Another stupid question!

[ShortRider]

How do you do a track stand? More importantly, how do you learn to do one?

[Kirk Pacenti]

on a fixed gear bike pointing up a slight incline. If yours points up, driveways are safe place to learn.

[Grant McLean]

I'll assume you mean on your std road bike, not a fixed gear bike?

The best spot to practice is on a slight incline, like a driveway,
that way your weight will roll you back against your forward pedal.

Come to a standstill, (standing) with one crankarm forward
(whichever feels most natural) and turn the bars slightly.

Let yourself roll backwards a little, until the point where you stop
yourself with a small amount of pedal force to keep you still.
You can grab a little bit of front brake at any point to help.

You won't be completely stopped. Let yourself roll back a couple of
inches, and press on the pedals, and repeat.

Try to find that spot where you feel balanced in the zone.
Most of all, relax, don't over-think it.

If you have clipless pedals, try it first in sneakers.
g

[BoulderGeek]

I learned in group rides, with old school cleats and composite toe straps.

You only get one change to get it right!

[Too Tall]

Use the brakes...imagine peddaling "into" you hands.
Don't look down.

[swoop]

relax.
look ahead 10 yards at an imagined point 4' off the ground
relax.
turn the front wheel into the crown of the road.
this provides slight resistance for you to pedal into or push against.
assuming your front wheel is turned slightly left into the crown, have your left crank forward at about three oclock.
relax.
form a mental image of a tripod consisting of the imagined spot your eyes are focused on, your left forward foot/the resistance provided by the crown in the road, and your right foot.
relax, dont be tense.
stand out of the saddle.
try it seated.
try and find the balance point on the bike.
relax.
practice until it's as natural as standing on two feet. overcome the reflext= that thinks you are falling. you can aways pedal out of it or rock backwards.
falling all is in your head.
you shoud get to a point where you are so relaxed that you can do this motionless and indefineately and without thinking. you can get to a point where you can do this seated and no handed.

this seems to impres homeless dudes and they will yell thinks like, 'you a trophy baby'.

[Tom]

I can do it if I roll up to an intersection and just stop. Not for long, not long enough to wait out a red light but I can do it waiting for cars to clear a stop sign.

The second I think about what I'm doing, I fall right over.

It's like the lady I saw skiing one day. At Gore Mountain there's a trail that's pretty easy but steps down over some steeper sections and the last one before the bottom has a tower in it and is the steepest so here she came, creeping along, traversing, her weight shifting back and forth, she was obviously really intimidated by the hill. Her friend did a yard sale and slid all the way to the bottom. She picked up his ski, and clutching it she skiied down doing really elegant classy looking turns and stopped right perfectly where he was gathering himself. It was like she was two different people. As soon as she had something make her stop thinking about it, she was a really good skier. Same deal here.

[kestrel]

Swoop and Tom have it right:

Look ahead about 10 yards, relax, and if you think about it you WILL fall. :banana:

[Fixed]

learn out of traffic fix gear mt. bikes are fun
cheers

[dan earhart]

So how does one learn to ride sitting up without your hands on the bars?

[Fixed]

one hand first

[ShortRider]

for the great tips! I am sure I will fall many times since, thinking is about the one thing I do all the time! Doh!

Will let you know how I make out when I finally summon up the guts, and gather enough umm, padding, to practise this. :crap: in advance!

[Climb01742]

is it possible to practice on grass? might ease the landing.

[Joel]

Actually doing the first few practice sessions on grass is how I learned track stand as a kid (and that's LONG time ago) and importantly with loose toe clip on the stand foot.

What everyone said about 'relax' is the single most important thing. If you relax the bike will take care of it self :p

Joel

[ShortRider]

practise on grass. I do have a patch in the yard.. that way I'll just land in dog doo, which is better (?) than getting all scratched up by the concrete. I guess it's all a matter of perspective! :)

Thank you all, I will TRY to relax.

[spiderlake]

And if you are like me, don't forget the dreaded toe overlap! I trackstanded myself right onto the pavement yesterday at a stoplight. Nice.

[SponsorsWanted]

There is a picture on my wall of a bike messenger doing a no handed, one footed trackstand out of the saddle...incredible.

[swoop]

And if you are like me, don't forget the dreaded toe overlap! I trackstanded myself right onto the pavement yesterday at a stoplight. Nice.

toe overlap shouldn't matter. you shouldn't be wildly changing the direction of the front wheel. you only need to rock a few centimeters forward ino the slope of the road or againts thebrakes and you can shift your body and not torque the bike around.

[spiderlake]

I hear ya but it wasn't like I was rocking the bars back and forth like a madman. I just happened to move the wheel it bit too far one way and that was all it took. Most of the time I just unclip but the one time I tried to be cool, I screwed it up and crumpled like a cheap suit. I hate the toe overlap issues mostly because it is only on one bike and I often forget about the problem until it is too late.

toe overlap shouldn't matter. you shouldn't be wildly changing the direction of the front wheel. you only need to rock a few centimeters forward ino the slope of the road or againts thebrakes and you can shift your body and not torque the bike around.