Reply to Learning how to ride a bike

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[quote=Anonymous]You can't make him like to ride a bike, but I wonder if there isn't some sort of vicious circle going on - where he doesn't like it because he isn't good at it.  It wasn't  until my son was 7 that he got rid of his training wheels.  His friend pulled him aside and told him the secret - its easier to balance when you go faster.  So the day he tried, he just said he had to go fast and took off.  I think kids fall into a trap of being overly cautious and then they fall because they are going so slow.

We also started on a bike that was probably too small for him, but that way he knew he could get his feet down and catch himself easily.  Plus it meant he had more control over the bike (less bike to kid ratio).

Another key factor was finding a good place to practice - we found a paved path that was surrounded by grass.  A lot of parks have them.  So if the kid starts to fall, tell them to aim towards the grass.

I admit, we also had a deal where once he learned, we would buy him a good bike (up until then we'd been buying cheaper bikes).  And now that we got one,  I realized how horrible the cheap bikes are to learn on (if it is the right size - which is why we had him learn on a smaller size).  You could buy it used if you have any idea what you are doing (I am clueless, so we went to a bike store).

The other thing that helped a lot is my son used a scooter a lot before he tried the bike without training wheels.  I think this helped him learn to balance.  And - I realize most people will hate this idea - I let him ride it slowly around the house.  It did no damage, and he learned to balance while barely moving.  [/quote]

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