Look, Ma! No Hands!

On my mountain bike I can ride on smooth surfaces without hands. I can even turn as long as there's no traffic. On my new road bike I definitely don't feel stable yet to ride no handed but I take a hand off now and again for all that you mentioned. Adjust shirt, drink water, stretch arms, etc.. It's a handy skill. (Pun intended)

I haven't learned yet how to ride without both hands... is it a similar skill to learning how to ride a bike or more of a balance thing?

Riding no hands is an important skill. It takes less effort to ride a bike with no hands while pedaling VS not pedaling. Practice on long flat straight aways with little traffic.

I guess I can still ride no handed but ...

I have been surprised by other riders (approaching on the local bike paths) when I had my hands on the tops (where reaching the brakes is difficult) rather than having my hands on the hoods (where braking is easy). It is not always a good surprise.

Under most circumstances I would recommend that one keep their hands near the brakes. That means no no-handed riding.

I will often take one hand off the bar to stretch and shake out any tingles, get a drink, wave at someone, etc. Occasionally, on an open straight with no traffic, I'll take both hands off the bar and sit upright for a short while, but only when pleasure riding, never at speed.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by Myosmith [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

I will often take one hand off the bar to stretch and shake out any tingles, get a drink, wave at someone, etc. Occasionally, on an open straight with no traffic, I'll take both hands off the bar and sit upright for a short while, but only when pleasure riding, never at speed.

That's pretty much what I do too...

I always keep one hand on the bar. I spent too much time in bandaids as a child from silly bicycle accidents, I try to limit that as an adult. Also, as we age, our bones tend to get more brittle so I try to ride in a way that will lessen the chances of them getting broken.