[Grammar] I cycle badly.

[englishhobby]

Is the sentence "I cycle badly" correct and natural?

 

[Tdol]

I don't really see how people can cycle 'well' or 'badly'.

Someone could cycle badly after a few drinks.

 

[Matthew Wai]

I think 'cycle badly' means 'cycle unsteadily' in that context, but I am not a teacher.

 

[tzfujimino]

Yes, I agree, but if it's a temporary action (for a limited duration), the present progressive/continuous would be a better choice:
I'm cycling badly after a few drinks.

 

[Matthew Wai]

I don't really see how people can cycle 'well' or 'badly'.

I think a bike moves agilely and smoothly if its rider can cycle well, but I am not a teacher.

Someone could cycle badly after a few drinks.

Most novices cycle badly IMO.

 

[emsr2d2]

Most people wouldn't actually say "I xxx badly". They might say "I can't cycle well" or "I'm not a great cyclist". The exception to my first statement regards languages. I regularly precede a poorly-constructed Spanish sentence with "I'm sorry. My Spanish is very bad/I speak Spanish very badly" (in terrible Spanish, of course).

 

[TheParser]

Is the sentence ... natural?

***** NOT A TEACHER *****

In my opinion, the answer is NO.

Mona: Instead of taking the bus tomorrow, let's bike to work.

James: Are you crazy? You know how clumsy I am on a bike. Every time I try to ride one of those things, I fall off.