Curse of stabilisers

[JohnB]

Today I suffered the Curse of the Stabilisers with a young lad of 8 who
had been using the goddam things fr five (yes five) years, and who's Mum
decided she needed some help in weaning him off them.

Now usually I can get a child riding in 45 minutes-ish, but this
youngster just could not start off.
I had him stopping, balancing, riding and even steering, but everytime
he tried to start off he lifted _both_ feet off the ground onto the
pedals _before_ any pushing off.
Of course he just then toppled over.

It was a disappointing end to a daywhen earler I'd taken a group of a
dozen 7-9 year olds on a cycling activity morning with all the usual
games, fun and occasional high jinx.

But any advice on those stabilisers?

John B

 

[soup]

JohnB wrote:
> Today I suffered the Curse of the Stabilisers with a young lad of 8
> who had been using the goddam things fr five (yes five) years, and
> who's Mum decided she needed some help in weaning him off them.

> But any advice on those stabilisers?

You probably teach this way anyway but :-
Take the pedals of all together then he can't push off using them, lower
the seat and remove the stabilizers find a GENTLE downhill grassy patch
so the fear off falling is not there allow the trainee to scoot down the
hill they will achieve a balance .

All this is definately described better elsewhere
http://sheldonbrown.com/teachride.html
Undersize bike approach

--
yours S

Nihil curo de ista tua stulta superstitione

 

[the.Mark]

JohnB wrote:
> Today I suffered the Curse of the Stabilisers with a young lad
> of 8 who had been using the goddam things fr five (yes five)
> years, and who's Mum decided she needed some help in weaning
> him off them.
>
> Now usually I can get a child riding in 45 minutes-ish, but
> this youngster just could not start off.
> I had him stopping, balancing, riding and even steering, but
> everytime he tried to start off he lifted _both_ feet off the
> ground onto the pedals _before_ any pushing off.
> Of course he just then toppled over.
>
> It was a disappointing end to a daywhen earler I'd taken a
> group of a dozen 7-9 year olds on a cycling activity morning
> with all the usual games, fun and occasional high jinx.
>
> But any advice on those stabilisers?
>
> John B

Remove the stabilisers and the pedals, make sure the seat is low
enough that he can scoot along while sitting on the bike. He will
quickly get confident and you can refit the pedals. I tried this
method with my youngest who had a bit of trouble balancing[1] and he
was off no problem.

[1] Apparently it's common with some dyslexics and learning to ride a
bike helps their dyslexia.
--
the.Mark

 

[JohnB]

soup wrote:
>
> JohnB wrote:
> > Today I suffered the Curse of the Stabilisers with a young lad of 8
> > who had been using the goddam things fr five (yes five) years, and
> > who's Mum decided she needed some help in weaning him off them.
>
> > But any advice on those stabilisers?
>
> You probably teach this way anyway but :-
> Take the pedals of all together then he can't push off using them, lower
> the seat and remove the stabilizers find a GENTLE downhill grassy patch
> so the fear off falling is not there allow the trainee to scoot down the
> hill they will achieve a balance .

Removing the pedals is _sometimes_ used as a means of achieving balance,
which in this case was not a real problem. Usually I prefer to leave
them on.
But, yes I did resort to taking them off.

It made matters worse as the child just kept trying to locate the pedals
with his feet causing much floundering around :-(

So they went back on pretty soon.

John B

 

[daren]

JohnB wrote:

> Now usually I can get a child riding in 45 minutes-ish, but this
> youngster just could not start off.
> I had him stopping, balancing, riding and even steering, but everytime
> he tried to start off he lifted _both_ feet off the ground onto the
> pedals _before_ any pushing off.
> Of course he just then toppled over.
>

Tricky one.

I suggest you begin by asking him to stand with one foot down for 10
seconds in the starting position. Reverse feet, repeat five times.
Reward as appropriate.

Then scooting with one foot on the pedal and anther on a kerb, both
directions (hence feet) until he is used to only having one foot down.
You may like to reward on the number of times he completes a run
without putting both feet down.

You could use a plank of wood if no suitable kerb is available.

Finally you can move to pushing off. Draw a line and see how far he can
get with one push. repeat with other foot. Make into competition with
other children. Set a target line to reach, etc...

Repeat above until cured...

The problem is ingrained habit, and since balance does not appear to be
a problem, I think this should cure it.

The stabilizers should of course be discarded and never seen again. His
mother should be cautioned regarding making the same mistake with
younger siblings.

I like to see kids riding without stabilizers by between 3-4 years old.
I've never met a scooter riding kid I couldn't teach within an hour.

kind regards,
daren
--
remove outer garment for reply

 

[daren]

Forgot to mention, remove stabilizers first, but thought that would
have been obvious...

regards
daren

 

[JohnB]

daren wrote:
>
> JohnB wrote:
>
> > Now usually I can get a child riding in 45 minutes-ish, but this
> > youngster just could not start off.
> > I had him stopping, balancing, riding and even steering, but everytime
> > he tried to start off he lifted _both_ feet off the ground onto the
> > pedals _before_ any pushing off.
> > Of course he just then toppled over.
> >
>
> Tricky one.
>
> I suggest you begin by asking him to stand with one foot down for 10
> seconds in the starting position. Reverse feet, repeat five times.

Tried, oh how I tried. He just kept lifting his feet however many times
I said not to.
i felt like nailing them to the ground ;-)

> Finally you can move to pushing off. Draw a line and see how far he can
> get with one push. repeat with other foot.

I will try this.

> Make into competition with
> other children.

For complete beginner training I only carry out one-to-one instruction.
The rider needs 100% attention.

> Set a target line to reach, etc...

Setting a distance target is a good idea to focus the mind.

> Repeat above until cured...
> The problem is ingrained habit, and since balance does not appear to be
> a problem,

Yes, he's been far far too long on stabilisers.
They should be banned.

> The stabilizers should of course be discarded and never seen again. His
> mother should be cautioned regarding making the same mistake with
> younger siblings.

I made Mum chuck the stabilisers in the nearest bin

> I like to see kids riding without stabilizers by between 3-4 years old.

Me too. I have another child, same situation tomorrow, but has been on
the dreaded things for six years.

John B

 

[D.M. Procida]

JohnB <[email protected]> wrote:

> Yes, he's been far far too long on stabilisers.
> They should be banned.

I remember still clearly the most frustrating bicycle experience I had
as a child, fairly small child, riding someone's bike, which had *one*
stabiliser. It was like torture.

Daniele
--
Apple Juice
Chapter Arts Centre
Market Road
Cardiff CF5 1QE

 

[JohnB]

"D.M. Procida" wrote:
>
> JohnB <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > Yes, he's been far far too long on stabilisers.
> > They should be banned.
>
> I remember still clearly the most frustrating bicycle experience I had
> as a child, fairly small child, riding someone's bike, which had *one*
> stabiliser. It was like torture.

I think the most amusing thing is when the child rides through a dip
which leaves the bike resting on the two supporting wheels while the
bike's drive wheel spins uselessly.
....a bit like a turbo-trainer [1] ;-)

[1] Another equally useless bit of cylephernalia

John B

 

[soup]

JohnB wrote:
> Now usually I can get a child riding in 45 minutes-ish

Reminds me of the time I tried to teach the oldest to ride without the
stabilizers (he had had stabilizers [this was beforeI knew better]).
Spent twenty minutes running along with him (banging into "harled"
[1]walls etc) was getting more and more frustrated till I felt myself
starting to "lose it" so decided to walk away and go back into the house
.. Ten minutes later glanced out the window to see the eldest wizzing
past the window with no stabilizers and not a care in the world .
A year or so later he taught my youngest son (special school etc) how
to balance and "go" a two wheeler, uptill this point he was gadding
about on a go-cart thing that was quicly relagated to the cupboard now
he could "go" a two wheeler and we had bought him his own bike'.

[1] Small stones enbedded into plaster/concrete then painted white.

--
yours S

Nihil curo de ista tua stulta superstitione

 

[daren]

JohnB wrote:
> daren wrote:
> >
> > JohnB wrote:

> > Tricky one.
> >
> > I suggest you begin by asking him to stand with one foot down for 10
> > seconds in the starting position. Reverse feet, repeat five times.
>
> Tried, oh how I tried. He just kept lifting his feet however many times
> I said not to.
> i felt like nailing them to the ground ;-)

Just make him STAND STILL. Right foot on pedal, left supporting bike.
He hasn't had to support the bike before. Count to 10. Then reverse
feet. Make him stand still, feeling the weight of the bike. Ask him to
hold bike with one hand (left) and right hand out as if signalling.

> > Finally you can move to pushing off. Draw a line and see how far he can
> > get with one push. repeat with other foot.
>
> I will try this.

Push of by scooting with right foot on pedal at dull down. Push off
with left foot. Add a toe clip/strap so he doesn't think to push with
both feet. Then think about pushing with right foot on pedal at 2
o'clock and dragging left foot on ground. Then lift left foot...etc.

> > Make into competition with
> > other children.
>
> For complete beginner training I only carry out one-to-one instruction.
> The rider needs 100% attention.

I was hoping at 8, you'd be able to drag in a friend who is already
proficient cyclist, but who hasn't practiced scooting per se.

>
> > Set a target line to reach, etc...
>
> Setting a distance target is a good idea to focus the mind.
>
> > Repeat above until cured...
> > The problem is ingrained habit, and since balance does not appear to be
> > a problem,
>

I think it is important to focus on the fact that you are trying to
cure an ingrained habit rather than teach the fundamentals. Get them to
ride around on a folding scooter first. Take your own to be sure that
you have one.

Balancing 2" wheels makes bike balance easy.

Of course when all else fails, they can always ride your Trice

Good luck,

daren

 

[Martin Dann]

In message <[email protected]>
JohnB <[email protected]> wrote:

> Today I suffered the Curse of the Stabilisers with a young lad of 8 who
> had been using the goddam things fr five (yes five) years, and who's Mum
> decided she needed some help in weaning him off them.
>
> Now usually I can get a child riding in 45 minutes-ish, but this
> youngster just could not start off.
> I had him stopping, balancing, riding and even steering, but everytime
> he tried to start off he lifted _both_ feet off the ground onto the
> pedals _before_ any pushing off.
> Of course he just then toppled over.

Never having taught anyone to ride myself, but:

Get him to sit on bike left foot on ground, leaning left.
With right foot, push peddle back and down to the bottom, then pull
peddle up to two thirds of the top. Place foot on peddle.
Repeat (prob changeing feet). Until he can do this with just one (or two)
initial glance(s) down.


Martin.

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