the steering without a wobble/wipeout. I'm enjoying reading this thread; I though it was just me Used to have Meniere's Disease, wondering if it did something to my inner ear/balance.[/quote

Menier's Disease will do that. You mean you don't have it anymore.]

I was six when I learned how to ride a bike.

don't feel bad. I've never learned to ride a bike,drive,swim,skate or anything like that my balance sucks and my anxiety of hurting myself is through the roof.

TBG! You're so cool!! !


I didn't learn to ride a regular bike till I was 8. At first I got frustrated because my sisters learned how to ride much earlier than I did, but as soon as I got the hang of it I was addicted. I used to ride my bike everywhere with my dad, then when I got old enough, I just started going out by myself. I still go on random bike trips by myself all the time, especially when I'm feeling down about something. The other day I woke up, grabbed some water and rode about 28 miles before coming back home for lunch. Good times.

The funny thing is that neither of my sisters ride anymore.

I was between 4 & 5 when I learned to ride a bike. Mom bought me a bike that was properly sized for me but without training wheels - which I refused to learn to ride. My best friend had a tiny totally-the-wrong-size bike (wrong size for both of us) but for some reason I was more able to figure out balance on that than on my bike. So we would trade. I would ride her bike and she would ride mine. I got comfortable on the little bike but then some how managed to get my toes caught in the wheel spokes. I temporarily lost a toenail but gained an incentive to ride my own (properly sized) bike.

Now I ride my bike to work pretty regulary. I'm not a natural at it, I'll never do neat tricks like hopping up a curb and I've been known to weave, but I can get from here to there pretty well.

The point is: Be patient, it'll come to you when it comes. Find a way to make it work for you because cycling is a great feeling.

It's funny because I learned to ride a bike at 11, but took my first swimming lesson at 18 months! (Yes, they actually had swimming lessons for people that young).

Compared to my brothers, I took a while to learn to ride without training wheels - probably around the age of 8 or so. These days, I ride all the time, as it's usually more convenient (as well as healthier and less expensive) than driving.
I also do a bit of "road" biking - riding in a fashion similar to driving a car, taking a lane, stopping at traffic lights, signaling turns, yielding to pedestrians, etc, when traffic allows for it. I haven't had any major accidents yet (fallen off a few times, including getting my handlebars caught on a hidden branch, colliding with another cyclist around a blind corner, and hitting some pedestrians who happened to be walking in the bike lane)

I ride fairly fast, around 18-20 mph, on a mountain bike with smooth tires, and have done as much as ~40 miles in one day on some occasions. I would like to get a road bike some day.

Learned it when I was 5.

I actually just learned last year.

I can't ride a bike. I tried to learn to do it when I was under 8 years old, but I couldn't. I couldn't even balance on one leg when I was that little, so I obviously failed to ride a bike.
Maybe if try now, I'll be able to learn to ride a bike.

I love riding a bike, although I don't have one atm. I learned to ride mine quite easily as a kid.

No, I cannot ride a bike, although I want to badly.

I have no problem riding a bike (except that now I basically can't because my OCD is too severe). But I needed training wheels for what my parents had me brainwashed to think was a long time. It really bothers me when they have the "you're a big girl you should be able to (fill in the blank)" type of attitude.