I am still baffled by how everyone is getting such low times. I can't seem to get lower than 20-21 minutes and I am doing everything that I am reading here. The only thing I seem to struggle with is the pets, but I am doing everything else spot-on. I could see if I was a minute or two slower, but I am 4-5 minutes slower and I am NOT going slow (on screen or off-screen)!

I feel like I am missing an important step or tip to be losing that much time compared to everyone else. What am I missing?

ggg

Not everyone is getting such low times. My best time is 21:09:06. And the reason I got that is because I managed to keep my pet with me until I flew onto the beach bluff for the next to the last balloon. I have never been able to do that again. But I am happy with that time. Really!

It's not just a matter of speed but of technique and choosing the correct route.

Once you have the correct route, go through it relatively slowly until you are comfortable that you remember it well. You should get to know precisely where you are heading, where you will turn, where you will plummet, etc.

Then work on things like sharp turns. This is where I have a problem and what I'm working on at the moment.

Work on your pet handling. Make sure that you don't go off your travel line to get a pet, but call it to you with the bell. Remember to use cynique's re-belling technique. Just in case you don't know it, this technique increases the range of the pet. It is mainly used on the flag runs, but can be used for the ballons. I always use it for the final balloon. Basically, you ring the bell once to launch the pet, but the balloon or flag is farther then this, so the pet stops before he reaches it, so then you ring the bell again and the pet goes further out, and if you have judged it correctly, he hits the target.

Work on picking up momentum immediately after a plummet. The trick is to keep pedalling even while you are falling.

There's probably other things, but this is a good place to start.

Above all, though, don't worry about it too much. It's all good fun no matter what your time is.

You can get just about all the information you need from jvv's thread "SPOILER ALERT: free cycling speed balloons below 20 minutes". Read the whole thread. Actually, if you read all the old threads on cycling, you can become quite expert.

I would read some, cycle and then read some more the next day. Doesn't take long.

I am at 15:30 for Didi's balloon route and regularly getting better times.

The real key to fast speeds is to pedal with your toes hanging off of the front of the Wii board.

Your time will drop with practice and focus. Lajoggeuse is right, that it is just fun to do it at all. And we should none of us compare ourselves to others seriously, because we have different bodies and minds. The most important record to beat is probably your own. But it is fun to have friendly competition and some friendly teasing.

At one time I couldn't imagine getting below 22. Now I'm below 18, and I can't imagine getting below 17.