Teaching an adult to ride a bike

[Rebeccah]

Hi,

My 67-year-old next door neighbor has decided she wants to learn to ride a bike! Apparently when she was growing up (I think her family was Mexican), it was still considered somewhat improper for girls to ride bikes, and every time her brother "helped" her to learn, he dropped her -- she makes it sound like it was on purpose.

Anyway, I've offered to help her learn to ride. She's short (5'1" tall, about a 27" or 28" inseam), so we found her a used ladies' Schwinn Collegiate with 24" wheels and dropped the seat *all* the way down. The bike has a coaster brake and a front hand brake, and a three-speed hub. This morning we did some of the hold-the-seat stuff on a low-traffic street behind us, just so she could get used to the sensation of moving and trying to get her feet on the pedals, and of using the coaster brake. There was no intention to send her off on her own, just familiarizing her with

We discovered the coaster brake is very hard for her to use effectively. It's actually hard for me to brake effectively with it, too. Probably a combination of a) the seat is so low (just while she learns), it's hard to get any leverage on the pedal b) there's a quarter turn of play when you push back on the pedals, before the brake engages c) she and I are both much heavier than the average kid, so there's a lot more momentum to try to stop, and d) she tends to backpedal and then release, rather than sustaining the backward pressure until the bike comes to a stop.

However, after just a half an hour or so she was intermittently actually balancing for the duration of brief (10-20') rides -- as you might expect, she does better when I loosen my death grip so she has some feedback.

This afternoon, after getting her a new (used) saddle that is more comfortable, and introducing her to the hand brake, we went to a grassy hill and she did everything herself, basically just pushing herself and coasting (feet off the pedals), letting the hill do the work. Once we finally found a good hill with a reasonable balance of steepness and grass length/resistance, she got a good run in and really enjoyed it. Then after that she was tired, and every take-off resulted in tipping over within just a few feet - she just couldn't concentrate or make her body do what she wanted to.

So, it was a fun first day.

Anyone have any suggestions? We've got the seat height down now to where she's comfortably able to put both feet on the ground (not flat, but solid balls of the feet) with her butt still in the saddle, so she's not at all afraid. Before the afternoon run she was talking about wanting training wheels, but I talked her out of them. That would just add things to un-learn when they finally came off.

Thanks,

Rebeccah

[mimitabby]

Rebekah
I don't know what to say, i am so amazed to hear about a 67 year old woman learning to ride a bike at all.
It sounds like you are doing everything right... get her off the lawn and on to
a playground or someplace flat with no cars or too many people.
Please keep us posted
It's kind of interesting, TODAY i was talking to my mexican neighbor who is 40,
she's afraid to learn to ride a bike, SHE says it's too late. but wow, if a 67 year old is learning, it ought to be a piece of cake for a 40 year old, you think?!

mimi

[Grog]

I just think this is great and you seem to be doing everything right!

Keep doing it!

[Tri Girl]

I don't have any suggestions, other than what mimitabby said about going to a playground/parking lot for more practice. Sounds like she's learning quickly, and will be on her own in no time.
How very sweet that she's learning to ride at 67 and that you're helping her. Proves you're never too old to learn. Good for her!!!

[Bad JuJu]

Rebeccah, that just rocks.

Mimi, you've just gotta tell your 40-year-old friend about Rebeccah's 67-y-o "pupil." In July, I took my uncle's 78-y-o friend, who never learned to swim but can float on her back, kayaking for the first time in her life. She loved it. So now that my 74-year-old friend heard that, SHE wants to try it! The power of peer pressure!