TEACH A KID TO RIDE A BIKE!
How did YOU learn to ride a bike? I learned the "traditional" way, on a 20-inch red-and-white "cruiser" bicycle with training wheels. (I will always remember the joy I felt when I received that shiny new bike... but even more, I'll always savor the joy I felt on the day the training wheels came off. Wow! I'm doing it! I'M REALLY DOING IT!! Talk about a life-altering event!)
Sharing that moment in the life of a kid you care about is almost as satisfying.
All my kids learned to ride a bike while still quite young... but my youngest daughter, Melanie, was extraordinary. She was 4 years old and zooming around on that tiny bike... which looked pretty big when she was riding it!
Here's a suggestion for an alternative learning method. I'm confident you will find it really works.
When a child straddles a bike for the first time, what's new - what must be learned - is that sense of balance. (The pedaling part is pretty natural for most kids, after a few years of tricycles, big-wheels, etc.) You need to train the world's most sophisticated computer - the human brain - to sense when minor trajectory corrections are necessary to keep that upright-and-balanced thing going.
(Imagine the programming that would have to be done to teach an Intel processor to do that one thing... sensing imbalance and applying ever-so-slight course corrections, while maintaining overall direction. A defense contractor could probably do it in 2 years, with a team of 150 engineers and programmers, for $680 million. A 6-year-old child's brain can do it in a few minutes, at the cost of a bit of encouragement. God is still WAY ahead of those boys in Silicon Valley! But I digress...)
Anyway... do this. Throw away the training wheels. (Or put 'em aside, just in case.) Then lower the saddle to the point where the child can easily touch the ground on both sides, while sitting on the saddle. Not necessarily flat-footed, but with enough contact that he or she can feel confident about holding the bike upright while standing still.
Now it's time for the MAGIC!
Take the pedals off. They would get in the way during the next part. (Don't throw 'em away!) They'll most likely unscrew with a household tool. If you don't have a tool, I'm betting your neighbor would... or I bet the bike shop would do the job, either for free or for a couple bucks.
Put on the helmet. Now is the time to learn to wear a brain-bucket. You wear one when you ride... right? (If not, SHAME on you! "Do as I say, not as I do" NEVER works as a teaching methodology. And besides, your skull is softer than concrete, too, and has farther to fall than the kid's.)
Now... let the kid go. Have him mount the bike and practice the easy art of bike balance while propelling himself forward with his tippy-toes... no pedals involved, just pushing the bike, Fred Flintstone -style, with his feet. I'm guessing it'll take one or two sessions of 15 minutes each. In short order, the kid will be getting up momentum and coasting across the driveway or a couple hundred feet down the sidewalk.
Okay, you can put the pedals back on now, and explain the braking process, whatever it happens to be. (Maybe the bike has hand brakes, and the kid already has braking down. That's all the better.) There's a good chance the child will get on and pedal away euphorically! (Oh yeah! Life is so good!)
So... is your work done? You can go back in and watch teevee, while Junior rides off into bicycle Nirvana? HECK NO! Now it's time to learn to stay alive while riding the bike.
Here's a suggestion that I've given some thought to... and I even prepared a couple of crude illustrations.
I got some inspiration for it from my friend and fellow cyclist Ross Dodge at the COMPASS agency, who also has kids, and who taught them to ride a bike.
(I would also refer you to my Nine Commandments of bike safety... and would encourage you to check out your local bike laws. If you know and practice all that stuff, there's a good chance you'll die of something besides a bicycle accident.)
Kids love critters. Here are a couple bike riding critters.
Squiggy the bike-riding squirrel. And Oswald, the bike-riding owl.
(One problem I notice right off - the dumb squirrel has shoes on, and the smart owl appears to be barefoot! I better fix that. Shoes - REAL shoes - should always be worn while riding a bike. You WILL notice that Squiggy is helmet-less, while Oswald is properly bucketed.)
SQUIGGY:
I don't know where you live... but my town, Boise, is teeming with squirrels. Most don't survive very long; the get smashed into the pavement. (The squirrel - "Hell's Angel" of the Animal World. His motto - "Live fast, die young, and leave a furry patch on the road.")
Most kids have observed squirrel behavior. They are TOTALLY, awesomely unpredictable. They might run for the nearest tree. Or, just as likely, they might dash across the road right in front of (or under) your wheels, changing directions 3 times in the process... or stopping in the middle of the road. You just never know, and I don't think they do, either.
Well... I frequently see kids on bikes, riding that same way. On and off the sidewalk, darting across the street and back again, swerving back and forth... oblivious to everything and everybody else. And oblivious to any potential source of danger. You need to teach YOUR kid that squirrel-like is NOT the way to ride a bike, and survive.
(You need to keep a close eye on your child, as he gets comfortable. The child must be aware of the potential hazards, and understand how to avoid them. All of my kids were taught that they could only ride in the street when Mom or Dad was there, watching... at least at first. My daughter Kellyn tested that rule once as a new cyclist. I just happened to be watching out a basement window - I saw her ride to the end of the driveway, cast a furtive glance around to see if anybody was watching, and then take off down the street. I hopped in the car and chased her down - she made it almost 1/4 mile. I brought her and the bike home... that didn't happen again, at least to the best of my knowledge.)
Okay, how about OSWALD?
Well, first of all, everybody knows that owls are wise... right?
(At least they have that reputation. Dunno why. Are they really any smarter than a golden eagle, or a prairie falcon, or a magpie? Criminy - those magpies are pretty dang smart!)
But what makes owls unique is their ability to rotate their heads in every direction! They can look behind and in front, up and down... and they do. Those huge, super-sensitive eyes, and their super-powerful hearing, combine to help them be aware of everything around them, in every direction. Their survival depends on those senses.
That attribute - use of attuned sight and hearing to be aware of their surroundings in every direction - is what kids should try to emulate when they're bicycling.
If they can be like an owl - paying attention to what's in their path, but also being aware of what's going on to each side, and behind them - while simultaneously avoiding squirrel-like riding behavior... and they'll almost certainly live to go on many a joyful and safe bike ride.
Of course, all lessons are best learned with repetition, and LOTS of practice. Go on bike rides with the kid. Ride behind and watch. Offer gentle suggestions and lots of encouragement and praise. Pick out short, easy, light-traffic routes, at least at first. Ride to the school and back, or to the Dairy Queen (!), or a nearby park or playground. Then gradually expand your horizons. (Oh, yeah! Life is so good! Did I already say that?)
Email me - ( bikeboy (at) idahospud (dot) net ) (Sorry for no link - blame the spammers!)
