Riding tips for the extremely new and klutzy

[Teddy]

Well, at the age of 44 I decided I wanted to learn to ride a bicycle. Yes its true, I never learned to ride as a child or even as a teenager. So, a few weekends ago I rented a mountain bike from one of the local bike shops and taught myself to ride in a parking lot. It was a bit harder than I thought it would be, but I could tell it would be so much fun as soon as I could stay upright for any extended period of time. The weekend after that, I bought two new bikes (with the help of a friend who rides). I've been riding a few times a week (short rides), and had a great day yesterday riding my mountain bike around that big parking lot. Excited and thoroughly psyched, I thought I'd try out my beautiful, sleek, sexy road bike today. In hindsight, I suppose I probably should have waited until I could actually ride the mountain bike without almost eating it every ten minutes, but I couldn't help myself. I have been dreaming of riding my road bike since I brought it home. Well, things started out a bit shaky, but I quickly got up and pedaling and all of a sudden it was the coolest thing on earth. That bike feels like a Ferrari, and as I pedaled faster, it responded beautifully. I was in heaven...pure bliss...for about ninety seconds...and then I ate it...HARD. I derailed the chain and cheese-gratered almost all of the tape off the left handlebar. Not to mention leaving a large quantity of skin on the asphalt.

So my question(s) is/are as follows; does anyone have any tips or tricks or advice on what would make it easier to ride that sexy beast? (I realize now that I should get better on my mountain bike before taking another run at the road bike....I can be a little slow on the uptake sometimes.) And if I'm going to take a digger - which I know I will again - how to avoid major damage to myself and my bike. As for how I fell, I know it sounds ridiculous, I think I went down because I was coming up on a turn and I just freaked out. I guess I manhandled the front end of the bike (i.e. turned the handlebars like a trucker steering a big rig) and took myself down.

Help, tips, feedback and comments will be very much appreciated.

Thanks so much.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Just keep going slow and practicing in empty parking lots. That's what I did. Do large figure 8's, then do smaller ones. Practice starting and stopping a lot. Don't go any faster than you feel in control going. You'll get faster naturally.

Think of yourself as just a kid with a new bike having fun- this can mentally help keep you excited even though you are in a parking lot going round and round. Worked for me!

Great going!

[Kalidurga]

As Lisa said, a good bet is to take it slowly until you gain a greater comfort level. One tip I will suggest, though, is to gradually learn how to steer without turning the handlebars. For a tight curve, obviously you need to turn the bars to some degree, but relying on them for turns will make the bike go squirrelly on you. Learning to manuever the bike with your hips will give you much more control. Here's a thread that describes what I'm talking about: Steering with your Hips.

And don't let any crashes dampen your enthusiasm!

[7rider]

Instead of a parking lot - try riding it on a grassy field. Crashes hurt less. And the slower speeds will help you master balance.

[mimitabby]

another thing you might try doing at least with the road bike is borrow someone's wind trainer. It's a thing that holds your bike stationary. you could then start practicing with the gears.
Or:
before you get on your bike, check which chain ring you're on.
Put your bike in the middle chain ring in the front. and just leave it there.
Now start riding around again. In the middle chain ring, you should now be able to use your right hand to go through all the gears without getting the chain to come off.
and practice shifting gears now, (right hand) so you can start to feel the differences and know when to use them.

A lot of us started on single speed bikes, and then we got 3 speeds.

to start right off with a fancy 27 speed bike might be pretty overwhelming.
So take it slow and don't run too much before you learn to walk.
I am very impressed that you are learning to ride!

[farrellcollie]

For my GF, who had not been on a bike in 30 someodd years, we lowered the seat so her feet could be flat on the ground until she felt comfortable. I don't know if this would work for you - she was on a hybrid. It would not work forever because it isn't particularly good for the knees - but it helped her feel safer and she rode more and eventually the seat got raised.

PS. If you are really falling hard - may I recommend wearing gloves and elbow guards? GLoves are good in general, and a friend of mine cracked his elbow falling off bike on an unbelievably tame trail here - he was riding along a packed earth/light gravel trail (not mountain biking or rough gravel - just one of those packed earth MUP things) and hit a small branch lying on the ground - went down on his elbow and ouchy. This is not to scare you - but if you are still learning - it might help. I am super cautious about joints (The joys of being middle aged)