Practicing skills in empty parking lots

Many OLD threads here this website suggest that people can practice their riding skills by going to a big empty parking lot-- such as at an industrial warehouse that is closed down on weekends ---and practice doing tight turns, figure 8 maneuvers, braking, weaving in between traffic cones like a slalom skier, etc.

I want to restart this conversation rather than posting new posts into a thread that is 10-15 years old.

I READ SOMEWHERE that rather than buying traditional orange traffic cones for this, you can use old tennis balls that are so cheap they are basically free, or you can literally pick them up free by walking around the tennis courts especially the woods and grassy areas just over the fence from the tennis court.

Cut the tennis balls in half, and each hemisphere makes a small and flexible "cone" for you to dodge.

A half-tennisball is

--big enough and bright enough to see from a distance

-- contrasts well with the black or gray pavement on which you will be riding,

-- is not as slippery as a cheap vinyl mini traffic cones, in case you run over one while turning tightly.

-- Being someone heavy for their small size, they don't blow around the parking lot with the wind.


I've cut about 100 used tennis balls and a half, so now I have 200 green furry substitutes for traffic cones that all fit in my backpack when I ride to a training area.

l found that the best way to cut them in half is to clamp a carpenter's wood saw in a vice with the cutting edge facing up.

Hold the ball with your hands w/ one hand on each side of the saw blade and just rub it back-and-forth with a slight downward pressure.