Riding a Bicycle.

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I'm not sure if this has been mentioned before but has anyone had trouble riding bikes?
I remember when I was younger trying to ride one but I just couldn't do it.
I found it hard to steer and move the peddles.
Also I was scared of falling off as the bike would tip.

I had great difficulty riding bikes. Eventually I did master it, but far later than most (all?) of my peers.

I still can't ride a bike.

I remember thinking it impossible, because there are only two wheels, and obviously you need at least three wheels or it will fall over. (What? Steer towards the direction the bike is falling? How can that possibly work? You'd be constantly on a knife-edge, it would be horrible!)

Dad taught me by walking/running alongside me while holding onto the back of the bike to stabilise it, so that it felt like a 3-wheeler. Then, at the end of one of the runs, he told me he'd not been holding on at all that time.

After that I got adept at cycling. The only time I had any more trouble was when the bike I'd been using for 25 years collapsed, and since then I've not been able to get used to the new one........couldn't get a direct replacement, and the new one has a different shape and weight, so although I can ride it, I always feel like it's about to jacknife, and that takes a lot of the pleasure out of it for me.

I remember having training wheels when I first started learning. But soon after, I was able to ride without problems and riding my bike was something I enjoyed doing. Alone (as in not with friends).

Just can't do it.

I found it very difficult as a child. I had training wheels on the bike. I didn't enjoy it much and soon gave it up.

I came back to it and mastered it in my early 20s. I wouldn't say I was especially dexterous even now.

I still don't drive a car and I will be 45 next week

I didn't learn until I was about twelve or thirteen; but I love it now. My bike is my primary transportation, next to a good pair of sneakers.

It did take me a while to catch on, but it is a lot easier than driving a car. There's not so much space to think about that you don't have sensory receptors for. Like, you can't tell what's going on with your car unless you look, but with a bike, you get all the bumps and vibrations and you know how you're balanced and all of that. You don't have to use your eyes to figure everything out. There's not so much overload as there is with driving.

I'm lucky in that my area has some decent bike paths; but if I go shopping, I still have to fight traffic. I hope that when I eventually collide with a car, it won't hurt me too much.

I learned to ride a bike (without stablizers) at age 5, even though I have Dyspraxia. But my older brother taught me how to ride a bike, and he was really good at teaching me because I learnt quick.

Short bouts of sensory overload negatively affect my ability to ride a bike. That's one way to put it.

Describing it in a more hands-on fashion:

If a car is coming my way, I forget how to pedal.

Unfortunately, I can't focus on remembering where the breaks are and how to use them.

And which way was safe to crash into again?

Too bad traffic doesn't stop until I've figured it all out.

If something captured my attention, it takes me a moment too long to sort it out to return my eyes straight ahead. Not too straight ahead... but remembering when to look where is a hassle while also trying to remember where not to look and trying not to be distracted and overwhelmed.

Houses, pets, random footballs flying and papers and gum on the ground distract me, I can't help but notice them (and look at them!) when I really should be paying attention to the fact that I'm riding a bike.


ADHD + ASD = failure at riding a bike. I'm pretty good in an artificial (just not traffic) environment (with few people) though.

I go from "a danger to everyone" to "oh, you're great at riding a bike, huh?".

I can ride a bike (learned at about 10yrs), but I'm not confident. I'm frightened to go out on a road, as I would have to turn my head to see what's behind, when making a turn, and that would mean that I'd probably end up turning the handles bars too. When I stop at a junction, I feel like I'm going to topple over and have done. I'm fine when cycling along a path, even with a few turns, but not if stopping and/or checking behind me are involved.

My daughter learned, without too many problems, at 5yrs.

Still enjoy it even at my age but i'm well aware when i turn 80 i'm going to need a tricycle.
If you're afraid to lose balance you should chose a smaller frame size which allows you to prop up with your feet if necessary. Would be a transitional resolution until you got the knack of it. Or a tricylce.

I had a hard time learning but now im pretty good at it

My mom taught me but I don't remember it so it must have been quick. I'm more coordinated than most people AS, NT or not. I actually started a thread on something similar a while back.

Here you go

http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt184033.html

I learned how to ride a bike when I was around 11 or 12, but it took a lot of willpower and more time/patience than it did for other children. I remember that my brother and I were learning at the same time, but while he learned in a couple of days, it took me a couple of weeks.