i'm 22 years old and and i have never ridden a bike until last week. a few weeks ago i moved to germany and i admired all the people commuting with a bike. soooo, i bought this beautiful bike and started learning. most tutorials and tips i have seen are about the very beginning of the learning process. i have started taking off with the pedals and changing gears while riding. i started practicing going slowly. i don't know where to go from this point.
i went to the supermarket twice with my bike (5 min. walking distance). there isn't a seperate bike lane in this route. i get very stressed when cars start coming and i stop to give them way. i would really appreciate any advice to improve myself from this point onwards. will i just get more courage as i keep practicing or are there specific skills i have to learn (other than using hand signals). i know it is too early to get into trafic, but i just want to know what to practice in a park. thank you very much in advance!
by utanmayaninsan
10 Comments
Huge respect for starting!
Take it slow and stick to small, familiar routes. You will feel more confident naturally with time.
If you can, I suggest you to find a cycling buddy to ride with.
Take your time. You can do it 🙂
Just a week and you can already pedal to go somewhere? That’s amazing! Respect 🙂
As for the cars, you slowly get used to it.
Connect with your local ADFC chapter. (ADFC – Allgemeiner Deutscher Fahrrad-Club)
The more active local groups will often hold beginner courses, handling and traffic safety trainings etc.
Are there any bike courses you can do that focus on adults? Great effort getting this far by yourself but having some structured instruction on strategies on how to deal with traffic and some guidance might be the fastest way forward.
I don’t have any tips but I’m proud of your progress! Keep it up!!
I know my local bike advocacy group has confident cycling workshops, which seem really helpful for new riders. Hopefully you can connect with similar resources. Great work so far!
yay!. I didn’t ride much till college and after. agree about sticking to roads that feel safe to you and riding with an acquaintance when you can. Also, if there’s a local bike shop, they can be a big help — it’s good to know where to get your bike fixed and they may have suggestion or bike route maps that are helpful locally.
Find a free open space and practice everything; tight turns, speedy turns, leaning into a turn, stand-up riding, getting on/off the bike fast, one hand, no hands, etc. Also, I never liked the narrow-wheel bikes with the lowered middle bar and no suspension, they look and feel too flimsy and narrow shallow tires make for a more bumpy ride, esp with no suspension. Idk why youd pick this other than price I guess.
Good luck 👌
That’s awesome! I’d suggest learning the rules of the road in Germany if you are mixing with cars … and even if you aren’t. You want to be predictable, and that helps.
Welcome to freedom and fun!
In regards to advice, I think it is important to *always* be aware what is happening around you. A mirror on your helmet or handlebar helps with that. With experience, I have become able to predict when a motorist will do something selfish and dangerous, so I can avoid them.
Also, I practice emergency stopping without locking up the wheels. In an emergency, we do what is a habit.