Unhelpful Text Flatland How-To's

#1: Foot Jam Tailwhip

The foot jam tailwhip was one of the first flatland tricks I ever learned how to do, way back in 1988. Let's see how well I can describe it while just sitting at the keyboard...

First off, I do these particular tailwhips with the frame going around counter-clockwise, so that's how I'm going to be explaining this.

Start off riding forward at a slow pace. Take your right foot off of the right pedal and cross it over the frame, so that both of your feet are on the left side of the bike; your left foot will still be on the left pedal, which is down.

By the way, it's a really good idea for you to know what position your pedals are in when riding flat.

Anyway, take your right foot and step on the front tire; grab your front brake if you have one, otherwise use your foot as the brake. You'll want to angle your foot to the side when you do this, so your toe doesn't get sucked between the fork and the tire and break your foot.

Sorry, it's possible, you gotta be aware.

At the same time you're stepping on the tire and/or grabbing your front brake, push the bars forward and slightly to the right to get your back wheel off the ground, and give the back end a firm push to the right with your left foot (which has still been on the pedal up to this point).

As the frame starts to go around in front of you, keep your eye on your seatpost clamp and use your arms to rotate the bars, just to assist the frame in swinging around. When the seatpost clamp gets to where you can reach it with your dangling left foot, do so. Let go of the front brake and step on the pedal with your right foot, then ride away and go get some ice cream or something.

Everything I just typed (except for the stupid crap about ice cream) should happen in under two seconds.

There ya go: go practice that until it doesn't hurt a whole lot!