As a 32 year old woman, with a respectable and serious job

[Thistledew]

To have as my main goal in life at the moment learning to ride my bike with no hands?

I managed a good 40 yards this evening before I wobbled and scared myself silly!

I thought I'd give it a go at centreparcs (riding a bike with no hands that is)... I fell off!

As long as you have a helmet to protect your head if you falls off Yanbu

go you, sounds ace, next goal = wheelie or endo?

Cor, I haven't ridden a bike for years.

Used to do "look, no hands, (look, no teeth)" going down hills.

So exhilarating !

Oooh fab, I think you need to get some good speed up first though. ;)

Perfectly good goal. You'll be moving on to wheelies next, I assume?

Love it! I should dust my old bike off and go really fast through the puddles!

Yup, have helmet, and carefully selected safe area in which to practice.

I definitely did not sufficiently mis-spend my youth in that I have got to this age without learning how to do it.

Speed is definitely required. Not sure how many other stunts it is possible to do on a road bike.

Can you go up a kerb by doing a little wheelie? I can!

Ooh, no. I'll have to add that to the list of skills to master. Have you ever watched footage of cyclo-cross races? I love the way they can do little bunny hops over obstacles at least a foot high.

Oh god I'm useless. I bought a bike all determined that I was going to cycle. Scared myself silly trying to cycle in London and ended up pushing it pathetically round everywhere. It now laments its fate rusting in the garden.

The trouble is that doing bunny hops strays into the category of 'useful bike handling skills' rather than 'pointless and childish tricks' which are far more fun to learn.

I can't do this. Very annoying.

On that note if anyone wants a free bike that needs a new chain in NW London they're welcome to it.

I've always wanted to do that, have always admired people who can

I'm too wimpy to try

Ooohh here's a question for you... I grew up in Germany and rode my bike a lot (lots of cycle paths). My German bike stopped if I peddled backwards and I could cycle backwards if I kept peddling backwards. My adult bike bought in the UK does nothing of I peddle backwards... Absolutely nothing. Why?

tis a laudable aim, OP, a laudable aim.

That's a brilliant ambition!

Once you get going don't forget some panda pics (self portrait while riding bike; the coolest ones are v clearly done "no hands")

Gary Your bike had a back pedal brake. Very common on the continent, very uncommon in uk.

If you wish to recreate that you could get yourself a fixed wheel bike (ie no freewheel), they are a trendy niche, popular with cycle couriers for their minimalism they can also be somewhat lethal

Oh and yeah, the bunny hopping onto the kerb thing, well I had a massive crash a month ago doing exactly that and nearly broke my knee and got a lot of road rash. Only just recovered now, been hobbling about for ages. So be careful!

YANBU.

DD1 is very proud of her ability to ride her bike with no hands (she still has stabilisers so the only person she's impressing is herself )

A fixed wheel bike? As in no free wheel?

You've totally lost me? So it is a European thing... I loved it. I was going to tell the OP she could add learning to cycle backwards to her list. But then I remembered how disappointed I was that I could pedal backwards on my new bike.

Rather than hoovering your hands nervously over the handlebars waiting to grab them, hold your arms out at shoulder height and flap them slowly up and down like you are pretending to fly. It's counter intuitive, but helps you balance. Good luck!!

Childhood memories flooding back of flying over the handlebars and them wacking me in the fanjo.

Couldn't not could!