any advice to help child learn to ride?

[kie_fujo]

my 8 year old dd still can't ride her bike. i have tried and tried and she is just so afraid of getting hurt. i really want to help her learn, but my patience is wavering. any advice?

[spokewench]

Have you tried it on the grass where the likelihood of getting hurt is not as harsh?

Has she ridden with training wheels? That's a good start also.

Finally, sometimes a role model is just what kids need - can you show her how it is done in a non-threatening soft grassy environment? Put gloves on her, elbow pads, a helmet and tell her she is as safe as can be

[maillotpois]

Borrow a bike that is WAY too small for her so her feet touch the ground and let her get a feel for how to balance, etc. That's what we did and it worked great.

[Eden]

Do you have a cycling friend that can help you? I've did a learn to ride workshop - one of the things they told us was that having another adult who was not the parent sometimes helps....

they also advocated a no training wheels approach.

First the child should learn to balance the moving bike - so training wheels off, pedals off, and saddle all of the way down - the kid should be able to put his/her feet flat on the ground. With the bike this way have the child push the bike with their feet - when they get comfortable with pushing around, have them push off and glide. This get them used to balancing a moving bike without having to try to pay attention to pedaling yet.

When the child gets comfortable gliding and balancing the bike then its time to add the pedals back on. Keep the saddle low for the time being. It's not like they are going to be riding for long amounts of time or distance at this point so they are not going to hurt themselves by riding an ill fitting bike.

[singletrackmind]

I am working on teaching JB (5) as Eden describes. His bike has coaster brakes so we had to be careful of hills because he couldn't stop without pedals. We're up to pedals back on, seat high enough to pedal comfortably yet still touch the ground easily, and a bar I've attached to the back so I can hold the bike while he pedals. I only keep him from crashing, he has to balance and, unless he's going to get hurt, stop himself. He's gotten to where I can take my hands off the bar (but keep them close to grab it when needed) for several seconds. Usually he doesn't even notice I'm not hanging on. It's going ok.

[sarahkonamojo]

Taking pedals off is key. No training wheels.

The idea is that the rider just pushes the bike along and learns to balance on two wheels. When she is ready you can add pedals.

There are actual bikes made this way, i.e. the Strider. They have no drive train and no pedals.

sarah

[Irulan]

Taking pedals off is key. No training wheels.

The idea is that the rider just pushes the bike along and learns to balance on two wheels. When she is ready you can add pedals.

There are actual bikes made this way, i.e. the Strider. They have no drive train and no pedals.

sarah

yep and just make sure the seat is low enough so that they can put their feet down.

training wheels are the devil.

[mupedalpusher]

I was hired this summer by a woman who wanted me to teach her 8 yr old niece to ride without training wheels. She learned in 1 hr 15 minutes! I remembered my LCI trainer telling me he could teach anyone to ride in an hour. He suggested taking off the pedals, putting down the seat and learn to glide first. I couldn't get the pedals off her bike (plus she had coaster brakes) so we just put her seat down and spent the first hour gliding. I left and went back in a few days and after she showed me how well she was gliding, I had her put her feet up on the pedals and coast. After two trips down the street (slightly downhill which helped), I had her pedal and she did very well. I left the seat down so she always had the ability to put her feet down if she felt in trouble.
My nephew is nearly 7 and won't even try and he throws a fit if you mention it (of course he throws a fit at everything but that's beside the point). She will need to cooperate and want to learn or it won't work. Our daughter asked to take off her training wheels at 3 yrs old and she learned in about 15 minutes whereas our very head strong son didn't learn until he was 5.
If she's willing, give it a try.

[kie_fujo]

the bike she has now did not come with training wheels and we got some to put on it but they did not support her enough. they kept moving and she fell. and she has never had to learn to balance the bike because she has always had training wheels. i even told her i would buy her a new bike if she learned to ride! that kinda got her wanting to, but still won't get on it. even with me right there holding on to the bike so there is no way she'd fall, she is scared. she'll get over it i know. i just wish i had attempted this sooner!

[Tuckervill]

When she's 46 and riding her bike on extended bike tours, what difference will it make that she learned today or in a year?

What will make a difference is whether she had happy memories of her mother helping her to learn to ride at her own pace, or whether she remembers being terrified and being forced to try before she was ready. Could make her never want to ride at all.

Karen

[hirakukibou]

Check out the method section of this website.

www.bicycyleridingschool.org

good luck.

hirakukibou