elctb Posted July 12, 2011 Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 I had never seen balance training like this. I think it would be beneficial for trials. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stecks Posted July 13, 2011 Report Share Posted July 13, 2011 I'd like to see the science behind that approach... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0007 Posted July 20, 2011 Report Share Posted July 20, 2011 The thing he mentioned is "muscle twitch" which is a real fast muscle response that you don't really do on purpose, if you can make balance and automatic response rather than something you have to concentrate on you would be miles ahead, I think there's a good idea there I struggle with balance on hard ground, soft ground with the tire dug in a bit is easy I also struggle with the transition from rolling to stopping and balancing, anyone have any tips? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samy Posted July 21, 2011 Report Share Posted July 21, 2011 (edited) I struggle with balance on hard ground, soft ground with the tire dug in a bit is easy I also struggle with the transition from rolling to stopping and balancing, anyone have any tips? Yes, a solution is a Unicycle. I know it sounds crazy but i bought a cheapish unicycle last week to use as a training tool to improve balance for trials. I was told this trick about 15 years ago by an "A" grade rider and i hopped on his unicycle and promptly fell off and never tried again. When i first got on it, 6 days ago, i couldn't barely sit on it even holding onto a wall. I was thinking that it would take months or years to learn and wondering what i had got myself into. However i did 30 minutes last friday, an hour on saturday and 2 hours sunday and by sunday afternoon i had let go and was riding around! I am still amazed that it took only about 3.5 hours! I'm trying to get in 30 minutes and up to 1 hr per day and at the moment i am practising turns and taking off without needing a wall/pole. I am flabbergasted with how well i've progressed in only 6 days. To give you an idea of what it's like here's a video of a 60 year old scottish bloke learning to ride. He started out on a 20 inch uni which is what i have and then in only a short time he was on a 36" monster!: When i was a junior 15 years ago i used to spend evenings watching a spare telly in the shed balancing my bike. I started with the front wheel turned and resting on a small brick. After a week or two i removed the brick and kept practising without. It also pays to lower the tyre pressures a fair bit at first. I am hopeless at mono's and getting up on the rear wheel so at the moment i am using the unicycle to try and improve my "one wheel" ability. Maybe one day i'll be able to hop on the rear wheel? LOL As soon as you master something you need to immediately move onto the next step to keep pushing your brain. Don't do too much at once as your brain needs to 're-wire' itself when you're sleeping at night. Then the next day, it's easier! cheers Edited July 21, 2011 by Samy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0007 Posted July 21, 2011 Report Share Posted July 21, 2011 I'm sure you are right about the unicycle, I'm just not really into them I have been thinking about a trials bicycle, ever ride one of those? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samy Posted July 21, 2011 Report Share Posted July 21, 2011 I'm sure you are right about the unicycle, I'm just not really into them I have been thinking about a trials bicycle, ever ride one of those? No i never have but i've got a mountain bike with front and rear suspension that i hop around in a similar fashion to the motorbike. It's easier to balance the motorbike than the pushie due to the wider rubber. I'm not into unicycles at all but it's actually great fun i have found out this week cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billycraig Posted July 21, 2011 Report Share Posted July 21, 2011 I'd like to see the science behind that approach... Riding motorbikes and any balance activity requires reflexes to protect from injury. From the basics such as putting your hands out hands to help regain balance or sticking a leg out as is often seen in trials. Through to more advanced reflexes such as slipping on ice of the moving walkways at airports. We use righting reactions and tilting (equilibrium) reaction Righting and tilting response is a natural reaction that should be learned by our nervous system while we are very young. As we age, suffer trauma, become seated to long or fail to rehabilitate properly we can loose function. [Abreu, B. C., Physical Disabilities Manual, Raven Press, 1981] Tilting reactions are also developed while we are young children as part of the process of learning to walk etc so we can maintain or regain our center of gravity and avoid falling over. Righting reactions are used for sports on a fixed/stable surface such as gymnastics. Tilting reactions are for when the ground moves underneath. Surfing, horse riding, MX, enduro and trials, use both righting and tilting reflex but are way more dominant in tilting reflex. During a trial the bike may move unexpextidly on a rock, mud, camber etc so its wise to train tilting reflex. It gets trained whilst riding but, if like many pro riders that I've seen, you train in a fixed surface (often on resistance machines or leg curl arm chairs) then your building up a dominance in the wrong reflexes or more likely dumbing down any neuromuscular reflexes. Not a great video for explaining it well but they have got the right idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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