Games
Online Game Risky Rider
Game Information
About Risky Rider 5
Guide this Risky Rider over this epic jumps and perform tricks to gain bike points to upgrade your ride
Instructions Left/Right Arrows - Lean Up Arrow - Accelerate Down Arrow - Brake 1/2/3/4/5 - Tricks
People love to say that you never forget how to ride a bike. No one ever tells you that you might actually not remember the learning part. That's what happened to me when during a recent work meeting on National Bike To Work Week -- I blurted out that I just never learned the skill. HuffPost Healthy Living's fitness editor's eyes widened. It was time for me to take a lesson.
With a little push from my team, I did some research and called Bike NYC, a local non-profit whose mission is to encourage bike riding and safety, asking if they could squeeze me into one of their "learn to bike as an adult" classes. When I didn't hear back, I took it as a sign that maybe biking just isn't for me. Like many people, I'm no stranger to those feelings of inadequacy in personal fitness. For 20-plus years, I never ran, but that all changed last summer when I spent the majority of my mornings tracking miles around my Queens neighborhood. The memory of beating that fitness fear put this all into perspective.
I then remembered Bike Stop, a neighborhood bike store near my first New York apartment in Astoria. Before losing my nerve, I made the call, with mental pictures of the comforting corner building's red awning floating in my head. An easy going man named Francisco answered and, within seconds, he was telling me that I'm lucky because I was on the phone with the coolest bike store in New York. I had to agree with Francisco after just minutes of easy banter, and we cut a deal for me to stop in later that day for a private lesson. (They don't even give lessons there, they just sell bikes.)
When I showed up at Bike Stop, I knew the tall and relaxed dude standing right near the entrance had to be Francisco. "Is it that time already?" he asked. I heard him in the store's basement telling his mechanic that there's a girl upstairs in a red T-shirt who is waiting to learn how to ride a bike. I pretended I couldn't hear their conversation by staring at a wall of locks and wheels and faking interest. I started to make small talk with a guy in a Jimmi Hendrix T-shirt at the register when Carlos, the mechanic, appeared.
Carlos asked me how tall I was, and as he was personally fitting a bike for me, Francisco explained the very reason for his easy going nature at my strange request.
"We hear this all the time," he said. Sensing my inner panic, he further explained that people always think they don't know how to ride a bike until the minute they get on. At that point, Carlos was done fitting my bike and together we were wheeling it out onto the sidewalk. As he was explaining about brakes, an undeniable surge of familiarity was rapidly circulating through my veins, starting at any part of my body closest to the bicycle and spreading out all over.
Wait a minute -- I know this. I've felt what it feels like to mount a bicycle and position my feet on the pedals before. My eyes darted over to my innocent bike instructor with a nervous feeling in my gut. What was going on?
I exhaled and fully tuned into Carlos's voice, which was now telling me to start with my left leg. He started to guide me on the bike and we both smiled at the emerging truth. I knew what I was doing.
Acting as my 20-something training wheel, Carlos let go and I took off on a slightly hilly block. "Student driver!" I yelled at a couple of unfortunate passers-by trying their hardest to get out of my way. At one point I had a close call with an open door and basement steps, but with Carlos's help, I didn't crash. I was doing okay. I didn't master a straight line, but I could hold my own on a bike. I was riding with a permanent grin. It was fun, really. But how could I not remember this?
According to cognitive psychology, my experience is an example of implicit memory, something present but not pictured. Nowhere in my brain's storage was a recollection of toddler hands gripping handlebars, so I spent my adolescence and young adulthood in bike-riding denial.
I called my mom after my lesson to fill in the blanks. She can picture my childhood self outside on bikes with the other neighborhood kids in Northeast Philadelphia. She went on to tell me how my brother and sister received bikes as Christmas gifts but I didn't. "You never asked for one." My sister's bike remained a fixture in our shed, just like the cans of leftover paint. It was something our family felt necessary to keep, but never to actually use.
My "lesson" at Bike Stop came to a pleasant close with me at the register scanning the cost of bikes. When you're a kid, no one mentions the years that might fly by before you pick-up a seldom used hobby again. The fact that you'll keep some activities close to your heart, but ditch others, is a reality of childhood. However, it doesn't really matter if you forget a favorite activity from your younger years, because you can always relearn with a different, perhaps more adult, perspective. It's just like riding a bike.
It's a perennial parental rite of passage that used to mean skinned knees and worn patience. We've all seen a mom or dad holding onto the seat, and huffing and puffing while running behind a kid learning to ride a bicycle. Then the adults let go and watched anxiously as their children took their chances with the pavement. But there's a better and safer way to teach a child to ride. This method shows kids how to develop their balance, instead of relying on you and your aching back. And the best part: It can take as little as 15 minutes.
The Groundwork
Forget training wheels and other funky gadgets. All you need is a
child who's ready to learn; a bike; a gently sloping, grassy hill; and a
wrench. There's no set age for taking off on two wheels, but usually by
4 or 5 years of age children have enough balance and coordination. Look
for an inexpensive beginner's bike with a single gear and a foot brake,
which requires less coordination than bikes with hand brakes and
multiple gears. Make sure the bike isn't so big that he'll have to
struggle to control it; he should be able to put both feet on the ground
while standing over the crossbar with an inch to spare.
Scout a Location
Find a slope about 20 feet high that's angled enough so the bike
will coast down, but not so steep that it will be hard for your child to
hold the bike still with his feet. There should be plenty of level
ground at the bottom -- about 20 yards in all directions.
Safety Check and Bike Setup
The soft grass means less likelihood of skinned knees, but your
child still needs a helmet. Avoid baggy clothing and tuck in her
shoelaces before you get started. Here's the key bike setup trick: With a
wrench, lower the saddle (that's cycling lingo for the seat) so your
child's feet can rest flat on the ground as she sits.
Roll Away
About halfway up the hill, position the bike with the pedals
level. Put your child on the saddle with his feet on the ground, holding
the handlebar straight and arms slightly bent. Have him lift his feet
and roll to the bottom of the hill, controlling the speed by putting his
feet back on the ground, if needed. Walk the bike back up and repeat
until your child can keep his feet on the pedals while coasting down.
Once your child has more confidence, move higher on the hill and repeat a
couple more times.
Add Braking and Steering
Tell your child to apply the brake after the hill levels out.
When she can stop safely, work on steering with gentle turns to the left
and right. Repeat riding down the hill, turning each direction at the
bottom two or three times.
Raise the Saddle, and Pedal
Raise the saddle high enough to allow a slight bend in your
child's leg when the pedal is at the bottom of a stroke. Start partway
up the hill and have him coast until the bottom of the hill, then pedal
while riding circles in the level area. Allow a proud smile to cross
your face because your child is now riding a bike.
Helmet Safety
It's critical to teach your child the importance of helmet safety
at the same time you're teaching beginning cycling skills. The Consumer
Products Safety Commission notes that wearing a bike helmet can reduce
your child's risk of head injury by 85 percent. Make sure the helmet is
level when worn, not tilted back or angled to one side. The side straps
should form a snug "V" under each ear, and the chin strap should be
cinched enough to allow you to slide only two fingers underneath. Many
young children put their helmets on backward, so make sure they know
which is the rear and which is the front. There's usually a sticker
inside pointing in right direction.
This page shows you real ways you can get hit and real ways to avoid them. This is a far cry from normal bicycle safety guides, which usually tell you little more than to wear your helmet and to follow the law. But consider this for a moment: Wearing a helmet will do absolutely nothing to prevent you from getting hit by a car. Sure, helmets might help you if you get hit, but your #1 goal should be to avoid getting hit in the first place. Plenty of cyclists are killed by cars even though they were wearing helmets. Ironically, if they had ridden without helmets, yet followed the advice on this page, they might still be alive today. Don't fall for the myth that wearing a helmet is the first and last word in biking safety. In truth, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. It's better to not get hit. That's what real bicycle safety is about.
the "follow the law" advice isn't that helpful because it's too obvious. What you'll find here are several scenarios that maybe aren't that obvious. The other problem with the "follow the law" message is that people may think that's all they need to do. But following the law is not enough to keep you safe, not by a long shot. Here's an example: The law tells you to ride as far to the right as is practicable. But if you ride too far to the right, someone exiting a parked car could open their door right in front of you, and you'll be less visible to motorists pulling out of driveways and parking lots, and motorists coming from behind may pass you way too closely in the same lane because you didn't make them change lanes. In each of these cases you were following the law, but you made it easier for yourself to get hit. This page doesn't focus on the law, it focuses on how to not get hit by cars. Now let's see how to avoid getting hit.
This is the most common way to get hit (or almost get hit).(source1, source2) A car is pulling out of a side street, parking lot, or driveway on the right. Notice that there are actually two possible kinds of collisions here: Either you're in front of the car and the car hits you, or the car pulls out in front of you and you slam into it.
How to avoid this collision:
1. Get a headlight. If you're riding at night, you absolutely should be using a front headlight. It's required by law, anyway. Even for daytime riding, a bright white light that has a flashing mode can make you more visible to motorists who might otherwise Right Cross you. Look for the new LED headlights which last ten times as long on a set of batteries as old-style lights. And headlamps (mounted on your head or helmet) are the best, because then you can look directly at the driver to make sure they see your light.
2. Wave. If you can't make eye contact with the driver, wave your arm. It's easier for them to see your arm going left and right than it is for them to see a bicycle coming straight towards them. You could also use a loud horn (like the Air Zound) to get drivers' attention. If it looks like the driver is about to pull out without seeing you, yell "Hey!" You may feel awkward waving or yelling, but it's better to be embarrassed than to get hit. Incidentally, many countries require bells on bicycles, but the U.S. doesn't.
3. Slow down. If you can't make eye contact with the driver (especially at night), slow down so much that you're able to completely stop if you have to. Sure, it's inconvenient, but it beats getting hit. Doing this has saved my life on too many occasions to count.
4. Ride further left. You're probably used to riding in the "A" line in the picture, very close to the curb, because you're worried about being hit from behind. But take a look at the car. When that driver is looking down the road for traffic, he's not looking in the bike lane or the area closest to the curb; he's looking in the middle of the lane, for other cars. The farther left you are (such as in "B"), the more likely the driver will see you. There's an added bonus here: if the motorist doesn't see you and starts pulling out, you may be able to go even farther left, or may be able to speed up and get out of the way before impact, or easily roll onto their hood as they slam on their brakes. In short, it gives you some options. Because if you stay all the way to the right and they pull out, your only "option" may be to run right into the driver's side door. Using this method has saved me on three occasions in which a motorist ran into me slowly as they hit their brakes and I wasn't hurt, and in which I definitely would have slammed into the driver's side door had I not moved left.
You might worry that moving left makes you more vulnerable to cars coming from behind. But the stats say you're far more likely to get hit by a car at an intersection ahead of you that can't see you, than from a car behind you which can see you clearly. So while both positions have risk, you generally reduce your risk by riding a little farther left. Your actual lane position depends on road conditions. On fast roadways with few cross streets (and thus less chances to get hit at intersections), you'll ride farther to the right. On slow roads with many cross streets, you'll ride farther left. See lane position for more about this.
Instructions Left/Right Arrows - Lean Up Arrow - Accelerate Down Arrow - Brake 1/2/3/4/5 - Tricks
People love to say that you never forget how to ride a bike. No one ever tells you that you might actually not remember the learning part. That's what happened to me when during a recent work meeting on National Bike To Work Week -- I blurted out that I just never learned the skill. HuffPost Healthy Living's fitness editor's eyes widened. It was time for me to take a lesson.
With a little push from my team, I did some research and called Bike NYC, a local non-profit whose mission is to encourage bike riding and safety, asking if they could squeeze me into one of their "learn to bike as an adult" classes. When I didn't hear back, I took it as a sign that maybe biking just isn't for me. Like many people, I'm no stranger to those feelings of inadequacy in personal fitness. For 20-plus years, I never ran, but that all changed last summer when I spent the majority of my mornings tracking miles around my Queens neighborhood. The memory of beating that fitness fear put this all into perspective.
I then remembered Bike Stop, a neighborhood bike store near my first New York apartment in Astoria. Before losing my nerve, I made the call, with mental pictures of the comforting corner building's red awning floating in my head. An easy going man named Francisco answered and, within seconds, he was telling me that I'm lucky because I was on the phone with the coolest bike store in New York. I had to agree with Francisco after just minutes of easy banter, and we cut a deal for me to stop in later that day for a private lesson. (They don't even give lessons there, they just sell bikes.)
When I showed up at Bike Stop, I knew the tall and relaxed dude standing right near the entrance had to be Francisco. "Is it that time already?" he asked. I heard him in the store's basement telling his mechanic that there's a girl upstairs in a red T-shirt who is waiting to learn how to ride a bike. I pretended I couldn't hear their conversation by staring at a wall of locks and wheels and faking interest. I started to make small talk with a guy in a Jimmi Hendrix T-shirt at the register when Carlos, the mechanic, appeared.
Carlos asked me how tall I was, and as he was personally fitting a bike for me, Francisco explained the very reason for his easy going nature at my strange request.
"We hear this all the time," he said. Sensing my inner panic, he further explained that people always think they don't know how to ride a bike until the minute they get on. At that point, Carlos was done fitting my bike and together we were wheeling it out onto the sidewalk. As he was explaining about brakes, an undeniable surge of familiarity was rapidly circulating through my veins, starting at any part of my body closest to the bicycle and spreading out all over.
Wait a minute -- I know this. I've felt what it feels like to mount a bicycle and position my feet on the pedals before. My eyes darted over to my innocent bike instructor with a nervous feeling in my gut. What was going on?
I exhaled and fully tuned into Carlos's voice, which was now telling me to start with my left leg. He started to guide me on the bike and we both smiled at the emerging truth. I knew what I was doing.
Acting as my 20-something training wheel, Carlos let go and I took off on a slightly hilly block. "Student driver!" I yelled at a couple of unfortunate passers-by trying their hardest to get out of my way. At one point I had a close call with an open door and basement steps, but with Carlos's help, I didn't crash. I was doing okay. I didn't master a straight line, but I could hold my own on a bike. I was riding with a permanent grin. It was fun, really. But how could I not remember this?
According to cognitive psychology, my experience is an example of implicit memory, something present but not pictured. Nowhere in my brain's storage was a recollection of toddler hands gripping handlebars, so I spent my adolescence and young adulthood in bike-riding denial.
I called my mom after my lesson to fill in the blanks. She can picture my childhood self outside on bikes with the other neighborhood kids in Northeast Philadelphia. She went on to tell me how my brother and sister received bikes as Christmas gifts but I didn't. "You never asked for one." My sister's bike remained a fixture in our shed, just like the cans of leftover paint. It was something our family felt necessary to keep, but never to actually use.
My "lesson" at Bike Stop came to a pleasant close with me at the register scanning the cost of bikes. When you're a kid, no one mentions the years that might fly by before you pick-up a seldom used hobby again. The fact that you'll keep some activities close to your heart, but ditch others, is a reality of childhood. However, it doesn't really matter if you forget a favorite activity from your younger years, because you can always relearn with a different, perhaps more adult, perspective. It's just like riding a bike.
It's a perennial parental rite of passage that used to mean skinned knees and worn patience. We've all seen a mom or dad holding onto the seat, and huffing and puffing while running behind a kid learning to ride a bicycle. Then the adults let go and watched anxiously as their children took their chances with the pavement. But there's a better and safer way to teach a child to ride. This method shows kids how to develop their balance, instead of relying on you and your aching back. And the best part: It can take as little as 15 minutes.
This page shows you real ways you can get hit and real ways to avoid them. This is a far cry from normal bicycle safety guides, which usually tell you little more than to wear your helmet and to follow the law. But consider this for a moment: Wearing a helmet will do absolutely nothing to prevent you from getting hit by a car. Sure, helmets might help you if you get hit, but your #1 goal should be to avoid getting hit in the first place. Plenty of cyclists are killed by cars even though they were wearing helmets. Ironically, if they had ridden without helmets, yet followed the advice on this page, they might still be alive today. Don't fall for the myth that wearing a helmet is the first and last word in biking safety. In truth, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. It's better to not get hit. That's what real bicycle safety is about.
the "follow the law" advice isn't that helpful because it's too obvious. What you'll find here are several scenarios that maybe aren't that obvious. The other problem with the "follow the law" message is that people may think that's all they need to do. But following the law is not enough to keep you safe, not by a long shot. Here's an example: The law tells you to ride as far to the right as is practicable. But if you ride too far to the right, someone exiting a parked car could open their door right in front of you, and you'll be less visible to motorists pulling out of driveways and parking lots, and motorists coming from behind may pass you way too closely in the same lane because you didn't make them change lanes. In each of these cases you were following the law, but you made it easier for yourself to get hit. This page doesn't focus on the law, it focuses on how to not get hit by cars. Now let's see how to avoid getting hit.
This is the most common way to get hit (or almost get hit).(source1, source2) A car is pulling out of a side street, parking lot, or driveway on the right. Notice that there are actually two possible kinds of collisions here: Either you're in front of the car and the car hits you, or the car pulls out in front of you and you slam into it.
How to avoid this collision:
1. Get a headlight. If you're riding at night, you absolutely should be using a front headlight. It's required by law, anyway. Even for daytime riding, a bright white light that has a flashing mode can make you more visible to motorists who might otherwise Right Cross you. Look for the new LED headlights which last ten times as long on a set of batteries as old-style lights. And headlamps (mounted on your head or helmet) are the best, because then you can look directly at the driver to make sure they see your light.
2. Wave. If you can't make eye contact with the driver, wave your arm. It's easier for them to see your arm going left and right than it is for them to see a bicycle coming straight towards them. You could also use a loud horn (like the Air Zound) to get drivers' attention. If it looks like the driver is about to pull out without seeing you, yell "Hey!" You may feel awkward waving or yelling, but it's better to be embarrassed than to get hit. Incidentally, many countries require bells on bicycles, but the U.S. doesn't.
3. Slow down. If you can't make eye contact with the driver (especially at night), slow down so much that you're able to completely stop if you have to. Sure, it's inconvenient, but it beats getting hit. Doing this has saved my life on too many occasions to count.
4. Ride further left. You're probably used to riding in the "A" line in the picture, very close to the curb, because you're worried about being hit from behind. But take a look at the car. When that driver is looking down the road for traffic, he's not looking in the bike lane or the area closest to the curb; he's looking in the middle of the lane, for other cars. The farther left you are (such as in "B"), the more likely the driver will see you. There's an added bonus here: if the motorist doesn't see you and starts pulling out, you may be able to go even farther left, or may be able to speed up and get out of the way before impact, or easily roll onto their hood as they slam on their brakes. In short, it gives you some options. Because if you stay all the way to the right and they pull out, your only "option" may be to run right into the driver's side door. Using this method has saved me on three occasions in which a motorist ran into me slowly as they hit their brakes and I wasn't hurt, and in which I definitely would have slammed into the driver's side door had I not moved left.
You might worry that moving left makes you more vulnerable to cars coming from behind. But the stats say you're far more likely to get hit by a car at an intersection ahead of you that can't see you, than from a car behind you which can see you clearly. So while both positions have risk, you generally reduce your risk by riding a little farther left. Your actual lane position depends on road conditions. On fast roadways with few cross streets (and thus less chances to get hit at intersections), you'll ride farther to the right. On slow roads with many cross streets, you'll ride farther left. See lane position for more about this.
