Like riding a bike

Feifei Hello and welcome back to The English We Speak - I’m Feifei.

Neil And I’m Neil - hello everybody.

Feifei So Neil, word round the office is that you had quite an exciting weekend!

Neil That I did! I went away this weekend to do some rock climbing!

Feifei How exciting! I didn’t think that would be your kind of thing.

Neil What are saying, Feifei? That I’m not in good shape?

OK, fair point. It has been a long time since I’ve been rock climbing, but I used to go all the time. I may not have the stamina any more, but I still have the technique. It was like riding a bike.

Feifei What? You rode a bike while climbing? Or did you carry the bike up with you? What are you talking about, Neil?!

Neil No, I was struggling to pull myself up the rocks, never mind a bike! What I meant is that it’s a skill I will always have and always remember.

Feifei So we can say ‘It’s like riding a bike’ to mean that once you learn how to do something, you never forget it. Let’s take a look at some more examples.

Examples

Though it’s been a while since I made a video, I managed to do it easily - it was like riding a bike.

I used to do a lot of baking with my mother as a child, and recently I’ve got back in to it. It’s like riding a bike really.

I know it’s been a long time since you’ve done any knitting, but honestly, it’s like riding a bike.

Feifei This is The English We Speak from BBC Learning English and we’re talking about the phrase ‘It’s like riding a bike’. It’s used when we want to say that once you learn how to do something, you never forget it. So Neil said that rock climbing, an activity he used to do all the time, was like riding a bike.

Neil That’s right, Feifei - it was difficult because it was tiring, but I remembered with ease how to tie the ropes and the best techniques. The idea is that once you have learnt to do something once, like riding a bike, you will never forget that skill.

Feifei Well it seems that setting up the studio is not like riding a bike for you, Neil. The volume in my headphones is way too loud!

Neil Oh dear, I think I’d best get away from here as fast as I before Feifei gets really mad! Where’s my bike…? Thanks for joining us everyone!

Feifei Bye!