Riding a Bicycle and Playing Pool

Didn't work that way for me after a few years away. Didn't work that way for Segal either. You're a lucky duck!

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disappointing. Very disappointing.

I have tried playing pool while riding a bicycle but I had to stop because my cues kept getting caught in the spokes:grin-square:

When I was a kid I could ride a wheelie on my bike from the house to the baseball field, about a mile-and-a-half.
The front wheel would never hit the road. That's when I was 12 to 15 years old. Years later, after getting married and having kids that outgrew their little training-wheel bicycles, my wife and bought new bicycles for the girls and found a couple of good used bikes for ourselves. We went to a local park to ride on the trails. I hadn't been on a bicycle for probably 15 years, but found out that I could still feel that balance point and maintain a wheelie forever, navigating those dirt trails on the rear tire alone.

I first starting playing pool when I was 15, and played every chance I could get, which was every other day or so because I had several friends in town that had pool tables. Well, their dads had pool tables, and when I'd knock on the door the dads knew I was not there to visit with Jill, or Karen, or Allison or Bill. I was there to visit the pool table, and a couple of the dads liked it because they loved the game. One in particular would help clear the table of its folded laundry so I could play, but then he'd go back to whatever he was doing before I had come in, but he never played. Anyhow, a decade later I was taking about a 5 year break from my passion for pool. I was playing guitar in metal band. And though I still played pool during this time, it was only a few games on occasion in a bar before the band had to hit the stage. Plus I had gotten married and my woman was pulling me toward family life.

When I final started playing pool again several nights per week, I found that I hadn't lost the passion for it, or the touch or feel of playing. And even to this day, when I happen to play somebody that has an obviously undeveloped/poor stroke, struggles to make balls or get shape, and they say, "I used to be really good, played all the time back in college, blah blah blah....", I know it's a lie, or at best they honestly think they used to be good because they were better than all their other ball-banging friends.

I've found, for me anyway, that playing pool (or doing anything that requires developed skill) is just like riding a bike -- once you develop the skill, you don't lose it. It might be a little rusty when you go back to doing it, but you won't look like a beginner.

mnorwood said:

Several pro players have told me that when you learn how to play you don't forget how to play. I have never considered myself a great player and I had to work hard to get to the level of play that I was able to achieve so I always found that statement difficult to believe. To give you an idea of my speed my high run in straight pool is 55 and I have won a dozen or so weekly b player tournaments over a stretch of about 10 years and cashed in dozens of others. In 2012 for a number of different reasons I quit playing. As time went by I was convinced that any skill I had was lost.

The other day a friend of mine called me and invited me to go play so I did. We played 8 ball. Out of the 20 or so games we played I broke and ran twice and I ran out 3 times from him breaking dry.

I was really surprised at the outcome. Even when I was playing all the time I would have considered that a good session of playing. So I guess the pros were telling the truth and not just trying to bait people in to playing them.

Has anyone else had an experience like this? Do you think that once you achieve a certain level of play it sticks without having to constantly practice? Is it like riding a bicycle? The skill you don't forget.

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I put my cue in my trunk for 2 years once. Literally, I had my Joss cue in the case in my trunk for about 2 years, in N.E. weather, stayed straight LOL First time I played again, it took me maybe a few weeks to get to my old level.

Which is why all those people that tell us "I used to be good in college" are full of it, you don't go from a "champion" to someone that can't make a proper bridge no matter how long you don't play.

I ran into someone a few weeks ago at one of my regular spots, he picked up his cue after getting a new tip. I invited him to join our weekly tournament, which he did yesterday. He said he used to play but had his cue in the closet for a while. I think first guy that actually told the truth about being a decent player since he actually could play. I think 80% of people that I play tell me they "used" to be good, but have random position play and their stance and stoke shows them up pretty quick.

Dead Money said:

I have tried playing pool while riding a bicycle but I had to stop because my cues kept getting caught in the spokes:grin-square:

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I thought this thread was going to have a video of someone playing pool while riding a bicycle.

mnorwood said:

Several pro players have told me that when you learn how to play you don't forget how to play. I have never considered myself a great player and I had to work hard to get to the level of play that I was able to achieve so I always found that statement difficult to believe. To give you an idea of my speed my high run in straight pool is 55 and I have won a dozen or so weekly b player tournaments over a stretch of about 10 years and cashed in dozens of others. In 2012 for a number of different reasons I quit playing. As time went by I was convinced that any skill I had was lost.

The other day a friend of mine called me and invited me to go play so I did. We played 8 ball. Out of the 20 or so games we played I broke and ran twice and I ran out 3 times from him breaking dry.

I was really surprised at the outcome. Even when I was playing all the time I would have considered that a good session of playing. So I guess the pros were telling the truth and not just trying to bait people in to playing them.

Has anyone else had an experience like this? Do you think that once you achieve a certain level of play it sticks without having to constantly practice? Is it like riding a bicycle? The skill you don't forget.

Click to expand...

Not to rain on your parade or knock your excitement of how well you played after your layoff, but there are some factors that may be involved here. First, it depends kinda on what age you are. As you get up in to your middle ages plus, then any long layoffs may be harder to come back from. Also, it's easy to play pretty well after a layoff when playing a friendly game. In competition (tournament or gambling session) against someone who can run out on you anytime you miss, you may not find it quite so easy. Also, running out 8-ball racks is generally easier than running out 9-ball racks. Anyway, glad to hear you are back in to playing again!

Congratulations on picking up your love of the game at near he same “speed.” I am experiencing the opposite issue. I didn’t play competitively for over a decade. When I got back in they rates my Fargo highest in the league because I still LOOk like a have a stroke and have expensive cues. My concentration and confidence are a wreck. I drill incessantly trying to feel the ball and the line again, like I used to. I don’t think it’s ever going to return. My high run was 100+ on a 4” pocket table two decades ago. Now I embarrass myself regularly. I still win most times, but I still suck. I sometimes imagine that I feel like Schwarzenegger when he looks in the mirror. My game is so flabby and it used to be tight!


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tenfttall said:

Congratulations on picking up your love of the game at near he same “speed.” I am experiencing the opposite issue. I didn’t play competitively for over a decade. When I got back in they rates my Fargo highest in the league because I still LOOk like a have a stroke and have expensive cues. My concentration and confidence are a wreck. I drill incessantly trying to feel the ball and the line again, like I used to. I don’t think it’s ever going to return. My high run was 100+ on a 4” pocket table two decades ago. Now I embarrass myself regularly. I still win most times, but I still suck. I sometimes imagine that I feel like Schwarzenegger when he looks in the mirror. My game is so flabby and it used to be tight!


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Yeah, for most of us, playing 80% or even 90% of how we used to play at our best however many years ago, is just not good enough. We always compare ourselves to how we are playing now to how we played when we were playing our very best. Anything less is basically not acceptable.