Advice for nervous and wobbly cyclists

Hi
I am a rubbish cyclist.
This is not surprising as between the ages of 7 and 32 I effectively did not ride a bike at any time.
So far so bad.
Anyway, I am now the owner of a not very stylish bike (Granny shopper type, a Fischer from Walmart, chain a bit "well-loved") and I'm trying to get some very wobbly practice in.
It is getting very slowly and only slightly better but I'd like to hear some encouraging stories from other latecomers to cycling plus any useful advice from longterm cyclists (e.g. "Highway Code"-type rules of road - I got told off yesterday for doing 20m the wrong way on a bike path, oops).
My main route is Rotkreuzplatz to Hackerbrücke (Landshuter Allee bike path then Arnulfstr. bikepath - in 10mins this morning whoooo hooooo) and yes I often wear a helmet (yes on a Granny shopper - I'm soooo cool ha ha, but if you ever see me cycle you'll see why this is wise).
And setting off is my worst bit And this footbraking malarkey? *shudder*
Cheers
Katrina
PS Crosslink to cyclepaths thread

When I learned (when I was a kid), I found that once the movement/motion/balance thing clicked, I was fine.
What do you find difficult? Why do you think you're crap? There's not much to do except pedal and keep balance.
Then if we know, maybe an expert (Lurch?) can help you.

Until you get very confident, follow traffic rules to the smallest detail. If the green man goes to red, brake and wait for him to come back, don't try and get across before the alternative traffic goes.

Signal for god's sake so the faster people behind you know that you are about to attempt a turn.

Keep it up and you will soon be getting very good!

I wobble, my feet slip, I'm ok at turning and I do signal. I get nervous when people come up behind me at speed and overtake too closely (cyclists, not cars). And pushing off without backpedaling the pedal to the highest point.
I worry that I don't follow the traffic rules well enough but I do observe lights.
Does everyone always cycle only in the direction of traffic even if it is a very short stretch?
PS Ta to both of you

advice. learn the german highway code. RECHTS FÜR LINKS. if you fuck this up and others rightfuly and legaly insist on their right of way you lose the fight. i nearly watched a dumb cyclist become street pizza yesterday. also do not use a mobile or personal stereo/mpeg player when cycling in munich, seen to many people become human pinballs because they are not paying attention to the traffic. and last but not least your wearing a helmet but dont forget to wear cycle gloves.

Wear proper shoes, that will stay on your feet and with grips on the soles.

Practice braking somewhere safe so you know what happens when you have to slam them on.

The front wheel brake has most of the stopping power (if correctly adjusted) and should only be used (as a beginner) when both wheels are in a straight line.

Yeah, the proper shoes is a good point. I cycle in my big heeled boots, but I'm used to it. My feet still slip sometimes though. Wear a pair of sneakers and pack your nice work shoes in a backpack.

Tend to only use the handbrake and then put my foot down. I've never used the backpedal brake. Is this bad?
Had trainers on this morning and nice shoes in a bag which helped. Need to buy a day pack as a courier bag is tricky.

if you get scared by people coming up behind you make sure you just hold your line and they will avoid you. Thats a good general rule in fact - just stick to your line and others will avoid you - its more tricky if you're zig zagging all over the path

oh and well done so far!!

Cycle wearing this stuff...

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=U&start=1&q...bble.htm&e=9717

Well I find there is more to it...pedal and balance is a great start...but being able to have eyes on all side of the head here also helps Generally people will walk, stroll, run, loiter, push their babies, rollerblade, and cycle the wrong way on the bike path. You just have to get used to being swift-acting and able to stop on a dime pretty much. Be careful in busy traffic areas well i.e. Leopoldstr. People people everywhere. One thing I do not do often enough is use my bell. Use it...a lot.

Footbraking? What kind of bike you got hehe? Make life easier and go for the hand brakes. Gears are also very nice if you ever encounter hills

Tom17 can also help you out. He's quite a handy guy to have around. And his shoes make sparks (just ask jml).

nop - I don't even have a back pedal brake (although I used to and it was hard getting used to not using it). Back pedal brakes are usually more effective but hand brakes are fine. Ride with your hands over the brakes so you can pull them quickly if you need to

I'm doing the stay-as-far-right-as-possible thing (this is right, right?) and if someone gets too close I tend to go onto the pavement and stop. Am just really intimidated.
Thanks for all the help so far to all of you!
Wish I could buy L plates for it! But a Granny bike with a helmet should be a huge warning sign already ha ha

right

People laugh at me in the street due to my braking technique - I tend to compound brake (so taking the speed - speed? what blooming speed?! - down gradually in steps with the hand brake) before fully braking and then tipping right onto my foot.
At least I think it is due to my braking...
These 120€ Fischer bikes from Walmart have only 1 hand brake (right-side) plus backpedal braking.
BTW I'm really grateful for the advice!
With "Rechts vor Links", this applies unless there is one of those Priority signs up (yellow diamond with white edge), right?

The back brakes are only really important at high speeds, which I assume you're avoiding at this point. If you're traveling really fast and have to stop quick, you want to use the back brakes; if you use the front brakes, your bike just might flip over the handle bars.

that should fill Katrina with confidence!

good point though

At high speed you want to use both brakes. The front ones to really kill the speed and the back ones to stop the back wheel coming around to say hello to the front wheel.
The problem with the back pedal brake is that you are changing your balance in order to brake and in an emergency braking situation this is an unwelcome added distraction.
Get some old clothes on (long pants and sleeves are so anti road rash) , grab a big pack of elastoplast and do some practice in an empty car park, that way you'll know what happens when you have to stop suddenly.
Lamposts, drivers, other cyclists and even your own bike are all trying to kill you !

To be honest, it sounds as though all you need is confidence, which would come with a bit more practise.
I find cycling in an area with low-traffic gets me used to the roads and a few cars. The step up to a city centre seems less intimidating then, as you're comfortable with the basics.
As to other cyclists overtaking you, if they do it really fast and close, chances are they are confident they won't crash into you, so just carry on as normal. Stop if it makes you happier, but try once or twice to carry on (slow down if you like) just to see how it feels.

As if I own such items. *tsk*
Everyone is trying to kill me. Par for the course that is.

By all means, bike in the direction of the traffic - ALWAYS - I was biking yesterday in the direction of traffic on a cycling path and some idiot was biking toward me(wrong direction) and hogging the whole path. No need for a head-on cycling accident - it will hurt(almost as much as full frontal contact with a tree - don't ask me how I know).

And make sure you use your bell when people wander in your path(cyclist or pedestrians).

And, most importantly, never assume that it is safe cross into the path of a car. Always make eye contact with the driver(a personal preservation warning). Just because you have the little green light, it does not mean the driver doesn't have the big green light and he could be blinded by the sun, dirty windows, your beauty, etc.

Never assume anything on a bike. Always ride defensively.

yp those starnge little yellow signs tell you whats what. but reread kitkat64's accident thread. do not force your right of way, just a little roll forward of a car is enough to cause a pile up.

as to your breaking, agree with everybody else here you need confidence. you remind me of a certain english guy who i tuaght how to ski this year. slopes had to be major clear before he'd move. you should ride the bike every day from now untill snowfall, you've got alot of time to make up on.

yes it does

Gids, I can't ski either! Did the big daft bugger manage it in the end?
Yes it is a lack of confidence and practice, I'm quite chuffed to have done so well so far
I'm printing off this road sense for kids thing (well that's the right level)

Aha, deleted that thread(about my accident).
But, Katrina, the gist was that I was stopped partially blocking a bike path and looking to my left to wait for a break in the traffic before pulling out. A stupid cyclist, riding the wrong way on the bike path(from my right) decided to ride around the front of my car(instead of behind as all good little German children are taught) at the exact moment I took my foot off the brake to drive out into the traffic. He did 1200€ damage to my car and none to his bike. However, it could have been much worse - I could have stepped on the gas at that exact moment. (Had I known he was going to be such a prick about it later, I would have!)

Never ride in front of a running car unless you have made eye contact with the driver. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER.

kitkat64, this ruling might be of help. If you cycle on the wrong side you have no Vorfahrt.

yep, death has a certain permanence to it which ruins the best laid weekend plans.

katrina it states

die vorgeschriebene Fahrtrichtung

which can be difficult here as sometimes you can cycle both ways. i would advise for safety's sake TO ALLWAYS RIDE IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION, no matter what.

Katrina...Tom and I found a really nice route from Olympiapark to the Schloss over your way...maybe we can do some nice gentle practice cycles

The idea about practice practice practice is the way to go. Cycle somewhere every day. Also if you plan on doing long distances get some nice biking underpants from a sports shop...they work really well (no sore bum!).

To be honest I could use more instruction on technique...I feel my bike is way heavy and seem to have trouble controlling it at times when I use my baskets I am also really scared about screwing up my ankle again so I know that affects my riding.

Intresting thread to read. really encourages me to learn to ride...

poots

Katrina, you are a veritable cornucopia of information(as always). We are now working with his insurance company to recover some of the repair costs. The cyclist would not give us any information at all. He said 'it's not my fault, she wasn't looking, etc'. Finally, we went to the police and they called him and made him give his information out. Then we contacted the insurance company. They are very willing to work with us. So, this will help.

I went back to the scene of the accident and took pictures of where my car was across the bike path and it is clear that he should have gone behind me, not in front. Funny how, when I was stopped there and taking the pictures, no fewer than 3 cyclists rode around the back of my car. I wish I had the pictures on my PC.

Thanks!!

I know that I can't be the only not fantastic/non-cyclist here, maybe some of us could meet up sometime and do some practising together?
PS kitkat64, you're welcome. I'm trying not to become a statistic and this thread is really helping!

Kid's brochure from the state of Niedersachsen to teach cycling. Although it is in German, the diagrams are really clear and it is easy to understand.

Best advice I can give is practice, practice and then more practice. Its really just a case of getting familiar with the bike. Don't rush into it but spend as much time as possible riding on quiet paths or at times when there are less people using them.

Cute link hehe. I can actually understand some of it...yay!

And it reminded me about always looking when there are parked cars along the side of the bike path...lots of peeps just throw open car doors without looking first Or they like to exit the shop on your right and cross the bike path in a beeline to their parked car on you left...forgetting they are crossing a bike path.

Strange that I heard a story of a girl who never got the chance to cycle either. She was driven everywhere as a kid and a bike was really needed as she lived in the city centre. Still I find it strange how that can happen. Haven't you ever seen those german kids with the funny wooden bikes without brakes or pedals. Kids around the age of 3 or 4 have them, so by the age of 5 or 6 they can cycle perfectly with normal bikes.

6783, I can name you three people right now who simply didn't learn to ride a bike when they were kids. Had nothing to do with being driven around.

Well I grew up in Essex, near where Ford is. It is car central. So not many cycle in any case in that area and I'd walk to school or get the bus instead. I still don't know many cyclists in the UK (or those that do tend to only use a bike for sport and not for transport.
And there are plenty who can't swim either (I can before anyone asks, was in the Dantebad yesterday after work ahhh).

You could always get stabilizers

Yep. I learned when young...I had a bike growing up until I hit about 14 and then we moved to a high traffic area and no longer did I ride. Until coming here...at age 30. And the bikes I had were far different from an adult mountain/touring bike. So for me it was like learning to ride all over again...not to mention learning the road rules (which I still don't know all of) and getting used to cycling on the road when there is no bike path.

The expression 'It's just like riding a bicycle' makes me laugh. It is something that you might learn at a young age...but without practice...you will not necessarily be good at it.

yes, definitely practice in a parking lot on a Sunday to get more comfortable with your stopping and starting, as well as tight turns. ideally have some friends with you too, so you get used to riding near people.

I wouldn't worry about those laughing or passing you. The Germans only seem to laugh or get nasty when they sense fear. A klutz with confidence still gets their respect!

and very good point about shoes. from someone who may or may not have accidently flipped off her sandal (no socks!) into the middle of an intersection this Sunday when trying to turn left...

Wee Mun, if I could get them the right size I would.
And you should worry the most. How many doors down from my flat will you be living?
Fear is only 2 house numbers away...
Butterbean, thanks. How the heck do people manage to cycle in flip-flops? That astounds me.

You can add me to the list of people who didn't learn to ride a bike when they were kids. Never got the chance to do so, never had a bike, but I certainly wasn't driven around...

Never was driven around as a kid either. Used to walk 40 minutes to school each way.

P

Harry, the deal is off

Riding a bike is easy, it's almost well like er riding a bike!

another idea, get a tricycle, I see plenty of old fogies riding around on these. And while I am not for one second calling you old, maybe you would be safer

uphill each way, dead of winter and all that too?

I like the downhill both ways route on my bike... Shame I havent found it yet :-(

guys its never too late to learn anything! be it sking snowboarding or cycling! just organise yourselves into a bunch and cycle down the Isar to the waldwirtschaft biergarden, or forsthauskasten through the neuriederforst. munich is a wonderous place for being active outside! and ignore anybody who sniggers at you 'cos you look a wee bit unsteady. i'm sure katrina can cook better than most people here, and that takes more ability than riding a bike.

Let some air out of the front tire or use a smaller wheel Tom, and raise the saddle. Downhill all the way.

PIMP MY BIKE