How to Do a BMX Fakie

In extreme sports, the word "fakie" always refers to doing something backwards or different from what is natural. In skateboarding, if you are standing backward to the way you naturally stand, you are fakie (usually used in a half-pipe scenario). To do a BMX Fakie, all you have to do is ride your bicycle backward. If you watch any BMX Freestyle street events, you will see at least one contestant ride fakie for a few seconds. It takes practice and dedication to become a BMX Fakie expert who is able to do a fakie anytime you want.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• Slight incline
• BMX freestyle bike

1. Find a place with a very small incline. A section of a driveway with a slight incline is a good place to start, or you can use a hill.
2. Pedal up the incline slowly, and come to a complete stop. Make sure the bike is going straight up the incline. If you are sideways on the incline, it will be harder to get your balance to learn the fakie.
3. Keep your balance on the bike while it is stopped for a split second. This may take some practice.
4. Start pedaling the bike in reverse. Pedaling backward should move the bike on a true freestyle BMX bike. If the pedals don't cause the bike to move backward, you still need the practice of moving your feet and maintaining balance for use on the true BMX freestyle bike.
5. Focus on keeping your balance as you slowly ride backward down the incline.
6. Find a slightly steeper incline to move to once you can ride backward without falling.
7. Practice adding some style to your fakie by hitting the back brakes and pulling up on the front wheel. Spin the bike around, and ride off after you do the 180-degree turn.

Tips & Warnings

• Always wear protective equipment when learning to do a fakie on your BMX bike. You will fall. (Even though you are going slow at first, you can still get hurt).
• You may want to crash on dirt or on grass instead of the concrete driveway when practicing the fakie the first few times.
• Maintaining balance is the key to doing the fakie on a bike. Like riding a bike forward, you have to learn how it feels to ride backward. The good news is you won't forget the feeling once you mastered the move.
• You can do a fakie almost anywhere, even on a quarter-pipe or half-pipe, where speeds increase rapidly as you pedal backward.