How to play footdown

There’s nothing like a fun game that you can play on a bicycle, especially when it can help sharpen your skills. Today, we’ll be playing a really fun game called footdown.

To play footdown, you’ll need an arena. If you only have a few people, make it small, like this rectangle here.

The rules are flexible, but my only rule is no weapons.

Start by circling the arena, and then let the battle ensue. The object of the game is to be the last rider standing. If you leave the arena, you’re out. If you put your foot down, you’re out. To make things more interesting, you can leave your bike in the ring as an obstacle for the remaining players.

Footdown can be played on any bike, but your best bet is something that can take a beating. Fixed gear bikes are great because they maneuver nicely and don’t have any derailleurs or cables to worry about. Even so, if you’re worried about fucking your bike up then footdown may not be for you.

With some track standing skills, you can block your opponent’s path and force them to steer out of the arena or fall down. This doesn’t do me much good against Elmo and Victor. Both are seasoned riders that can track stand forever, and ride backwards.

Victor gets his skills from bike polo, and as result he’s a really strong opponent. He’ll hop his bike into you, ride backwards into your front wheel, and generally ride like a complete motherfucker.

Elmo is skilled and methodical, staying out of trouble while Victor and I crash into each other. I think Elmo actually took the most wins today with this strategy.

At the end of the day, we had one final bout to crown a champion. And Victor took that one. Footdown is especially fun when you play against people who are at or above your skill level. The game tests and refines your bike control like none other, and that’s why I love it.