What is the magic formula for managing these skills apart from practise? I can see such skills would transform my biking capability but no matter the abilit allude me.I was out on Ilkely moor yesterday practising but to little avail – anything over a foot defeated me utterly. Useful advice please.

Wheely – you’ll learn the balance point.

Find some soft heather, or ideally a spot of beach with soft sand. Or a playground sand pit. Deliberalty fall off the back a few times – you’ll see it dosn’t hurt.

Pedal Kick: Roll up to the drop slowly; position your cranks so that your strongest/most natural foot is a bit forward of the 12 O’clock position; at the same time as pulling back on the bars, put in a forceful pedal stroke. Aim to land both wheels at the same time, or at least the rear one slightly first. Absorb impact with legs.

At least that’s how I do it.

you pull up by rolling your whole body backwards, not by pulling with your arms. keep that in mind and you’ll get the hang of it.

It’s all about weight distribution. I was practising at the weekend by deliberately keeping my arms slightly bent and very “loose” on the bars, so that I wasn’t tempted to pull up – it worked so well that I chickened out after a few goes, was getting scared of falling off the back… 😳