What Is Trials Biking?
Trials biking is a specialized form of bike riding that generally involves riding bicycles on / over / off obstacles of various types, natural or man-made, without the rider’s feet touching the ground (or crashing / bailing). Bike trials requires extreme balance. Moves include techniques such as hops and balancing on one wheel.
My Journey
I discovered trials biking completely by accident by stumbling across Danny MacAskill’s Imaginate video in my YouTube recommendations. The things Danny was doing on his bicycle absolutely blew me away! I had no idea such feats were even remotely possible. Having never heard of “trials biking”, I performed some web searches to find out what Danny’s style of riding was even called. Then I proceeded to investigate the sport and watch some more videos. Very quickly, at a mere 47 years old, I decided, “I can do that. I am doing that!”
I started by learning how to “trackstand” (balance in place) and “endo” (tip forward onto the front wheel) using my (low end) mountain bike, that previously hadn’t seen much use. Within several weeks, I ordered my first trials bike: a beautiful 24-inch Echo Mark V. A mere handful of weeks later, I participated in my first trials competition, where I met other trials bikers for the first time.
Since beginning my trials biking journey in 2017, I have competed in several competitions and helped build a local community of trials riders here in southeastern Connecticut. Much of my riding has been just messing around in my driveway and yard with wooden pallets, boards, etc. Our local group also gets together weekly to ride, adding a positive social aspect in addition to the ability to learn from other riders.
Going from zero regular exercise to “full throttle” with trials biking has taken its toll physically. Apparently the human body doesn’t like that so much, so I have suffered through a series of nagging “old man” injuries. Regardless, my passion for riding continues.
I have been documenting my experiences and progression in trials biking pretty much since I started. What started as videos about just my own riding has now become a broader project to include much more, including weekly group rides, trials competitions, and more. I’ve branded the project as This Is Bike Trials! Subscribe to my YouTube channel and follow me on Instagram and other social media channels if you want to follow along. You can also read my trials related blog posts on this site and get more in depth information from my dedicated trials website.
The Hobby I Started 35 Years Late
The following is a presentation I created to provide a basic overview of what trials biking is as well as my experiences in trials biking.
Interested In Trials Biking?
If you’re in the New England area and interested in trials riding, check out the Northeast Bike Trials page on Facebook. In addition to sharing various trials related videos and photos, we post upcoming events such as group rides and competitions in the Facebook Group.