"Look Ma, no hands!"

[Tuckervill]

A lot does depend on the bike. I've never ridden nice, spendy bikes until now. So, all the bikes I've ridden no hands on have been poorly maintained junkers or the '70s ten speeds that always got stolen. If something's out of whack on your bike, you'll know it as soon as you let go (if you're experienced at riding no-handed). Still, there's a point where you can balance even an out of whack bike and go no handed. It's about the hips and core and maybe being willing to sit cockeyed on the saddle! A perfectly balanced bike is a thing of beauty, though. I had a 10 speed in the '70s which was so sweetly balanced I could hook a finger behind the back of the saddle and push it down the sidewalk and it would just go perfectly straight.

There are plenty of reasons to ride without hands, and being smug is only one of them. I fixed my ponytail while sitting straight up, yesterday. It's a useful skill, but I don't think it's a requirement to be good cyclist. Don't hate me because I can.

Karen

[Deanna]

I could ride with no hands when I was a kid, but that was on a little heavy bike with thick wheels. Then my mom put a stop to it by singing:

Look ma - one hand!
Look ma - no hands!
Look ma - no teeth!

[Zen]

Look ma - one hand!
Look ma - no hands!
Look ma - no teeth!

Good point!
I may not be able to ride my road bike with no hands, but I've spent a LOT of money on dental work in the past year and my teeth look great.

I choose teeth

[Tuckervill]

I think that's kind of like saying "I choose not to get hit by a car, so I don't ride."

Risk vs. benefit. It's worth the risk to me to readjust my gloves, sit up and stretch my back, open my water bottle, etc., with no hands, based on my knowledge of my ability to do so.

Karen

[Zen]

Risk= $4000.00 in dental work

Benefit = much less.

[Tuckervill]

Risk= $4000.00 in dental work

Benefit = much less.

The point is, your dental work is at risk just by being on the bike at all.

Karen

[Lise]

I love to sit up on a quiet stretch of street or path and cruise along no-handed. I've always done so, on every bike I can remember. It's tougher when I have panniers, but it just takes a bit more attention to balancing with my hips. It's a nice, restful feeling for me. I usually do it when riding home from work (or wherever), and I turn off the busy street onto my quiet street, sit up, look around, and slowly pedal that last two blocks. Nothing flashy or speedy. Just being happy on the bike.

[Zen]

The point is, your dental work is at risk just by being on the bike at all.

Karen

But much more so if I ride the bike WITH NO HANDS.
I'm not in that much of a hurry to get anywhere.
If i need to scratch, adjust, drink or whatever, i'll stop.

You take your risks, I'll take mine.

[michelem]

My DH is the king of riding no hands. Last week on our tour was his first time ever riding a road bike (Bianchi Via Nirone 7)m he's always ridden a mountain bike or a bmx (as a kid). He took video from the bike, picked flowers from the side of the road while riding, etc. Scared me to death, but barely a wobble came from his bike. Me, I've never been able to ride no-handed. Not on my clunky wide-tired mountain bike, not on the many test-ride road bikes I've tried out, and certainly not on the Bianchi Dama She I rode on our tour last week. Toward the end of the week I got so I could ride one-handed though (using one hand to flip the map or wipe my nose). I still haven't mastered getting to my water bottle while on the bike though and also have trouble making turn signals. DH says he gained a lot of skills as a child when he had a paper route. He says, "Try cycling with 50 pounds of newspapers and having to throw them from the moving bike." I guess that would do it! I spied him doing that "smugness" move a few times as well, but I don't think he was being smug at all. He says it was because he was getting pain/soreness from the bent over position and this was his way of stretching out without having to get off the bike.

[Kano]

There are plenty of reasons to ride without hands, and being smug is only one of them. I fixed my ponytail while sitting straight up, yesterday. It's a useful skill, but I don't think it's a requirement to be good cyclist. Don't hate me because I can.

Karen

Count me impressed!

I have a hard enough time fixing a ponytail without being on a bike (or doing anything else, for that matter) at the same time!

Karen in Boise

[hurleygirl]

Took me a little while to figure it out. I had it wrong because when I tried I would slow down to make it "safer". Turns out I was simply going too slow.

Once I get over 15mph I'm fine. Bike isn't so twitchy.

I'll take both hands off to stretch, remove arm warmers, fumble with a gel pack or bar that isn't cooperating, and fix a leaky water bottle lid.

[pooks]

I'm glad I asked.

It's not so much that I think I should be able to -- I wondered if I was dork not to be able to. Yes, those "victory flings" made me wonder!

Since a lot of us don't ride 'no hands' I won't worry about it. I just thought it might be a "skills" thing that good riders should develop. (Um, I can answer a cell phone while I'm riding -- if I'm going slow in my neighborhood and there's no traffic. I shouldn't have admitted that, should I?)

[Torrilin]

I'm glad I asked.

It's not so much that I think I should be able to -- I wondered if I was dork not to be able to. Yes, those "victory flings" made me wonder!

Since a lot of us don't ride 'no hands' I won't worry about it. I just thought it might be a "skills" thing that good riders should develop. (Um, I can answer a cell phone while I'm riding -- if I'm going slow in my neighborhood and there's no traffic. I shouldn't have admitted that, should I?)

It's a pretty useful skill. Turn signals are kind of important, and they use the same physical skillset.

I can't really ride no hands right now, and turn signals are *hard*. When I am comfortable riding no hands, turn signals are a lot easier.

[Andrea]

I was watching the Tour a couple of days ago & saw footage of a sprinter crossing the finish line first while making runner's sprinting motions with his arms. It was pretty funny (and impressive).

The one time I've won, I only raised one hand
My training partner is trying to teach me how to go no hands- not for winning, but for stuff like clothing adjustments, eating, stretching, etc. that you may want to do while training/racing. So far I can only coast for a few seconds. I start to feel wobbly when I start pedaling, but I'm going to work my way up to it. He can actually make turns and go over bumps with no hands. I'm always tempted to push him over when he does it... but that would mean finding a new training buddy!

[lauraelmore1033]

remark about smugness retracted here. When I made it I was thinking of a particular incident when a rather large rider passed me on what my husband pointed out was a P.O.S. bike and then proceeded to disappear down the trail with his hands resting behind his head(after passing several other riders). His body language seemd to say, "look, I'm a big guy on a P.O.S. bike and I'm mopping the floor with all of you!" I was thinking "you GO, big guy!" at the time, so my asessment of smugness isn't necessarily a bad thing...

I'm glad to learn that there are also useful reasons why one would ride hands free.