E-bike training
Learn quick and easy
Bikes with an electric motor are booming. Bründl not only sells and rents them out but also organzies events where people can try them out. And to ensure everyone cuts a good figure on the bikes they come complete with trainer.
Swith it on, select a mode, ride off - that's the theory at least. And in practice? Bründl have hired two experience trainers to accompany five E-bikes and their riders, who will be allowed to put them through their paces. Test days at Bründl Sports int he shop in Saalfelden am Steinernen Meer. And that means: Grab a suitable E-bike and test the terrain with Leo Brandtner and Lukas Steiner.
Cycling is really easy, isn't it, so why do you need trainers? Counter question: How did you learn to ride a bicycle? With stabilizers, ok. Today, E-bicycles have electronic support and riding with power has to be learned. What's more nobody wants to buy a proverbial pig in a poke.
So, it's up to Lake Ritzen, where there are gravel tracks and tarmac roads and a few smal elevations that could also be classed as a trail. Leo, who makes a living as a teacher at the Zell am See regional vocational school where he is also the officer for the exercise and sports, sets out a few small coloured cones.
It's slalom time! Yeah! Lukas, called Luki, coach at the Bike Infection club and no longer a stranger in the cross-country scene gives a demonstration. Smoothly negotiates the rubber cones, left, right, left, right, left and - pow - a cool breaking manoeuvre on the imaginary finishing line. Leo looks on, satisfied.
Now you, he calls out to the group. They line up, do the same as Luki, but it seems that the same is not always the same. Steering, balance, timing when turning, and a cone is quickly knocked over or omitted. Hey, no worries. Anyone who thought that was it does not know Leo, who comments: "When the guys start training, I can take time out".
And the training continues. A corridor is installed, the cyclists are to learn to keep their balance. Stand up, bring both pedals to the same height, one foot goes forwards, arms and elbows outwards as if doing press ups ... - fine, enough talk, now Leo wants to see them in action. The mini pack of riders sets off. "Yes!" "Wrong foot!" "Super!" "Stop!" Carrot and strick from the trainer.
And then he slips out another mean task from his box of tricky cycling exercices. Riding with one outstreched arm without losing their momentum. Once again Luki shows how you can also cut a fine figure in the saddle with just one hand; rides right up to the serene-looking Leo. You think: Huh, he won't will he, but then pow - he does an emergency brake with his left foot, known in bike jargon as a "stoppie". The back wheel leaves the ground briefly, Luki salutes, and Leo says after seeing the sceptical looks of the others: "When you do it for the 30th or 40th fime, you're not afraid anymore."
The morning continues, a few hill starts, in other words, an elegant start from scratch, after all, pushing your bike is boring according to Luki. A bit of practice in cornering ("always set your sights on the end of the curve"), and now and then the odd carrot by way of motivation "The most important thing is to smile", says Leo.
Back in the shop, the bike pforessionals vie a short tutorial in technique, explain what is needed to ensure body and bike create a uniform whole. Then they shake hands and say goodbye. They know now what a stoppie is, that there's an alternative to pushing the bike uphill; also know that the correct body posture is also very important, even though it often looks as if you just sit on an E-bike, swith it on, select a mode and ride off.
thomas-marzusch.jpg "rear tire")
thomas-marzusch.jpg "rear tire")
