On 13 Jan 2004 23:09:07 GMT, topcounsel@aol.com (TopCounsel) wrote:

>Good topic! My 6-year-old daughter is at the same stage, and I really want her to drop the training
>wheels and join the family for a real ride! I checked out the link, and will try it. Any other
>bright ideas from others who have recently succeeded at this???

Most of the parents I know who have successfully trained their children using the pedals-off method,
as per Fred's earlier post.

- find a shallow (downward) incline
- remove pedals
- set saddle low enough to place feet flat on floor
- let them scoot, giving light support if necessary with a hand across the shoulders (*not*
holding the bike)
- repeat

Once they get the idea of balance and basic steering, put the pedals back on. This can take an
afternoon or it can take a few minutes - the younger the better seems to be the rule.

I was specifically advised *against* holding the bike itself, as this interferes with the child's
learning the feel of how the bike moves.

I know a large number of parents who have followed this method, which is documented in one of the
UK's most popular cycling books, with complete success. We used training wheels with our elder son
(we didn't know any better at the time) and it took him ages. We went with the pedals-off method for
our younger and he learned in one afternoon - and he was a year and a half younger at the time.

For children who find it particularly difficult to learn, we have come across a few parents who
found that starting with a scooter made all the difference.

I don't think it's any more complex than that.

Oh, elbow and knee pads aren't a bad idea in the earliest stages if it's summer and they're wearing
short sleeves and bare knees.

Guy
===
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://chapmancentral.demon.co.uk

glad to see your doing things well my neighbour is a total freak, the other day i heard him
screaming at his crying child :"use the pedals, use the pedals! what are you doing wrong? what? Your
not using the pedals!"

On 13 Jan 2004 15:55:00 EST, "skadden" <dkeech@NOSPAMhotmail.com> wrote:

>I have been very frustrated with my efforts to teach my 5-year-old son to ride a bike. He was
>frustrated too--I couldn't get him to try anymore, and he would only ride his scooter (which he
>rides well).
>
>A search of RBM turned up this advice from Fred: http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=e...=UTF-8&oe=UTF-
>8&threadm=53qt7m%2 4n74%40omega.gmd.de&rnum=3&prev=/groups%3Fhl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26oe% 3DUTF-
>8%26q%3Dremove%2Bpedals%2Bteach%2Bchild%26meta%3Dgroup%253Drec.bicycl e
>s.*
>
>I lowered the seat of a 12"-wheeled bike to the bottom, where Cody could easily touch the ground
>with both feet. I removed the pedals, begged him to climb aboard, and told him to pretend it was a
>scooter you sit on. He reluctantly boarded, and figured it out almost immediately. He wanted the
>pedals on after only a few rides, and with them he could pedal indefinitely. He had a little
>trouble launching for the first half hour, but after that seemed pretty confident with it. The next
>day Cody tried on his own 16"-wheeled bike, riding it easily.
>
>Thanks, Fred, if you're still out there.

topcounsel@aol.com (TopCounsel):

>>I have been very frustrated with my efforts to teach my 5-year-old son to ride
>a bike.
>
>Good topic! My 6-year-old daughter is at the same stage, and I really want her to drop the training
>wheels and join the family for a real ride!
>
>I checked out the link, and will try it. Any other bright ideas from others who have recently
>succeeded at this???

Not recently, and it's not that bright an idea, but anyway - omit the training wheels from the very
beginning. These are somewhat unsafe in use, and train the wrong behaviour.

Don't hurry. Children learn quickly, but not that fast. Don't give up prematurely, but don't force
it, either. Half an hour every other day, for about a week is usually time enough to teach a five-year-
old to ride a proper bike.

--
Thank you for observing all safety precautions

My daughter, who is six, just learned to ride about a week ago. She was trying it out last June but
had a nasty crash right off the bat --- I was holding her steady, running along side her when it
happened --- and she stayed away from her bike the rest of the summer.

What she did do, though, was get interested in a Razor scooter, one of those little silver
things that are just about everywhere these days. With its lower center of gravity she learned
it very quickly.

So, on a warm day last week, I suggested we try the bike again. She did, and took to it almost
immediately. I was floored. Within a minute or two she was pedaling happily away, and now asks me to
go on rides with her! She is enormously proud of herself.

Anyway, I think one of those scooters as a transitional two- wheeler is the best way to go. I only
wish I'd thought of it (it seems so obvous in retrospect) with her big brother, who can finally ride
a bike now, but took longer to learn.

John Kelin

Wolfgang Strobl wrote:

> topcounsel@aol.com (TopCounsel):
>
> >>I have been very frustrated with my efforts to teach my 5-year-old son to ride
> >a bike.
> >
> >Good topic! My 6-year-old daughter is at the same stage, and I really want her to drop the
> >training wheels and join the family for a real ride!
> >
> >I checked out the link, and will try it. Any other bright ideas from others who have recently
> >succeeded at this???
>
> Not recently, and it's not that bright an idea, but anyway - omit the training wheels from the
> very beginning. These are somewhat unsafe in use, and train the wrong behaviour.
>
> Don't hurry. Children learn quickly, but not that fast. Don't give up prematurely, but don't force
> it, either. Half an hour every other day, for about a week is usually time enough to teach a five-year-
> old to ride a proper bike.
>
> --
> Thank you for observing all safety precautions

"John Kelin" <jkelin1@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:40130A88.1D404FB3@earthlink.net...

[snip]

> Anyway, I think one of those scooters as a transitional two- wheeler is the best way to go. I only
> wish I'd thought of it (it seems so obvous in retrospect) with her big brother, who can finally
> ride a bike now, but took longer to learn.
>
> John Kelin
>

Indeed yes. Scooters steer like bikes, so you learn the correct feel of steering. Tricycles steer
totally differently - watching an adult cyclist riding an adult trike for the first time is pretty
funny. My parents, sixty years ago, would never let me have a tricycle, for that very reason. They
know what they were doing

Jeremy Parker

I teach cycling for our local school system. I have taught many children to ride in a few minutes of work with the pedals off method. I have even taught severe downs children to ride using this method.
Holding the child up does not teach them to balance on their own. They must be willing to learn and work at it.
I remove the pedals then have them sit on the lowered seat and lift their feet and try to balance while standing still. I explain the fact that the wheels must be under their weight and than have them push off and stop with the hand brakes. They must know how to stop BEFORE they go!.
Then I have them push with the feet and balance as far as they can.
Then using the bike like a walking machine they coast and steer turns and back again straight. The pedals come back on the bike and the seat goes upa little and then they practice, practice. practice.
Separating the job of learning to balance and pedal makes it much easier. Pushing the pedals unbalances the bikes for them and when they already know how to correct their balance, they are not hindered by the pedalling motion on their balance.

Jeremy Parker wrote:

> Indeed yes. Scooters steer like bikes, so you learn the correct feel of steering. Tricycles steer
> totally differently - watching an adult cyclist riding an adult trike for the first time is pretty
> funny. My parents, sixty years ago, would never let me have a tricycle, for that very reason. They
> know what they were doing

A properly designed tadpole trike may have fast steering, but is stable at speed and can develop
quite high cornering forces. One would not buy these for children, as the quality models start at
about $2000 US.

< http://www.ihpva.org/incoming/2002/df1a.jpg >

Tom Sherman - Quad Cities