Bikeforums.net is a forum about nothing but bikes. Our community can help you find information about hard-to-find and localized information like bicycle tours, specialties like where in your area to have your recumbent bike serviced, or what are the best bicycle tires and seats for the activities you use your bike for.JohnBrooking
08-15-06, 08:49 PM
Hello. Forty-year-old bike commuter here, never done any BMX but have recently begun taking my 6-year-old to the town's new skate/bike park. So I guess I'm the proverbial old dog trying to learn new tricks. I'm curious about a few things.
First, I've been doing okay for a beginner on the half-pipe, getting about halfway up the sides, but I notice that I'm much better going counter-clockwise that clockwise. I'm wondering if it's a common experience that one way is easier than the other, maybe related to the dominant side of your body (I'm left-handed), or is it just that I've practiced one way more than the other?
Secondly, some advice about stairs. This park has a set of about 6 stairs with a ramp on the other side, and they're fairly steep, so not good to start out on. Nevertheless, I tried going down them last week, and it was pretty bumpy, to say the least. I think I may have been going too fast. Being a commuter, usually with a bike computer, I have a pretty good sense of how fast I'm going, but I have no idea how fast is appropriate for going down steps. Someone gave me a copy of "Urban Biker's Tips and Tricks", which talks about technique for stairs, but they don't mention specific speeds. Should I be regulating my speed with the brakes on my way down? (I guess I probably should, as it's hard to see how I could go down a long set indefinitely without doing so.)
If it matters, the bike I'm taking to the park is a Trek 820 with smooth road tires (since I primarily use it for commuting).
First, I've been doing okay for a beginner on the half-pipe, getting about halfway up the sides, but I notice that I'm much better going counter-clockwise that clockwise. I'm wondering if it's a common experience that one way is easier than the other, maybe related to the dominant side of your body (I'm left-handed), or is it just that I've practiced one way more than the other?
Secondly, some advice about stairs. This park has a set of about 6 stairs with a ramp on the other side, and they're fairly steep, so not good to start out on. Nevertheless, I tried going down them last week, and it was pretty bumpy, to say the least. I think I may have been going too fast. Being a commuter, usually with a bike computer, I have a pretty good sense of how fast I'm going, but I have no idea how fast is appropriate for going down steps. Someone gave me a copy of "Urban Biker's Tips and Tricks", which talks about technique for stairs, but they don't mention specific speeds. Should I be regulating my speed with the brakes on my way down? (I guess I probably should, as it's hard to see how I could go down a long set indefinitely without doing so.)
If it matters, the bike I'm taking to the park is a Trek 820 with smooth road tires (since I primarily use it for commuting).