We bought Eliza has bike for her 5th birthday, but she has always preferred her scooter as she found pedaling quite hard work, but last month she went back to her bike and has been asking us to take her stabilizers off.
I have to admit I doubted my ability as a bike trainer. I love riding a bike and used to cycle everywhere when I was younger, but when it came to teaching Isaac, I tried and failed. In fact we booked him on a course in the end and all it took was someone with a bit more patience than me to get him off and going.
We took the stabilizers off Eliza’s bike last weekend and had a bit of a practice outside the house which showed that Eliza had the potential but that she was, quite frankly, hopeless at steering, so this weekend we headed to Potterne Park in Dorset, which has nice wide pathways, perfect for those wobbly first rides.
It didn’t start well.
There were lots of “I can’t do it”, “I can’t steer” etc and me hanging onto the back seat clearly wasn’t working.
She kept turning the handlebars to the right so I moved my focus to the handlebars which kept her in a straight line. I must have been holding on to her for a good few hundred yards, correcting her balance and keeping her straight and could see her confidence rising.
I let go!
She crashed, but got straight back on and tried again.
This happened a few times and then she was off!
She was a little wobbly, but she was going.
She was so confident by now that we continued along the path towards Moors Valley, which got narrower and she lost her balance right by a huge ditch and ploughed over the side. Thankfully there was no harm done, but we decided to ride back the way we came, have a break in the play park and then try again.
She rode back to the park confidently, but it was her second attempt, after a play, that she really nailed it.
She got started herself, rode off with Isaac and didn’t stop. She must have ridden about half a mile, stopping only at the bridge to wait for me as instructed.
Again we turned around and headed back, with her so confident that she kept up with Isaac and was waiting at the park for me, as Sebby had run out of steam on his scooter and needed a tow back.
I wish we could have stayed out longer, but Isaac had a swimming lesson so we had to head home. She was straight back on her bike, however, and insisted on doing a few laps around the block at home though.
I feel like a mean Mummy as she wanted to ride her bike to school this morning and I said no, as it is really busy and she hasn’t mastered her brakes yet, but I am sure after a bit more practice, she will be riding to school too.
Wow I remember those ‘teaching them how to ride a bike’ all too well. To a certain degree it’s like a rights of passage that they go through this and usually come out the other side with a few scrapes and cuts!
I have all this to look forward to, haha!
I think getting straight back on after a crash is the most import thing to do. My little boy was the same and we encouraged him to get back on and go again and he really quickly picked it up.
Aww well done Eliza for persevering – so great that she is desperate to get out and about on it still even if you did say no to the school run, haha!
Bless her, I remember the tantrums well with mine when they couldn’t get the hang of it lol. It sounds like she has mastered it now though x
This is definitely one of those childhood moments to remember! we are in the process of learning but he isn’t as interested at the moment so we took a break!
Yeah well done on getting those stabilizers off! And a lovely setting to create the memory of doing just that x
Well done on getting the stabilisers off. We need to take this step asap x
What a clever girl. My daughter learnt to ride at the age of 3 without stabilisers but the boys were a lot older.
Anya was obsessed with taking her stabilisers and she was much better than Matt beforehand but has no balance 🙁 long summer ahead…
I can feel her excitement. It is such a big step loosing stabilizers. I remember hanging onto the back of bikes for years teaching mine and a series of trips to A&E as each came off and put their tooth through their bottom lip within a few days of each other! Fingers crossed Eliza will be more careful. It sounds like she has started so well and mastered it all very quickly. I like the idea of the park play to break things up. I can see many more biking outings over the summer.
Thank you for sharing with me on #CountryKids
Wow! I didn’t even know there were such things as courses to teach kids how to ride a bike! Glad that Eliza got there in the end though 🙂 x
Oh well done to Eliza for managing to get the hang of riding the bike without stabilisers. Potterne Park sounds like it was the perfect place for those wobbly first rides. I didn’t know there were courses available to help teach children to ride a bike. Good idea for those of us that aren’t quite so patient at teaching these things! 🙂 #countrykids
Bike riding is such a wonderful thing! We recently bought our daughter a bike for h we 3rd birthday and she loves it, if she could take it in the bath she would lol!
My boy love’s his old bike but i’ve got him a new one on BF because the old one was just worn out
I hope he will be happy :-s
Thanks for your great share. It’s a really nice park. Thanks for you nice kids picture. I love all kids so much.
I hope my kids will become avid cyclists too. I would live to go mountain biking with them when they grow up.