I ride a bike to work most days. Earlier in the summer I was using a fixed-gear bike, where the freewheel - the thing on the back wheel that allows you to coast - had been replaced by a single, immobile gear. “Fixies” are designed for racing on a track, where there’s no traffic, so they don’t need shifters or brakes. Instead, the rider slows down by resisting the pedals as they spin. They’ve become popular with bike messengers and other people who ride all year because there’s less equipment to maintain.

Another reason they’re popular is the trackstand. This is the maneuver you sometimes see at a stop light downtown, where the rider balances magically without putting a foot down, until the light turns green and they fly off. This summer I vowed to learn how to do one.

On the fixie, it was easier than I expected. When you are nearly stopped, you turn the front wheel to one side so that any more forward momentum would take you in a tight circle instead of out into traffic. When your outside foot comes over the top of its stroke you resist with the other foot, and then slowly rock the pedals forward and backward so that you are just barely moving back and forth over the same spot. Cool.

So then I tried it on a regular bike. Holy cow, that’s a whole ‘nother thing. Did you ever see a biker tip over at a stop light with their fancy shoes still in the pedals? Yeah. I needed a little help from Team Estrogen. The trick, they taught me, is to keep your hands off the brakes as much as possible. Practice off the road first, pushing the front wheel against a stationary object like a bench, rolling slightly backward and then forward to the object. Back on the road, you want to use its natural slope as resistance, combined with shifting your body weight, to cause the bike to roll back against the pressure you are applying to the pedals.

Well I ain’t there yet, but it’s coming along. Keep the rubber side down.