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stabilising

many of us will have learned to ride a bicycle in the same way, though unfortunately, i cannot include myself amongst that number. a well-meaning parent will usually hold the bike via the back of the saddle while risking perennial back problems walking alongside as junior learns how to pedal. when the child reaches what i might call the intermediate stage where they can actually balance and ride unaided, but have yet to acquire the confidence so to do, the selfsame parent holds their thumb against the small of the child's back, convincing the innocent youngster that they are still safe from self-inflicted injury. after that, it's only a matter of days until they're flying solo.

at least, that was the preferred method until a matter of years ago. lazier parents would simply purchase a bicycle with stabilisers and remain indoors, despite it now being common knowledge that children riding thus, became reliant on those training wheels. and since the latter were designed never to have both touching the road simultaneously, the hapless child invariably leaned to one side, even when the stabilisers were removed. more aware parents nowadays, plop their offspring on a balance bike, small enough that both feet can be placed firmly on the ground when still in the saddle, and totally bereft of pedals.

as the child becomes more familiar with the situation and gain confidence, their feet are lifted clear of the ground as they speed on nearby descents, re-enacting the motion required for the original hobby-horse on flat ground, gaining better control of their balance as the days roll by. with this latter method i am well-acquainted; my four year-old grand daughter has mastered the art impeccably, showing no fear or lack of confidence across any terrain that appears in her way. and my son can now go to bed without serious back-ache.

in my childhood years, it was far less common for either parent to assist with learning to cycle. as i recall, i was given a bicycle and left to get on with it. that probably explains why i was nine years-old before i could ride a bicycle, and that was only due to my parents' house featuring a large, well-grassed back garden on which i could safely fall when things didn't work out. to that extent, i consider myself to be a self-taught cyclist. i'm sure i never once caught sight of a manual advising how best to join the world of the velocipedinally gifted. it was simply a matter of perseverance.

similarly, i also consider myself to be a self-taught drummer, though fortuitously, the necessary skills long sought after and practised, were precisely the very skills required to ensure a lifetime of percussive joy that has, ironically, led me to become a part-time drum teacher. i feel pangs of guilt every time i undertake to provide a lesson, given that i eschewed that particular step in my teenage years. however, in mitigation, it wasn't for lack of trying; there simply was no available drum teacher in my area when growing up.

in that respect, i can only admit to being self-taught in both respects: cycling and percussion. now, normally this would not enter the top ten of subjects ripe for discussion, but while reading my newspaper yesterday, an article concerning an american choreographer to the stars, stated that he was also a 'trained percussionist'. presumably, that is how he identified himself to the reporter, and i wondered whether any of us would admit to a hack from the local newspaper that we were, 'trained cyclists'? even were we to have engaged the services of a professional coach and/or nutritionist, would we consider ourselves to be 'trained cyclists'? there may well be situations in which it is helpful to admit to being a 'professional cyclist' if that were, in fact, true, but would that suffice as a tautology for 'trained'?

and when was the last time you read in a cycling magazine, on a cycling website or the extremely rare mention in one of the dailies, "trained cyclist, mathieu van der poel..."? i have honestly never considered that mvdp might introduce himself to others as a 'trained cyclist'. yet for reasons that presumably apply to the musical sphere and not the cycling milieu, citing oneself as a trained percussionist either legitimises involvement in that particular pursuit, or raises one's countenance above that of the 'merely' self-taught.

perhaps the introduction of the balance bike era has re-introduced the cabal of the 'self-taught cyclist', at least within the junior ranks. granted should any of the lattter coterie subsequently apprentice as professionals, it will likely be at the behest of an entire backroom of trainers, coaches, directeurs sportifs, and nutritionists. but when they emerge out the other side and win liege-bastogne-liege for a second time, i'm pretty sure they will not be referred to as 'trained cyclists'.

tuesday 23 april 2024