How to wall ride a BMX

The streets are calling, so it’s time for another BMX tutorial. Today we’ll learn how to wall ride.

A wall ride, simply put, is when you get both your wheels flat on a wall. To do this you need to sort of flip your world on its side. For most BMX riders, this is the first trick that forces them to that. Sure, you need to turn sideways on a quarter pipe, but that’s on a transition which is nothing like a wall ride.

This is why wall rides are easiest in places where a wall meets an embankment. The embankment sort of works like a transition, but this trick is also possible to do from flat.

Most riders feel comfortable approaching a wall on the side of their dominant foot. So if you coast with your right foot forward like me, you’ll probably want to start by hitting the wall on your right.

You'll need to be good at bunny hopping already, and have some experience riding street. By this I mean you’re already hopping on to and over stuff, getting a little creative, and finding spots to session. You’ll need to combine a lot of the things you’ve learned street riding to do a wall ride.

One way to start is to find a highway divider like this one, and learn to ride up it a little. Get up some speed and tilt your bike as not to smash your pedal or pegs on it. When coming back off, turn your wheel and pull your bars towards you.

You should push yourself to actually hop on. Also learn to tilt yourself to match the angle of your bike, since you’ll need to do that to ride a flat wall.

There, you'll need to hop higher and tilt your bike more. Approaching the wall at about a 45 degree angle is the best way to learn as a beginner. Too low of an angle makes it harder to stick the wall ride, and a higher angle can be pretty harsh. Make sure you pull back far enough where the bottom of your wheels are flat with the wall. As long a you don't miss—the wall, you'll at least have the opportunity to save yourself by putting your foot down.

Getting off the wall is where your street experience needs to kick in. You'll need to look down at the ground and pull your bars towards you, which is sort of like a 90 degree turn. If you're hitting the wall on the same side as your dominant foot, this should be the same direction you 180 in, and feel pretty natural.

So that’s how to wall ride. wall rides are a must learn trick for street riders because they open up so many possibilities. After all, most towns and cities have walls... although I’m sure the bike tire marks are pretty confusing to outsiders.

Thanks for riding with me today, and I'll see you next time.

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