Does anyone have issues riding a bike?

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zeldapsychology
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25 Aug 2009, 4:21 pm

My issue is with keeping balanced. :-( I need to learn so I can get a scooter!! (I was curious if anyone else has had this problem)



tantopat
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25 Aug 2009, 4:23 pm

I'm okay at it, except for when I have to stick out my hand to indicate. Then I tend to fall straight over! ;^^ I'm also rubbish at riding up and down curbs, although I'm not sure if anyone else gets this or if it's just me. As for balancing, I think the best thing would just be to try practising often, and see if that helps you get better at it. Trying to balance in other ways, such standing on one foot, might help as well, although I'm not sure if it would work or not. :? Still, it's probably worth a try! :)



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25 Aug 2009, 4:58 pm

zeldapsychology wrote:
My issue is with keeping balanced. :-( I need to learn so I can get a scooter!! (I was curious if anyone else has had this problem)



Yes. I do okay once I'm on and pedaling, but just barely. I can't let go of a handle bar long enough to signal or scratch my nose, though, without falling over. I would like to practice more, but I'm afraid to ride in traffic, and in order to get to our local bike path, you have to cross some busy streets. That means putting my feet on the ground, which means getting my butt off the seat. Once I do that, it's a huge problem getting started again.

I don't know how to mount and dismount. I found this: http://www.wikihow.com/Mount-a-Bicycle

but I can't figure out how to lift my leg up that high. How the hell do you swing your leg up like that? I'm not physically disabled, and I see people like old Miss Marple (Margaret Rutheford) getting off and on a bike, while it's moving, like it's the easiest thing in the world. I just don't get how to swing my leg way up like that. This is one of the things that makes me feel really depressed and sucks away my self-esteem, so after a year of trying, and stretching, I gave up. My body just doesn't DO that, for some reason. Every so often, I try again, and end up wishing I hadn't.



Dilbert
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25 Aug 2009, 5:00 pm

This keeps coming up. Is it really an AS thing? I rode bikes since I was 7 years old. First BMX then mountain then road and now timetrail/triathlon bikes (which are pretty hard to control BTW). I never had any problems.



sandra3
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25 Aug 2009, 5:56 pm

I really don't like bikes. had too many accidents with them and I'm not very good at balancing on them and trying to ride. Once i get moving I start to wobble and end up steering myself into something.



sag_good_bad_guy
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25 Aug 2009, 6:01 pm

I think that anyone, AS or NT, has some difficulty learning how to ride a two wheeler.

It's just that people with AS might take a bit longer to fully master all of the things involved: balance, pedaling, steering, watching the road, hand signals, stopping. A lot of multi-tasking.

I had to lose my balance a few times and CRASH! My knees got red and sore. Oh well, I learned that I needed to keep on pedaling.

With practice, I learned to rid a bicycle. Most people do.



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25 Aug 2009, 6:02 pm

I had a difficult time learning to ride a bike (and catching a ball, and I write in block capitals to this day), but got there in the end. I've always had a peculiar range of motor skills. Can't really offer better advice than "just keep trying" though!


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ViperaAspis
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25 Aug 2009, 6:26 pm

No trouble here.


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WoodenNickel
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25 Aug 2009, 6:58 pm

When I was child, I tried to learn to ride a bike. I was unsuccessful. Before that, I rode on the back of friend's bike. Not for long...my sense of balance seemed to be in my stomach and it didn't take well to all of the sudden shifts. :(


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Flismflop
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25 Aug 2009, 7:33 pm

Got up and running by age 8 or 9. The skateboard required a lot more contemplation for me to ride standing up, but I learned to do that too.


So just do it. Find a big, empty parking lot or such - preferably paved ground that's level. Using both hands, hold onto the bike while you straddle it. Sit down on the seat but keep touching the ground with both feet. Familiarise yourself to how the brakes work. When you're ready, start pushing off the ground with your feet, so that your bike starts moving in a forward direction. You can scoot around like that for as long as you want. Eventually, you'll feel like trying the pedals, at which time you become a velocitizen.


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duke666
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25 Aug 2009, 8:19 pm

Bikes, like snowboards, work better with a little speed. It's the gyroscope wheel thing. Scooters are easier than bikes because the wheels are heavier, so they have more circular momentum, and more gyroscopic stability.

So once you get going on a bike, it just gets easier. Until you stop.

I ride all the time, on busy City streets, but it isn't natural for me. The sensory processing time lag can be a problem, so I need to anticipate things that might happen, keep plenty of clearance, and not get distracted.


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lennyk
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25 Aug 2009, 8:35 pm

no problems for this aspie here,
I do a bit of road cycling and group riding
in fact if you can, cycling is one of the best activities for aspies
you can easily work some kind of solitary routine
I like riding hills by myself, finding my own rhythm



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25 Aug 2009, 9:34 pm

elderwanda wrote:
I can't let go of a handle bar long enough to signal or scratch my nose, though, without falling over.


I'm exactly the same, although until recently I couldn't really ride a bike at all. Once I start peddling I am ok but because people on bicycles can't ride on the footpath I don't even have a bike because there is no way I am ever going to ride on the road.


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blastoff
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25 Aug 2009, 9:57 pm

Not so good at bicycling, although I can do it. I have trouble staying in a straight line if I have to look in another direction or signal or whatever.

I *can* do these things when I'm riding my unicycle, however. Go figure.



Mainichi
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25 Aug 2009, 11:10 pm

When, I was child, I had a hard time learning how to ride a bike. I remember using a push scooter with big tire wheels, It helped me with my balance. I was 9 when I could finally ride a bike without any problems. Now I have no problems at all. I have a bmx bike and a mountain bike as well. Roller skating was easier for me, I got pretty could on quads skates by 6 years old. When inline skating became popular I had no problems switching over.



anxiety25
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26 Aug 2009, 7:38 am

My thing with a bike was not feeling like I have full control over what I'm doing. There is nothing around me to protect me from being hurt, my reflexes are too slow, and once that thing is going... I just don't move out of the way of things quick enough, because I'm too focused on not trusting the bike itself.

When I was a kid and tried to learn, instead of trying to use the breaks (because they didn't ALWAYS work perfectly), I'd just fall over to make it stop. It lasted a whole 3 weeks after begging for a bike for over a year.


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