Teaching my daughter to ride a bicycle... a novel ;-)

Tom wrote:
Trail-a-bike was the worst thing we could have done to my son. I
think it
set him back years. We had him on the thing when he was four years
old, but
he wouldn't touch his own bike until he was eight. On the TAB he
didn't
really have to pedal or balance. Dad did all the work. On top of
that, his
range was much further with me than he would ever have gotten on his
own. I
actually had to ban him from the TAB to get him to ride his own, and
even
that didn't work for a long time.

YMMV!!!! Laura was 6. Mom had (has) a bum knee and dad was, well, a
bum; neither parent could/would run alongside. I arrived for a visit,
and we decided to go check out the Katy Trail (a few miles away from
where they lived). Rented a tandem & TAB and had a blast. The following
year I purchased a TAB and we tried it with my city bike, but then it
became apparent that the solo girl (then 9) needed to be on a tandem.
So I picked up the entire rig. (When we outgrew the TAB I went shopping
and finally got my Counterpoint. Alright, documentation:
http://home.earthlink.net/~veloise/CPOINT.HTM)
Chilly October morning, we're riding 1-1/2 miles to pick up a
newspaper "because that would be a waste of gasoline." TABber mentioned
that she was cold. Captain explained, "that's because you're not
pedalling enough." Suddenly a tailwind kicked in and our speed
increased a good 2mph.

TABbing taught the little girl how it feels to go fast (which she
loves--a real amusement park junkie) and balancing. Not to mention
shifting. We got to watch a mechanic jury-rig a bracket for her
computer, so then she got to experience speed and distance. Not taught
in schools.

I do not see how increasing range, using a TAB, is a bad thing.
Otherwise the kid rides circles up and down the block and only learns
how to pop wheelies and jump curbs. My babes learned roadway
positioning, the importance of visible clothing and other proper
equipment, got to experience the fun of organized week-long camping
tours with a couple thousand other folks, got to experience the women's
locker room at an age when it did not matter, shared birthday cake with
the folks in vendors' row, met lots of new people, etc. etc.

I'm guessing it has more to do with the personality of the kid than
anything.

And perhaps the personality of the custodial adult as well. (I'm an
avid cyclist, and that's the best thing I could pass along to my
nieces.)

HTH
--Karen M.

Veloise wrote:

I do not see how increasing range, using a TAB, is a bad thing.

In the case of my son, his preference for the TAB outweighed any desire to
ride on his own. In his case, he never had to learn how to balance cause
Dad took care of that on the front end. As long as he kept his wiggling to
a minimum, he didn't have to worry about it. Maybe subconciously it helped,
but I guess we'll never know. We went a years where he refused to ride his
own bike, preferring the greater speed and range of the TAB. He wouldn't
learn to ride his own ride until he was banned from the Alleycat.

I'm guessing it has more to do with the personality of the kid than
anything.

And perhaps the personality of the custodial adult as well. (I'm an
avid cyclist, and that's the best thing I could pass along to my
nieces.)

Probably some of that too. Recognizing that is one of the keys to
parenting. Wish I could do it more often. Son is now 10 and is a dedicated
mountain biker. Rides circles around his little BMX buddies. I like to
think I was a positive influence in that regard.

Different kids, different adults, different outcomes. Just wanted to point
out that, at least in my house, the TAB turned out to be somewhat
counterproductive. Funny, the guy I bought it from could never get his own
kid to ride it. His son preferred the independence of his own ride.

Tom