Road Cycling - Embarassing, but...

I've never tried riding with my hands off the handlebars. :o

How do you do this?

It's looks pretty simple but I don't want to practice and fall on my face in the middle of the afternoon in Central Park and have people laugh.

It's embarassing because I think everyone from age 6 can do it but me.

If it's any consolation, I can't do it either. I live in an apartment complex and I was trying to figure out how this "no hands" thing is done in the parking lot. I can do it for a good two or three seconds, but that's it. Some kid on his BMX bike came by in the midst of my practicing. No hands. Dribbling a basketball with one hand. Tossing it from hand to hand. Totally casual. He of course gave me a "what? can't you do thiis?" type of look. I wanted to kill him.

Don't feel bad, more than a dozen of my friends can't do it either. They often think I'm showing off... I let them think that cuz I don't want them to know the truth, which is, I was probably pushing myself and needed some air. My lungs just work better when I stretch periodically. Dunny why, but there it is.

As for actually doing it, it's much easier when you've got some speed, don't try it at 5mph. Also, I shift to a harder gear cuz I think it's harder to do and spin at the same time.

I never had problem riding with no hands until I started riding my Trek 5200. For some reason I felt uneasy when I wanted to let go and sit up. After becoming used to the bike I started letting go and was able to do it for only a few seconds. As I continued practicing I can now sit up (coasting or pedaling) and take in some good breaths and rest a bit.

Something that helps is to make sure you have enough speed ... it is harder the slower you are going. The centifugal force generated from the wheels spinning at a higher rpm help stabalize the bike. Keep practicing and before you know it you will be able to sit up and eat while riding!

Good luck.

Funny thing- I was wondering the same thing today myself!

I had a hybrid, and definitely, there was no way I could attempt it. The handelbars and headsets were such that as soon as I tried to sit up, no matter how hard I tried, they would immediately flop all over the place, and I would crash.

Today, I almost sat up unconsciously- I was feeling so comfortable on my bike, and I half sat up. To my surprise, it wasn't so bad- I definitely felt like my handlebars were more stable, and when I was in my elevator, I just tried something- I let go of the bike and watched as it just stood there for a moment, then when I was walking down my hallway, I pushed it and watched my bike roll in a perfect straight line. That's when I figured with practice, I probably could get to the point where I could sit up, which would be so cool because I could stretch my back when riding on the days I do those long rides. Plus, I want to get rollers, and I think if I can master the sitting up, I may be able to train a lot more efficiently this winter on rollers and my trainer.

Anyone else that went through this, ideas would be appreciated. Thanks!

Koffee

The way I learned to do it is by having my arms hanging straight down. Get yourself up to at least 10 mph and have a cadance of about 40 RPM or so. Slowly sit upright and lift your arms away from the handle bars more and more while you're going straight.
A lot of people have the tendancy to immediately grab the bars if they feel themselves turning. Instead, just allow yourself a little time to see if you can slowly bank the bike back in the same direction. Just remain calm and don't make any sudden moves. I'm working on making left and right turns now so I can commute no handed. :)

It's almost impossible to learn to ride no hands in a parking lot going 5 mph. Take it up to say, 20 mph...... The gyro effect will take over and your bike becomes very stable.

Yup when I ride I can go over railroad tracks, potholes, speed bumps, etc no handed now. I've actually just recently figured out how to turn without hands. Its a little scary at first but pretty easy. I learned no handed riding on my commute. The bikepath portion I took was about 3mi long, and no one was on it in the morning. As I started out I could ride maybe 100yds before grabbing the bars and had to grab the bars to turn, but after about a week I was able to ride all three miles no hands, curves and all. Its nice to be able to ride no handed actually... I think once you can you feel more stabil on the bike when you have to reach down for something, or if you need to situp and take a break.

Koff, don't try rollers without hands. I got to the point were I could ride rollers for 5 - 6 minutes without hands. So I tried taking off my jersey when riding my rollers, lets just say I was off the bike for two weeks, and was to embarrassed to post about it. :lol:

On the road, i can do more or less anything without hands, on my fixed gear I can now right tight circles (15' diameter) at ~5mph without hands, its not useful for much, but its fun to do. I really want to get to the point were i can ride backwords in circles, both ways, without hands.

On the road, i can do more or less anything without hands, on my fixed gear I can now right tight circles (15' diameter) at ~5mph without hands, its not useful for much, but its fun to do. I really want to get to the point were i can ride backwords in circles, both ways, without hands.


Whoa, not useful? How many people would kill to ride in a tight circle at 5 miles per hour without hands? I know I would! Not useful? Don't sell yourself short, bozo!

:D

Koffee

I'm one of those punks that rides allong no handed around corners and so on. :)
"Look Ma no hands" 101

Don't make jerky movments as it will transmit through the frame to the headset and into the front wheel and a corrective response by you will then amplify things and so on in a horrible circle.
Try rideing with one or two fingers on the bars so you still have slight control while you get used to riding without weight on your arms/bars.
When sitting up don't just sit straight up, roll up like a wave starting with your lower back.
Don't let your arms flop around hold them across your torso don't cross them though or you may get all tangled up if you suddenly need to grab the bars.
Moderate cadence is easiest. Spinning is possible but only if you have good smooth spinning technique(most people don't but many they think they do) this comes back to the first item; no jerky movments.
Use the saddle to make the bike lean slightly this way and that, it is your link to the frame.
medium speeds are best, high enough to be stable but low enough that the wind won't add another obstical. 7-12mph is best

to start riding with no hands, you've got to commit.

that means ride normally, then sit up. i don't mean, take your hands carefully off the handlebars and slowly sit up. that will screw it all up. i mean, sit right up, let go of the handlebars and commit, back straight, perpendicular from the ground. don't move your shoulders or twist or stop pedalling. simply ride with hands on tops/drops, then sit up, pedalling the same way. you'll find yourself going in a straight line. use your arms in the beginning to make slight adjustments left/right. as you get better, you'll find that you just need to shift a little weight to turn...

sd

On the road, i can do more or less anything without hands, on my fixed gear I can now right tight circles (15' diameter) at ~5mph without hands, its not useful for much, but its fun to do. I really want to get to the point were i can ride backwords in circles, both ways, without hands.

Circle backwards, no hands.......I don't think I'll ever get to that point, let alone circle backwards. So far I've gotton as far as trackstanding no-handed, but only for a few seconds...

But I think no handed riding was one of the first bicycle 'tricks' we learned as little kids. Practically every kid in my neighborhood rode no hands just to show off.....

The smart ass kids doing no hands every where often cheat by tightening the the bearing to the front fork so there is some tendecy to stay where it is, it only takes a tiny tightening to have the desired effect.
I was talking to a one off the afore mentioned kid's and he admitted before the tightening of the fork he could not ride hands off at all!

The smart ass kids doing no hands every where often cheat by tightening the the bearing to the front fork so there is some tendecy to stay where it is, it only takes a tiny tightening to have the desired effect.
I was talking to a one off the afore mentioned kid's and he admitted before the tightening of the fork he could not ride hands off at all!

I let lack of maintainence take care of that one...

to start riding with no hands, you've got to commit.

that means ride normally, then sit up. i don't mean, take your hands carefully off the handlebars and slowly sit up. that will screw it all up. i mean, sit right up, let go of the handlebars and commit
sd

That's the key. The most unstable no-hands position is when your center of gravity is forward of your center of support (read, you gotta get your CG over the seat as fast--and smoothly--as possible). If you keep your weight in front of the seat while your hands are off the bars, than any small motion you make will "lever" the bike off course since you only have one point of contact with the bike...

go at faster speed (angular momentum) and dont think about it too much

its analogous to riding a bike... initially all youre really conscious about is how to keep balanced on the bike.. and after a while it becomes second nature

I'm starting to learn because it lets blood flow make to my fingers. Get you CG back and let go a little at a time untill it feels ok. Make sure the road is smooth I saw an experienced no hander crash when his front wheel hit a crack.
HTH
Joe

I started doing it kind of naturally as a kid and sadly that's getting to be a long time ago. It came most useful in my teen years when riding to the beach. Depending on the state of my tan I could change/take off shirts on the fly.

A motorcycle accident cost me the use of my left arm below my elbow including hand 10 years ago so I had to start paying attention to my riding. I've gotten back to where I'm really comfortable no handed again but it took some work. Like others have said a good steady pace is essential. Get your weight on your butt and keep your upper body straight but not stiff. It'll come. Once you're comfortable you can start turning just by shifting body weight and leaning to one side or the other. I haven't tried changing shirts yet but might risk the rash sometime soon.

:beer:

I never had problem riding with no hands until I started riding my Trek 5200.


I had the same problem with my 5200. I started to rock back slowly and the bars started to unstabilize and I had to return to the bars quickly. Like a previous poster mentioned, it seems easier to me when I am at a good speed and I go directly to a vertical position directly over my seat. If I go slowly or remain slumped over a little bit, things get out of hand.

I can go w/o hands for a while, but when cars or other riders are near by, I keep my hands on the bars.

The smart ass kids doing no hands every where often cheat by tightening the the bearing to the front fork so there is some tendecy to stay where it is, it only takes a tiny tightening to have the desired effect.
I was talking to a one off the afore mentioned kid's and he admitted before the tightening of the fork he could not ride hands off at all!

I doubt that...... Next time try tweeking your headset tighter and try riding no hands. Bet you a million bucks you'll loose balance right away. Steering cannot be corrected when your headset is tight.