Deconstructing the failed trackstand
 

This is for those who have ever fallen while clipped/strapped in during a trackstand. Especially experienced trackstanders to whom this happened.

I've been trackstanding a few months. I learned on platforms and started doing it clipped in when I had gained confidence. I've gone as long as two minutes, and can trackstand sitting and one-handed for shorter periods of time. Twice this week I rode my 14 mile commute (six lights and several 4 way stops) without putting a foot on the ground the whole time.

Yet, the other day I was at a light and things weren't going well, I tried to bail - as in get to a position where I could unclip and put my foot down - and I fell.

This was the second time. The first was just after I'd learned to trackstand and started doing it clipped.

Both times, I fell to the left. I trackstand with my wheel turned to the right and my right foot forward. I'm not sure if I was rolling backwards or forward when I went down. I tend to think backwards.

Both times I bruised my left hip, but my knees did not hit the ground. The first time my wrist took a hit but the second time, my messenger bag absorbed much of the impact. My iPod was in my back jersey pocket and the headphones did not make it. I'm getting quite good at this kind of fall.

Now, I take the following precautions. If it looks like the light is going to be long, I unclip my left foot. I've never fallen or started to fall to the right. Also, whenever I've been on platform pedals and had to put my foot down to save myself from falling, it's always been my left foot.

I also try to position my pedals so that my forward (right) knee is bent and my rear (left) leg is more straight. My thinking is that this will enable me to bail more easily should I have any troubles. It also feels more stable. I generally try to leave myself enough room in front of me that I can bail if I need to.

Comments?

It sounds like you're always worried about falling. Lack of confidence plays a huge role with it comes to balance.

keep your cranks horizontal.. get better at unclipping really fast if you are falling.

Yeah, you sound like you're right about to get it down. Just take every spare moment to practice. When I was learning I would make myself try to trackstand as long as I could whenever I reached my destination. That way if you bail you just lock up your bike, you meant to get off.

Maybe you should learn to trackstand instead of learning to fall.

Answer with less sass: Try keeping your front foot up a little. Try 2 and 8 instead of 3 and 9. Turn your wheel a little more also. I think I've read here that most people don't turn their wheel enough when they trackstand. When you stand no-handed, you'll turn your wheel at least 45 degrees, probably closer to 60 or 70.

My personal quirk is that I stand with my front foot on the pedal AND the crank arm.

I'd just keep trying to trackstand at the lights until you get good, just unclip for now. IMHO you can practice till you get blue in the face on your sidewalk but when you get to a light in traffic it is different. I slide my foot out the clip a little so it is easy to bail.

are you using clipless?
if not switch
else learn to clip out better. The foot flick will become ingrained and instantaneous eventually.

Try track standing with people shouting at you (competitions) or in crowds of people at crosswalks (can be found in any city). These high pressure situations will surely make the suburban commute seem like less of a hassle.

This may sound stupid to some, but I practiced track standing on my 2 freewheel SS bikes and that helped me balance a fixie all the more. With only being able to apply forward pressure and use the brakes to counter act my balancing, I learned to track stand fairly quickly. Both have clipless eggbeaters so unclipping
in sketchy situations became second nature as well.

Craig

yeah its like when you first learn to ride no handed on your first bmx bike cause all your friends are doing it. you cant think about it too much.

the only light i've ever trackstood through was because i didn't think about it.

trackstand stories are like beer pong stories: no one wants to hear them.

this one time i came back from a 8-2 lead and won!

I prefer pedaling out of a track stand to uncliping. I mean unclip/bail if you have to, but you know what I'm sayin.

pedaling out is an option at a certain amount of tilt, but past that you're going down. usually the pedaling out tilt range is too close to the trying to save the stand range of tilt for me to pedal out.

One of the biggest things for me is where my eyes are. I find it very helpful to balance to stare at a fixed spot 10-15 feet away. Sometimes staring at the traffic light works, depending on how far away it is, but I'd start by using a spot on the ground.

Also, you mentioned an ipod--I don't know if you use it while riding, but try taking the headphones off when you're trackstanding.

In my city, I know the intersections by their conduciveness to trackstanding. There are some where I can instantly find the sweet spot, and others where there is no sweet spot to be found. Those that fall in the middle I'll take my chances depending on how I feel.

Anyway, the other day, I started to lose the trackstand, and instead of bailing, which often would lead to a fall, I decided to save it. It was shaky, and I was moving back and forth in quick jerky movements, but it was the first time I saved a failing trackstand. However, it definitely was not worth the effort. I should've just fallen.

Keep practicing, learn to stand with your wheel turned in either direction and with either foot forward. It'll become second nature in clips after a couple years. (haha, sorry)

+1 keep practicing. Eventually you should be able to stay just about motionless and completely comfortable for an indefinitely long time.

I think you might be missing the point I was trying to make. Yes, I've recently fallen while trackstanding clipped in. However, there have been hundreds of other trackstands, some very long, where I have not fallen. I know how to trackstand and I'm confident in doing so.

My question was about the physics and biomechanics involved, and how a person can trackstand more safely and confidently by being able to understand and anticipate what their bike is going to do when things go wrong or are about to go wrong. For example, yesterday I was at a light, ahead of the cars lined up to go straight. A large truck decided he was going move alongside me in order to turn right. There wasn't much room, so I had to roll backwards a foot or two to reduce the risk of him bumping my front wheel.

The pucker factor increased dramatically as I rolled back because I was on an incline and I almost rolled too far. Would it have been better quickly turn my wheel left and roll out of the trackstand and put my foot down?

What I'm trying to gather are experiences of those who have fallen down after they had learned to trackstand in order to see if there are some consitancies as to what happened and what people were trying to do when they fell.

It starts with a wobble, then the back and forth movement quickens, then I make a decision to bail, usually too late. If I can avoid that wobble, I can hold a trackstand indefinitely. The wobble usually happens early on, so if it doesn't happen when I first approach the stop, then I'm good.

I've found that the more I slowly ease into a trackstand, the less back and forth there is. Also, the sooner I get into a comfortable position, the more I can control the back and forth.

As for wobble, I've noticed that I can sometimes use my knees to steady the top tube.

Learn to do backwards circles. You're falling to the left because you're too nervous to pedal backwards enough to correct yourself when you actually start to fall.

Try skipping into a stop. I have learned to skip in place so that I can get my pedals into perfect position every time.

metaphors with punch lines are like so lame: bam!



go trackstand stories!http://i16.tinypic.com/53hzhjo.gif

I don't like to stop at lights, but I will sometimes just to pull off a mean trackstand, and still b sitting there when the light turns green...zone out in one