Learn to ride online in lockdown!
Don’t just sit there getting bored – learn some new bike skills!
‘It was amazing. I had 11,000 views within a week’
‘I’m sweating and have only managed about five seconds’
With most of us now confined to our homes, the internet has become awash with online courses in just about everything under the sun. Cooking, exercise (am I alone in thinking fitness isn’t the only thing on the wife’s mind while watching Joe Wicks?), baby yoga – it is all out there – even Mr Motivator has dusted off his spandex. But what about us bikers who are stuck indoors with nothing to satisfy our twowheeled cravings? If you look, there are a few motorcycle-related online courses, so why not spend self-isolation learning a new riding technique without having to leave your drive? And you don’t even have to fill up with petrol for this leisure activity. “When the coronavirus hit my business stopped overnight,” says Stu Day, who runs trials school Trials Day. “No one could visit my centre to learn to ride a trials bike and I kept seeing online messages from people saying how they missed getting out on their bikes. A few weeks ago I decided to do an online course on how to balance a trials bike through a live Facebook video. The response was incredible, I had over 11,000 views within a week and during the thirty-minute live video loads of viewers direct messaged me asking questions on the technique as I was going along. “There were people from Scotland, Hungary and even Australia watching and not only trials riders, some guys were doing it on enduro bikes and even mountain bikes. I filmed the whole thing on my patio and a key part is that it is all engine-off, so you can do it anywhere and not annoy your neighbours. Technical stuff such as hopping and balancing a trials bike is very physical, so not only will you learn a new technique, it is a right laugh and good exercise.” But can you actually learn riding skills via the internet? Dusting off my old battered trials bike (which doesn’t actually run anyway) I decided to give it a shot… I’m not a huge one for online guides but there is a certain charm when you watch Stu’s video. Not only are there a few dogs in the background, his wife is the
camerawoman (and tells him off when he swears) and everything is done with a smile and on a bit of a wing and a prayer in his garden. That said, there is no doubting Stu knows his stuff and he talks through the technique with clarity and in an easy-to-understand fashion. How hard could it be? As it turns out, balancing a bike is far harder than it looks on a video and half an hour later I’m sweating and have only managed about five seconds of balance before having to dab a foot. And yes, I even managed to fall off in my driveway, hopefully the neighbours weren’t watching. Not one to be dissuaded, having probably doubled the number of views of Stu’s video all on my own trying to work out where I was going wrong, a few days later I was starting to get the hang of it. I wasn’t quite at the stage of taking one hand off but by the same token I wasn’t wobbling around too much and had counted to over 20 (in my head, rather quickly) before putting a foot down. You never know, I might make it over a minute by the time we are allowed out of isolation! And if I do manage to get it nailed earlier, there is more to come to keep me amused as I’ve not even braved hopping the bike yet, which looks like a proper workout.
“I am planning on doing a few more free videos, including techniques such as moving the front and rear end, again with the engine turned off,” says Stu. “Judging by the response everyone is really enjoying it and not just trials riders, a few lads have necked a couple of beers and then got their mountain bikes out and given it a shot! It seems to have sparked a bit of a craze and my Facebook page is now getting videos people have posted of themselves in their back gardens copying the techniques. Anything that raises spirits is good at this difficult time and I’m glad to be doing my small bit.”
And let’s be honest, it certainly beats watching Joe Wicks…