The training wheels come off....

Today is the day we are planning to take G's training wheels off her bike. Last year, we lived in a neighborhood with no sidewalks, and our house was up an incredibly large hill with a steep, steep driveway. Almost all the driveway was steep, so the kids really didn't ride bikes even on the top part. So she only rode a few times last year. This year, she has been on her bike (with traning wheels) every day that the weather is good.

G is building up her endurance. For the past two years, she couldn't run across the playground without getting winded. She had to take "rests" frequently while playing. We had to use her inhaler EVERY time she engaged in physical activity. Now, she is yelling at us to "hurry up!" and leaving us behind. She doesn't get tired. It brings such joy to my heart.

After previously helping two kids learn to ride without training wheels, I'm convinced that the "run next to them technique" doesn't work well (at least for my kids). The child isn't doing the balancing, because you are holding the seat. You have to have them going fast enough to keep from falling when you let them go, that my kids were always too scared to learn well.

Here's what we did for the last one:
-Use a bike that they can sit on the seat with both feet firmly on the ground.

- Take off the pedals of the bike. Easily done with an adjustable wrench.

- Let them spend some time learning to coast. They just "walk" the bike and coast or push off with both feet. This helps them get the balance part down, which they never learn on training wheels.

- After they have this fairly well, put the pedals back on. Have them start by pushing off with their feet, doing the coasting thing again.

- As they are coasting, have them put their feet on the pedals WITHOUT LOOKING (important, or they will fall).

- Voila, they are riding. Takes an hour or less. And it saves my back considerably! Wood and I are older parents - this is not to be easily dismissed. If you are 10 or 15 years younger, your back can probably take bending over a tiny 16" bicycle and running. If not, try it my way instead! :)

I did this about 13 years ago with my son. Now, it seems like they actually teach this way in NYC in classes on how to ride a two wheeler. I could have marketed it, and been rich!

If you are interested, here is a PDF from the NYC Bicycle Education program on how-to:
http://www.bikenewyork.org/education/classes/images/bny_learn_to_ride.pdf

And here is a youtube video from the same program, if you are a visual person:

http://nycgovparks.org/sub_newsroom/video/

Then select "Teach your child to ride".

Note, the stores are currently selling coasting bikes with no pedals for this purpose.
They are terribly expensive :

http://www.upsideover.com/LIKEaBIKE-Kids-Midi-Bike-p/lkb-midi.htm - $355

http://www.gliderrider.com/ $149

http://www.builditplayit.com/html/mini_glider_balance_bike.html $99

http://www.toystoreexpress.com/chbabi.html $259

You can never put pedals on these bikes. They only have a single purpose - to teach your child to balance on a two wheeled bicycle.

You can buy a wrench for a few dollars, and take the pedals off yourself and achieve the exact same thing. NOTE: if your child has a scooter and rides it well, they probably already have the balance thing down fairly well, and you may be able to skip the no pedal stage.

We just recently got Miss A a two wheel bike - she has been riding something similar to a big wheel since she outgrew her tricycle. Given how athletic, fearless, and physical she is, we expected to take her training wheels today at the same time. She is actually somewhat timid and scared of falling off the bike, even with training wheels. Definitely not ready yet. This is the child who has absolutely no fear of falling from incredibly high places on the playground (hangs upside down from TALL monkey bars), but seems fearful of falling off a 16" bicycle.