Simple, Step-By-Step Guide To Learn How To Ride a Bicycle - Beginner Tutorial

This is a simple tutorial to guide you to learn how to ride a bike. This easy, step by step guide is perfect for any beginner - kid or adult - to learn how to ride a bicycle, stress free and without falling.

I was one of few adults who didn’t know how to ride a bike…until earlier this week. That’s right, I can ride a bicycle now! And guess what? I learned in about an hour. It’s SO easy, and now I’m going to share with you how to learn to ride a bicycle as an adult, while it’s still fresh in my memory.

When I was little, I had one of those regular kid-bikes with training wheels. I rode that for a while, but for some reason never took it further and learnt without the training wheels. I never thought much of it, until this year, 2020, when everything came to a halt.

Thanks to the internet, I saw so many people all over the world, learning various new skills. Majority of the ones I came across were learning how to roller-skate. I think it was some TikTok trend or something. Anyway, so I decided that since I had nothing else to do and things weren’t getting better anytime soon, I would learn a new skill as well.

Initially, I was looking into getting roller-skates, but they were all pretty much out-of-stock and on backorder, worldwide. The power of TikTok, I guess? But then, a friend told me about her experience of going on a bike ride after a long time, and how much she enjoyed it. That’s when I brought up the fact that I never learned how to ride a bicycle. After a lot of encouragement from my friend, and pondering on it for a while, I decided to finally look up some tutorials before committing to the learning process. The many tutorials I watched online gave me the impression that it’s actually a fairly easy skill to master. So, i bit the bullet and bought a bike!

Of course, a Google search for bicycles in Dubai brought me to some beautiful vintage style bikes that I immediately fell in love with. I mean, look how pretty it is:

So, I ordered my pretty pink bike and the waiting began. I was so excited and kept watching more and more tutorials every day as i waited for my bicycle to arrive, until the whole learning process was committed to my memory.

When my bicycle finally arrived, I did a happy-dance, and began learning. I genuinely thought it would take me a few days before I could properly balance and start pedaling…but honestly, it took less than an hour over the course of two days. Literally, my second time on a bicycle, I was balancing well and pedaling for quite a distance.

I didn’t fall once, and didn’t need anyone to hold me. This technique is so awesome, you can learn to ride a bike all on your own, and quickly!

So let’s get into the learning process:

Step 1: Picking The Right Bicycle:

I would honestly say that this is the most important step. All you need to do is ensure that you have a bike that’s perfect for your height, in the sense that, your feet should be flat on the ground while seated on the bike.

This is because you will need to walk and scoot yourself along with your feet while seated on your bicycle, until you’re able to balance with your feet off the ground.

Step 2: Walk While Seated On Your Bicycle:

The first time you sit on your bicycle, you will feel imbalanced. That’s normal. That’s exactly why the first step is to simply sit on your bike, hold your bike handles, and walk the bike.

Keep walking for several minutes. Soon, you will notice that you feel less imbalanced and are able to scoot a little. Basically, you’re able to take longer steps and are not rocking as much anymore.

Step 3: Scoot/Bunny-Hop:

As you find yourself taking longer steps while scooting/walking with your bike, you might be able to take longer strides with your legs and balance for a few seconds while your legs are off the ground.

Remember to take it slow. There’s no rush. Even if you take your time, the process is quick enough. So, just keep increasing your strides little by little.

Soon, you’ll notice you’re able to keep your legs off the ground, in between strides/hops, for several seconds.

Step 4: Push Off The Ground and Balance: (No Pedaling)

When you realize that you are able to scoot for about 10-20 feet with your feet off the ground, and maintain your balance - start by pushing off the ground with your feet, hold your feet up and just balance.

Do this repeatedly, until you’re confident with maintaining balance.

It’s also a good idea to start practicing using your brakes at this stage. You’ll need to use them as you start to gain momentum. Just use both brakes at the same time. Press them slowly and keep practicing. You’ll get the hang of it pretty quickly. Use you feet too, at this stage while you get comfortable with braking suddenly/quickly.

Step 5: PEDAL!

You will feel ready to start pedaling, when you notice you’re not losing balance for quite a stretch when you push off the ground. You will feel like you only lose balance once the bike loses momentum. You need momentum to be able to continue balancing for longer. That’s when pedaling comes in.

When you first start pedaling, ensure that the pedal for your dominant foot is higher than the other one, ready for you to start pedaling. Keep it in position. Then, push off the ground like you’re used to, and immediately put your dominant foot on that raised pedal. Start pedaling! Always keep two fingers on each brake while riding. You never know when you might need to use them, suddenly.

When I first did this, I barely pedaled one full circle and felt like I was losing balance, so I put my feet on the ground. But then, immediately got back into position, and started again. Dominant foot pedal in position - push off the ground - pedal. This time I was able to pedal for a little longer.

Step 6: More Pedaling and Brakes:

Once you get that hang of it, you just start getting better, quicker. Keep practicing pedaling, but remember to also focus on learning to use your brakes. Two fingers on each brake, pressing slightly and getting used to how they work.

When you gain momentum while pedaling, it’s not going to be easy to just stop the bicycle by putting your feet on the ground. You will need to know how to use your brakes. As you practice pedaling, practice braking every time, too.

That’s it! You’ve learned the basics of how to ride a bicycle! It’s SO exciting.

As you keep practicing, you’ll get more and more comfortable with riding in one lane and even turning! I’m still mastering small turns, but the bigger ones, I’ve got down pat!

I hope you found this helpful and I really hope you decide to learn how to ride a bicycle! It’s such a beautiful feeling to be riding freely, with the breeze against your face, focusing on nothing but balancing and where you’re going - it’s pretty meditative, really.

Don’t worry if you take a few days to learn. Every one learns at their own pace. And honestly, even a few days to learn a skill like this is pretty amazing! Good luck and enjoy!