Originally Posted by
GraysonPeddie
If only I can find a place to find where there is a lot of empty spaces with no parked cars (I live in zip code 32825 and I don't have a car, as I cannot drive). I can try to use brakes, but still, the balancing is just quite hard for me to master.
I'm sorry for your lack of facilities, but ya just don't practice juggling, or learn to rollerblade, in a Hummel(tm) shop. Be responsible and stay away from other people's expensive personal property. Ideas: schools on weekends, churches, as ToP wrote, malls in the morning... I'm sure if you're resourceful you can find a safe place.
Regarding the practice itself. Take the pedals off. Sit on the bike and 'walk' it around. If you can't get the seat low enough, then work with what you have or get another bike that's the right size. When you feel yourself tipping, steer INTO the fall. That's how bikes balance. Bikes being 2-wheeled, are always in a state of falling over; steering them through the fall line sets them up to fall in the other direction. Done with control, it looks like a straight line, but in reality it's a series of controlled falls. The better you get, the straighter line you can follow. BTW, that's how walking works, too -- you fall forward but your foot catches you before you do a face plant. Then you fall again and your other foot catches you.