5 Common Myths That May Be Blocking You From Learning to Ride A Bicycle

Feb 6, 2026 - by Jianhan Wang

Jianhan is a certified League Cycling Instructor who has taught over 180 adults with little or no experience to learn to ride a bicycle in person. From his experience teaching, there are 5 common myths or limiting beliefs that make it many times harder to learn to balance on and pedal a bicycle.

1. I need to fall or get hurt to learn to ride.

No, you do not need to fall, scrape your legs, rest in pain to recover, practice, fall, recover, feel worse about yourself, and repeat until you somehow get balancing and pedaling like I did. Nearly all, if not all, of the adults I taught did not fall while learning to balance and pedal. The bicycle and practice progression needs to be set correctly to lower the risk of falling and ensure that you are able to catch yourself with your feet easily.

2. I need to take weeks with many hours of practice to learn to balance and pedal because I “learn slowly”.

All of my 180+ students who learned to balance and pedal with me did so in 45 minutes to about 5 hours of practice. Practicing was split into 2 sessions within 2 weeks of each other.

You likely tried learning in a way that needed multiple new skills at once which can make it feel frustrating and long. Just sit and pedal is like asking you to deliver a good 3-minute speech in a foreign language you do not know. Many steps in the middle are missing, like learning a few greetings in that language.

However, with expert guidance that focuses on one new skill at a time, many of my students learned to balance and pedal in a much shorter time than they expected.

3. Since I don't know how to ride a bicycle as an adult, I am now behind everyone else. (And I am too old to learn)

Being able to ride a bicycle is not an innate ability that you can naturally gain by a certain age. You are not alone. Many adults do not know how to ride a bicycle.

I have helped two people in their 60s learn to ride. One instructor I have taught with has taught someone in their 80s to learn to balance and pedal.

4. Since I did not learn to balance yet, riding a bike is not for me or riding a bike is not something I can be capable of.

As long as you have the following physical abilities, you can learn to ride a bike:

1. You have all your limbs and all your senses functional, including sight, hearing, and touch.
2. You can stand on one foot for 5+ seconds at a time.
3. You can walk a half mile in under 10 minutes (3+ mph average).
4. You can lift a bicycle from it resting sideways on the ground to it being upright.

Balance is one thing you learn with repeated tries and patience.

5. I need to be fit to be able to ride a bicycle.

While being in shape provides an advantage, becoming more fit than being able to walk a half mile in 10 minutes and standing on one foot for 5 or more seconds at a time has diminishing returns on simply being able to ride. 

One of the most difficult barriers for most students I taught is overcoming fears and limiting beliefs when it comes to riding. They have overcome it with safe guided practice and persistence. Many surprise themselves in how quickly they learn. And you can, too.

If you want guidance to help you practice, check out Zero to Pedaling. In that program, I will help you make progress and break any remaining limiting beliefs held by your subconscious through you mastering the skills to learn to ride, one at a time.

Now that we cleared up those myths, you can get a free workbook to help guide you to be able to set up practice sessions that makes learning safer, easier, and faster than you likely would from on your own or with tips from family and friends. This is based on 8+ years of organizing and teaching learn to ride classes and private lessons. My gift to help you become a bicycle rider.