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

My 7 year-old daughter has had a bike with training wheels for a couple
years, and hated it - has probably ridden a total of 1 hour. She would
try to turn and fall over, pedal and fall over, stop and fall over...

So for Christmas Santa brought a bigger, training-wheel-less bike which
she couldn't wait to ride.

That is, until she tried.

Since I don't even remember learning how (age mixed with learning on a
steep dirt road - head injuries I'm sure), we tried the old "run
alongside holding the shoulders/the seat/etc" technique in the grass
and in the parking lot.

Pain ensued. Mostly for me - she didn't fall, but she didn't feel very
comfortable either. So the bike sat in her room for a while.

I then realized I should drop the seat where she could touch the ground
- yep, "duh". After riding years ago I had acquired the assumption that
everyone rode with their leg fully extended on the downturn of the
pedal. So I grabbed the wrench, and dropped the seat - unfortunately,
it only dropped to tiptoe level.

Dangit.

So I grabbed her old bike and de-training-wheeled it. She flat-footed
it just fine, and we went for technique number two - a grassy hill at
the local park.

The first time out was mostly "I can't" and "I'm scared" - I showed her
how a bike will stay up on its own when rolling fast (then I had to
chase it into the playground area - it went further than I expected)
and walked her down a couple of times. She rolled about 30 feet the
last time (feet off the pedals) and had a different look in her eye
when she stopped.

One of detached, wary interest. But, as promised after one good roll,
she went to play on the swings.

The next day she ASKED to go to the park and practice on the bike. With
a grin I loaded her bike into the car and we went to the same small
hill - after a few false starts, a few good rolls, and a couple tumbles
into the grass, she got her feet onto the pedals and went about 70
feet, twice.

Back to the swings.

As a reward I took her out to lunch and then we relaxed at the house
for a few. Suddenly she jumped up, grabbed a water bottle, and said
"let's go back!" We loaded up once again and were off to the park,
where her pedaling improved.

And that's no small feat - with her knees are close to the handlebars,
and a fairly soft grassy area, pedaling is a challenge. My knees would
refuse to pedal in those conditions.

She did very well, but wasn't ready for cement or asphalt yet, since
she was scared of falling on anything other than grass. Still, a great
leap in her skills for the day.

The next day, she was ready to go again (fortunately, I am off for
spring break as well). We headed back to the park, and after a few
grass runs I convinced her to try on a fairly large patch of cement.

She got the pedals "in position", and took off - but was off-balance.
She caught herself by making a tight circle around me, and headed off
across the lot, only to ALMOST crash into a picnic table.

(I have explained and showed her how to brake, but panic drops her
feet).

Not intimidated, she tried again, and was soon making comfortable
circles around the lot (with the occasional near-crash and panic
stops). We talked about looking AWAY from things she was afraid to
crash into, and then we were off to the swing set and feeding the geese
for the remainder.

That evening we went to storage and dug out the old Huffy Ironman
Triathlon that I haven't ridden in 9 or 10 years. After removing most
of the spiders and dust, I had to take the front wheel off to get it in
the car. A quick rinse with the hose and it was ready to go.

The next day she wanted to ride again, so we took both bikes over to a
paved riding/walking trail nearby. She wasn't nervous at first, and
rode 50 yards or so - then looked at a small grass trail off to the
left.

And involuntarily took it.

Still trying to stop with her feet, she sailed down a small hill and
thumped into the ditch - still standing, she looked at me and said
"oops!".

She walked her bike back up to the trail and started off again after I
reiterated looking where you want to go and use of the brakes. I also
pointed out the trick (angle of attack) of getting back on the trail if
you accidentally ride off, since many parts of the trail were an inch
or so higher than the dirt.

(This came up because I glided off the trail and tried to glide back
on, almost dumping myself on the asphalt).

A couple hundred yards later she went off the trail again - this time
at decent speed into brush. She was in front of me, swerved left, and
disappeared.

She didn't find it very amusing. But she dug herself and her bike out
of the weeds and soldiered on.

I rode ahead a bit and noticed that the shoulder on the left side of
the trail dropped steeply off into a ditch and some water, and warned
her about it.

That's when everything she knew about riding disappeared.

She started riding short distances slowly, and stopping the second she
felt off-balance. I stayed to her left, and she plowed into me a time
or two, trying to stop with her feet. She kept riding off the trail to
the right, into the gravel and grass. And she was ready to quit.

We agreed upon a turnaround point ahead, made it there slowly (with a
lot of stopping), and then turned around.

Then it happened - the first crash on asphalt.

She was staying to the left, and started to go off the trail. She
almost caught herself in time, but the front wheel went off just as she
turned back toward the center and the bike dumped her on her arm.
Before I even stopped my bike, she gave me a puzzled look and said
"That didn't even hurt much!"

She was a little scraped and surprised, and took a minute to puzzle out
why she fell. Commenting again on how "it wasn't that bad", she got
back on her bike and proceeded to ride the next kilometer without
stopping.

I told her to brake (with the pedals) when we reached a bench, and we
paused for some water and what she thought thus far. We talked more
about steering and braking, and loosening her grip on the handlebars.
She was really starting to enjoy it, but her legs were a bit tired
(mine would have fallen off if my seat was adjusted that way) and she
was ready to get home. So we rode the rest of the trail, non-stop,
loaded the bikes onto the car, and got back to the house.

She's still not sure what she thinks of the trail, and may want to
practice more before tackling it again. The last two days have been
rainy, but she might want to go out tomorrow. Perhaps even on her
"Santa" bike - we shall see. We still need to work on braking
instinctively (practice) and looking AWAY from what we don't want to
hit (practice).

Are there any other tips you folks have for us? Anything I'm
forgetting? How will I know when it is time to raise the seat? I have
no idea how long it takes to learn to ride comfortably, since that was
cough cough years ago, sans protective gear and paved roads. She is
already eyeing the bikes with hand brakes and multiple speeds, and I'm
wondering if one of those would have been easier to learn on (or simply
an information overload).

Any tips are appreciated!

I pretty much went through the same thing with my son. I transferred him to
a scooter. He picked up the balance real quick. We then went back to the
bike and lowered the seat so he could push the bike like a scooter. He took
to the peddles after feeling confident enough to do so. I would only let him
ride around the skating rink at the park near our home until he demonstrated
the appropriate level of skill to go on a trail. I then took him to a WIDE
OPEN area with lots of fire road prepped surface. He could meander around
without becoming a hazard to other cyclist and joggers. One day of doing
this for about a mile and it all snapped into place for him.

Now I have to give him a cell phone to keep track of him.

The key for me was that if you push too hard the frustration level
increases. Taper back on your expectations and make it as fun and non
threatening as possible. After my son had the basic handling skills down, we
went to road work and traffic safety. Oh joy!!

That's why I haven't pushed her too much - there are varying levels of
resistance, and occasionally you have to tell them to get up, dust off,
and try again. Other times you are just adding to the difficulty, and
it's time to go to the swings...

The moment she propelled herself (instead of riding inertia) and went
70 feet, she stopped, dropped the bike, and ran to me with a big grin
and "happy tears" (as she calls them) in her eyes. And was giddy to
learn more. One of those incredible "daddy moments" that makes the
sullen looks and groans about trying again worth it.

Ahh, parenthood. Where's the manual?

We have discussed traffic safety since she could understand what we
were talking about - yet kids still get excited and make mistakes, like
running into the road. Heck, I made a very unsafe turn today myself,
assuming there wasn't a car behind me. (Fortunately there wasn't).

I took a ride around the area today (have to practice up and get in
shape myself) and found a huge parking lot with lots of space for
practice - and the trail conveniently connects to it at the other end.
As long as there aren't any baseball games, it looks like a perfect
spot to practice.

NeverBob wrote:
My 7 year-old daughter ...
Are there any other tips you folks have for us? ...
Any tips are appreciated!

Trail-a-bike. Attached to you, she can get the hang of going fast.
(Wheeeee!!) She can practice balancing without hazards. She can look at
stuff and see other cyclists of all types. And you get to keep the dust
off your bike.

My younger niece couldn't manage a 2-wheeler, so we did a tandem &
TAB. She learned shifting (it was a five-speed), how to get through
intersections, how her pedalling made a contribution, and so forth. The
following year when we did GOBA, she "borrowed" her sister's bike and
went around and around the campground for what seemed like hours.

HTH
--Karen M.
still miss that TAB, and the kid just turned 12

NB,
I've had great results teaching 3 kids to ride. IIRC, it's Sheldon's
advice. Take off the pedals, lower the seat so that the feet touch the
ground. Let the child paddle around for a while; let them get a feel
for the bike and for a sence of balance. When they are ready, and they
will let you know, put the pedals back on ... and away they go. No
more running alongside while holding the seat for me.

Regards,
Larry

NeverBob wrote:
Any tips are appreciated!


None, sounds like you are doing fine. I've heard and believe that using
training wheels promotes bad habits, and seemed to experience that with
my young rider, but by then it was too late. I think many parents go
through the same stuff, kids too, yet most who try always seem to learn
how to ride a bike.
I had similar experiences with my son 5-6 years ago, this past weekend
he was trail riding with me and mom, 11 or so miles on some fun single
track. Every time he tells me he just can't "get" something, I remind
him that that is what he said about riding a bike.

Nice writeup.
--
Craig Brossman, Durango Colorado
remove "mydebt" to reply

Larry wrote:

I've had great results teaching 3 kids to ride. IIRC, it's Sheldon's
advice. Take off the pedals, lower the seat so that the feet touch
the
ground. Let the child paddle around for a while; let them get a feel
for the bike and for a sence of balance. When they are ready, and
they
will let you know, put the pedals back on ... and away they go. No
more running alongside while holding the seat for me.

See: http://sheldonbrown.com/teachride

Sheldon "Hand Brakes If Possible" Brown
Newtonville, Massachusetts
+---------------------------------------------+
| Life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and |
| smiles, with sniffles predominating. |
| --O. Henry |
+---------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041
http://harriscyclery.com
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
http://captainbike.com http://sheldonbrown.com

Craig Brossman wrote:
NeverBob wrote:
Any tips are appreciated!


I ran, and ran and ran with my first two kids until they learned how to
ride a bike. When I had my third child and he was ready to two wheel
it, I was older, tired more easily, so I purposely put off taking the
training wheels off. My husband finally took them off but I was the
one expected to run. He (macho man) has a habit of pushing them and
yelling "PEDAL you WUSS" until they end up in a brook. One day I went
outside and there was my youngest riding his bike without the training
wheels. He just learned to ride on his own somehow. He also learned to
potty train on his own. I think the key is to have enough children so
you realize they will do things when they are ready. All they need is
your encouragement, faith, trust and inspiration to try.
All Good Things,
Maggie

Veloise wrote:
NeverBob wrote:
My 7 year-old daughter ...
Are there any other tips you folks have for us? ...
Any tips are appreciated!

Trail-a-bike. Attached to you, she can get the hang of going fast.
(Wheeeee!!) She can practice balancing without hazards. She can look
at stuff and see other cyclists of all types. And you get to keep the
dust off your bike.

My younger niece couldn't manage a 2-wheeler, so we did a tandem &
TAB. She learned shifting (it was a five-speed), how to get through
intersections, how her pedalling made a contribution, and so forth.
The following year when we did GOBA, she "borrowed" her sister's bike
and went around and around the campground for what seemed like hours.

HTH
--Karen M.
still miss that TAB, and the kid just turned 12

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

Tom

Tom Medara writes:

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

I wasn't going to guess about this although it has been my opinion for
a long time. I also believe it depends on what the youngster sees.
In our neighborhood other children had bicycles and mine wanted to
become as mobile as they and also as mobile as those bikies that I
would push off and ride with on long weekend rides.

When my younger one was 5 we rode (he on his miniature SA 3-speed) up
Page Mill Rd, a classic mountain road in this area. Six months later
the boys rode 25 miles to the coast (San Gregorio) and back. The
picture I have of that return home shows the glow of accomplishment in
their faces, a great adventure. My younger son joined me on a tour of
the alps in 2001 and showed that he had lost nothing in the meanwhile:

http://tinyurl.com/a9g7

The other problem is that the classic tricycle is pretty much gone, it
being too dangerous in the eyes of many parents. I think these
parents equate skinned knees as a failure on their part to look out
for their children. I believe otherwise. A skinned knee in early
youth is part of what teaches people their limitations and protects
them from doing far more seriously damaging things later.

Remember, superficial child injuries only hurt as much as adults get
excited about them. Typically the child runs home and begins crying
when entering the house. That's the time to treat it as routing and
clean up the scrape. Old fables are full of such injuries and of
course some more serious ones but we don't read them to our children
to protect them from the violence.

Ride bike!