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[quote=Anonymous]At your kid's age they will have the strength and coordination to ride.  I suspect they do not want to ride now, because they do not want to look like a little kid since they have training wheels on their bike.

Pick a decent weather day.  Tell them honestly they are going to fall a lot.  But, also tell them they must fall 50 times before they can give up for the day.  We have done this now with 3 kids -- depending on age, prior balancing experience on scooters, and prior experience riding with training wheels -- the number of falls ranged from about 15 to about 25.

Because they will fall have them wear jeans you do not care about getting scoffed up, high athletic socks, well tied tennis shoes, sweat shirt (long sleeves), and some appropriately sized gloves -- we used kid batting gloves.  They will still get some scraps so some first aid stuff in the car for later may come in handy.

Go to a flat parking lot for practice -- church or school is good.  You want lots of space, maybe a few things to steer around and zero cars coming and going.  Spend some time on the proper starting position for the pedals.  Explain that they need to keep pedaling, because it makes it easier to balance -- simple to demonstrate by having them try and balance with the bike standing still, and then with you holding the seat providing very little forward momentum.  Demonstrate with your own bike how difficult it is to balance when stopped and when going very slow.  Also demonstrate how to stop -- specifically how and when to put down their feet when they stop so they do not tip over.  Finally make sure they know how the brakes really work -- if hand brakes make sure they know not to use just the front brake.  Maybe just go with rear brake until they get the hang of it.

Getting started:  Just go with the classic approach -- get them on the bike with plenty of space in front so they do not have to turn too quickly.  Tell them where you want them to pedal and then give them directions, in advance, so they know they will eventually be making a very wide turn to come back.  Get the pedals in the proper starting position with you holding on to the seat for balance.  Then slowly walk/jog to get them started pushing on the seat as necessary to maintain enough speed for easy balance.  Once going fast enough give them a light push for momentum and encourage them to keep pedaling.  Make sure it is a light push so you do not throw them off.  They will fall.  Repeat.  For about the first 10 times you may be needed to help with the restart -- keep emphasizing the proper pedal position.  After that make them restart themselves.  Keep track of the Falls -- call them out and remind them they still have X number to go before they hit 50.

Once they get it basically down -- ice cream is in order.  Then another session right away so they do not forget and so you can start to go over some basic riding stuff, i.e. things to watch for such as holes, curbs, stones, and car doors.  Basic riding stuff like proper use of brakes -- maybe watch some youtube vids on what happens if you hit the front brake only when you are going fast.

Once they are reasonably confident on the bike spend some time on basic bike maintenance such as how to put their chain back on.  I was surprised to find this summer that my 12 year old had no clue.  I would also go with tire inflation. and checking brakes each time they start off -- don't want to find out your brake cable slipped when you are approaching a stop at the bottom of a hill.

Good luck

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