Gently Teach Your
6. Continue practising and don’t put
the pedals back on too soon. After a
single afternoon of coasting, a friend’s
Child To Ride A
super-keen daughter convinced us to
put the bike together before she had
really found her balance. A year later her
Big-Kid Bike
mom is still chasing her up and down the
street, holding on to her seat.
7. When you do put the pedals back on,
Take the pedals off and stand back
raise the seat slightly. Now your child is
going to put balance, pedaling, steering,
turning and braking together. We headed
By Kathleen Wilker
for a well packed dirt path with a slight
slope in a park to try full-on biking.
Your big kid has mastered the tricycle.
She’s got a two-wheeler with training
wheels and she’s learned to brake. No
more rocking back and forth from little
wheel to little wheel, now she’s riding
strong enough for those training wheels
to lift off the ground. They’re getting in
her way when she turns corners, and
they catch when she’s squeezing through
narrow spaces.
She’s watching the really big kids
on their bikes and hoping for the day
she’ll be one of them, and she’s sensible
enough to stop and wait for you before
crossing the street.
You’re both ready for the next step.
Forget everything you remember
about learning to ride a bike. Forget
chasing behind your four-year-old,
holding onto her seat and waiting for the
right moment to let go. Forget falls and
scraped knees.
There’s a gentle way for your child to
teach herself to ride her two-wheeler 3. Bike helmet firmly on, your child Though I spent the first few times holding
without training wheels – create a bike uses her feet to scoot forward and to my daughter’s seat, after a few tries and a
minus pedals that your child can scoot stop. A paved gentle downhill is a good couple of falls she only needed me when
around on. Scooting teaches balance, place to gain enough momentum until she started. Within a few days she was
control, steering and turning. When she’s she’s going fast enough to coast. We used riding on her own.
mastered them, put the pedals back on our driveway, with a parent at the bottom 8. Raise the seat a little more. Again,
and she’ll add them to the peddling and to block an unintended launch into the take it easy. A child needs to feel
braking she already knows. Your support road. An empty paved schoolyard works confident more than she needs the pedal
will be there, but your child will go at her well too. power that a higher seat will give.
own pace because she’s teaching herself. 4. Keep scooting. Get your child to 9. Celebrate! Bike out for an ice cream
Here’s how: scoot and coast the bike to school, on treat. Call Grandma.
1. Lower your child’s seat until she can errands with you, whenever it’s possible. This is a big deal and there’s lots of fun in
sit on her bike with both feet flat on the Break off below the frustration level. store. Our daughter loved riding to school
ground. Depending on how the seat is Learning balance, control and steering is and locking up her bike with the big kids.
attached, you may need to use one or hard work. And Sunday mornings when the
two wrenches to do it. 5. Once your child can balance, turn, Parkway was closed to traffic she
2. Remove the pedals with a peddle coast and stop, encourage him to coast biked with me running alongside and
t
o-kzenon
wrench if you have one. Or your local further, a little faster and steer around discovered the wind in her hair.
bike mechanic may be willing to pop obstacles, and do it for at least two weeks
~ Kathleen Wilker loves to be outside with her
t
ockpho
them off for you. so she really masters balance and control.
family. Skiing, cycling, running, camping and
y
: is canoeing are her favourite ways to enjoy nature.
t
o b
pho
www.ottawaoutdoors.ca OTTAWA magazine summer/fall 2009 45
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