Learning How to Ride a Bike

Last week, when my daughters’ schools were closed for two days for the Rosh Hashanah holiday, I was finaly able to cross a big item off this mom’s to-do list. My daughters learned how to ride their bikes!

 

My kids have been riding their bikes — with training wheels — for a a few years now. I was nervous about the whole teaching-them-how-to-ride-a-bike thing, and wasn’t really sure how to go about it. Plus, my kids never really rode their bikes too much (up until last week), so I wasn’t sure whether they were ready to make the no-training-wheels leap just yet.

Off with the Training Wheels — and the Pedals

I began to notice, however, that all the other kids about my daughters’ age on the block were riding their bikes without training wheels, so I decided it was time.

A neighbor told me a good way to teach a kid how to ride a bike is to take both the training wheels and the bike’s pedals off the bike. That way, a child could practice balancing, pushing and coasting on the bike. And, with the wheels off the bike, a child could easily put her feet on the ground should she feel like she is going to fall.

Since my husband was at work and I am not handy, I took the bikes to our local bike shop — where I had purchased the bikes — and had them remove the pedals and the training wheels for me, free of charge. (Thanks, Bicycle Rack!) After about only two or three hours of pushing and coasting on the bikes (without the training wheels), my kids were begging for me to go back to the store and get the pedals put back on.

Just a Little Push

My husband and decided that the kids should practice a little more before putting the pedals on, so it wasn’t until late afternoon the following day that I went back to the bicycle store. Once we got back home, all it took was a gentle push from me, and both girls were off riding their bikes on their own!

The plus to them being able to ride their bikes without training wheels is that after finishing their homework, they often want to ride their bikes in front of our house, where they are often joined by several other childen on our block. It’s been great fun watching my kids gain confidence while riding their bikes!

Now, I am hoping my husband and I can both get bicycles for ourselves one day, so we can extend my kids’ bicycle-riding experience from the street in front of our house to bike trails, parks and other fun places!

The below video shows how Bike New York teaches kids how to ride a bike by first removing the bicycle’s pedals (the how to is near the end of the video).