Ok I am interested in BikeTrial. So how do I start?

First off, I am a newbie in BikeTrial. Secondly, I welcome all who want to venture out into this brave new world of BikeTrials.

It is not easy. It is a lot of hard work. Once you have mastered the basics, I swear to you on all things good and great in this world that you will not regret one bit of it... LOL. To top it off, I am more than 45 years old and I only started BikeTrial August last year. I only managed to get a trial bike in March this year.

I am living proof that you can teach an old dog new tricks.... LOL.

So how does one start?

There are 3 basic skills that a BikeTrial rider must learn and master. They are:

1. Track stand
2. Pivoting/rocking
3. Hopping

The underlying key skill for the above is BALANCING. All the above 3 basic skills rely on you controlling your bike and adjusting your body in a balancing act. This constant struggle for balance will get easier as you practice.

I have struggled with all these 3 skills. I am struggling LESS now... LOL. Hopefully, it will be effortless for me one day.. :-)

1. Track Stand

Track stand simply means, your two feet on the pedals and the bike is in a stationary position. You have to master this most fundamental skill! This is the technique that will lead you to the other two. I will not go into the technique here. There are plenty of information on the Internet and YouTube on how to learn the track stand.

• http://www.teamestrogen.com/articles/asa_trackstand.asp
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJ4oIchtkts (Ryan Leech)

2. Pivoting or Rocking

Pivoting/rocking is the act of shifting your weight on the bike to the front to the extend that you can easily lift up your rear wheel and vice versa as you lift up the front wheel. Your bike is stationary. Both front and back brakes are applied in full.

• https://youtu.be/RN7gK-56XhE (Ryan Leech)

3. Hopping

Hopping is the act of lifting both wheels up in the air. It is easy to do while your bike is rolling along, but difficult when your bike is stationary.

• https://youtu.be/F4GCpUz_LJE (Ryan Leech)

When you have mastered the above skills, you can choose to venture into the world of riding biketrial sections or urban trials, both achieving different sets of objectives and requires different combination of skills.

I hope this article is enough to start you off in learning BikeTrials. Btw, you can use any bike to practice the above skills.

If you wanna practice together (it is more fun that way), just drop me an email.

(Originally published on BikeTrial Malaysia.)