I'm in my thirties and up until this year had given up on ever learning to ride a bike. While learning when I was young, I suffered an injury and the method my mother used to try and teach me was pretty awful. As an adult, I considered myself uncoordinated, out of shape, and terrified of both the physical dexterity and the mental focus it took to pay attention to my surroundings in order to ride safely.
All that changed when I booked with Virtuous Bicycle!
I was up and riding on my second lesson, doing independent starts, stops and turns by the end. I opted to continue the training with 2 follow-up lessons, with the last lesson in Central Park. Hills, gears, tourists - all of it! :)
Lance is amazing. A native New Yorker, he's got an honest but warm manner about him. He's intelligent and very well spoken, there is no vagueness and no "just balance" type of feedback, and not an ounce of judgment. Whoever you are, whatever your story, Lance can work with you.
I was a Bike NY refugee- the Parks Department offers free group classes to help adults learn to ride. While this is an incredible resource, after 2 classes I found the lack of constructive feedback and large, chaotic class setting to be challenging at best. In my case, I'm not sure that I would have ever gotten to the point where I could ride had I used their classes alone, but they are good supplemental resources. Not trashing the Parks Department, love you guys too!
You start by filling out a comprehensive questionnaire that aims to better understand your learning and life style, as well as any history with bikes or trying to learn, and your goals and deadlines. Everything is personalized and tailored to you.
Lance communicates with you via email before your first lesson even begins. I got to watch a video about how bicycles work, how they can actually ride without a driver on them, how physics keeps the bike upright and balanced. After each lesson, Lance would either send me a refresher email to reinforce the concepts we had worked on, or one with new information to help prepare for my next. These include things like visualization exercises, or videos on ABC Quick Check (an easy to remember method to make sure your bike is in good working order before every ride).
The practice locations are nice, wide open spaces free of people. You won't have gawkers, you won't have to worry about crashing into children or running over small dogs. And the lessons themselves are extremely well thought out- his directions are easy to follow. If you're having a specific problem, Lance offers a specific solution, based in physics and logic. Breathe- you got this!
Rates are clearly listed on the website and are cheaper than most therapists lol. You'll learn a lifelong skill that teaches confidence, autonomy, and makes you feel like you're freakin flying! I couldn't be happier :) read more