I took this picture back in July, in Spain, close to Santiago de Compostela, when Miguel started his “training” to ride his Azub Six recumbent hands-free. For those not familiar with recumbent bicycles – this is much more difficult than on a normal bicycle.
After more than 5000 kilometres of travelling, Miguel has become an expert in hands-free riding! I managed to film him in Uruguay, on a little day trip to La Paloma on the East coast. Watch and enjoy! And note the typical Uruguayan car passing about 18 seconds into the video…
I inadvertently learnt to ride recumbents handsfree. I had previously tried to ride various recumbents hands free with no luck. Then I started mountain bike riding on a recumbent. On the way home from mountain biking, I took my hands off the handlebars (USS) and found that I could ride hands free. Then I found that I could do it on other recumbents (not just that one) including a tandem recumbent.
Balance and unconcious micro adjustment is the skill required. I picked this up learning to MTB on a recumbent and it transferred to superior balance skill on the road. I can also now almost track stand my recumbent at lights and have no problem riding at very low speed (sub walking pace – 2 km/hr).