Front wheel lift and obstacles
Ready when: Quick stop and swerve (i1) done.
What you are learning
Lifting the front wheel over a small obstacle by bending the arms and pulling up and back, then letting the back wheel roll over with soft legs. This is how riders get over a root, a stick or a kerb without stopping.
Words on this card Handlebars, Pedals level, Slalom, Kerb
- Handlebars
- What the hands hold to steer.
- Pedals level
- Both pedals at the same height, one forward and one back, so the rider can stand up evenly.
- Slalom
- Riding a zigzag path round a line of cones.
- Kerb
- The raised edge between a path and a road.
Set up
A pool noodle on the ground; flat pedals; a helmet and gloves.
Weather: dry ground
Show it first for the one teaching
- Ride slowly toward the noodle, standing, pedals level.
- Just before it, bend the arms and drop the chest a little.
- Pull up and back on the bars so the front wheel lifts over.
- Let the back wheel roll over with soft legs.
Your part while they practise
Watch the front wheel only; call "clear" or "touch".
Step by step
- Ride in standing at a slow speed, pedals level.
- Just before the noodle, bend the arms.
- Pull up and back to lift the front wheel over.
- Let the back wheel roll over with soft legs.
How much: 8 tries, 3 rounds 10 min a session 2 days a week
Say one thing Pick one line from "What you will see" for today and say only that.
The game: Circuit
Slalom, noodle lift, stop at the line.
Who plays: 1 or 2 riders against their own best; you judge.
How to play, turn by turn
- Turns
- Set a slalom of 5 cones, then the noodle, then a chalk stopping line
- Ride the circuit once
- You call "clear" or "touch" at the noodle and judge the stop
- 6 runs
- Fair play
- A younger rider uses a flat rope instead of the noodle.
- Points
- 1 point for a clean slalom; 2 points for the front wheel clearing the noodle; 1 point for stopping on the line.
- Fouls
- No points for that run
- Stopping or putting a foot down at the noodle
- Sitting down for the lift
- Riding the circuit without a helmet and gloves
- Winning
- Beat your best from 6 runs.
- 10 points for 1 star
- 17 points for 2 stars
- 22 points for 3 stars
Easier or harder
A flat line on the ground.
A small log.
What you will see, and what to say
- the child stops at the noodle
Look ahead and keep moving
Speed carries the bike over. - the back wheel bangs it
Soft legs, let it roll
Bend the knees as the back wheel goes over.
Self-check
6 of 8 lifts clear the noodle with the front wheel.
Stop and get a coach when
A fall onto the hands or head.
Fitness for this
Warm up first: how to warm up, at workonfitness.com. For strength and stretching, its exercise library shows each exercise step by step, with an easier version.
This card trains weight shift, obstacle clearing.
awiseathlete.com/sports/cycling/cycling-i4