Recreational & Family - Teaching Kids to Ride: Popular BF method.

My daughter is pushing 6 yrs old and it is time she learns to ride. So last night i had her in the drive way trying the whiz-bang method that everyone here at BF and other places on the web swears by. This method involves lowering the seat way down so the child can straddle the saddle flat footed and also involves taking the pedals off.

I worked with my daughter in the driveway for about 45 minutes last night. I was at the top and my wife was at the bottom of our sloping driveway. What I learned after that time is what i already knew. There is no such thing as a "whiz-bang" method of teaching your kid to ride.

Learning to ride a bike takes about 3 seconds actually. But getting to that critical 3 seconds seems to be the problem. There is a 3 second window in everyones past where they finally realized what they had to do to keep the bike upright. The trouble is that it takes a LOT of courage to trust the bike enough to give yourself that 3 second chance.

That is where we were last night. She could push herself down the driveway for a month and I don't think it will matter. You still have to get to the magic 3 seconds. I think i got there by somebody just pushing me and watching me crash a few times.

That method isn't PC anymore and I really have no desire to watch my daughter eat the pavement. I tried the tougher method with my son (now 8) and he bit it hard one day. It took him awhile to want to learn again, but he did hit the magic 3 seconds when he was 6 and has been riding ever since.

But I just want to share that i think the pedal off-seat down method is less than thrilling to me. Sure nobody gets hurt, but I don't see my daughter riding any time soon. I know that sometimes it just takes time, but I also think it is important to emphasize that some kids "just struggle."

She'll get it in her own time. No hills are required. Both of my daughters learned out on the city sidewalk...just playing with their bikes. One learned in a few days...the other took a few weeks, and they're twins. Just leave the pedals off and let your child glide around for several days, at her leisure. The beauty of this method is no parental intervention/stress/presure on the child is needed. One day, you'll look up and see your child gliding thru turns like a pro, that's when you put the pedals on. Remember when she learned how to walk, I'll bet she did it on her schedule.

Best of luck !!!!!!!

We got my daughter riding fairly quickly, and the only real key was to minimize the "ouch" for the falls we knew she would take. We have a community park close to our house with a football-sized grass area that has about a 1% grade, and which they never mow too close. We put her on the bike at the top of the grade and told her to ride down it. She fell frequently, but not at much speed and onto a forgiving surface (because she was riding through and falling onto the grass). When she got to the far end, we carried her bike back "up" and did it again. After a few (combined) hours she was flying around the grass. And, as every cyclocrosser will tell you, since it's harder to peddle and steer through thick grass, when she hit the pavement she was even more confident because the bike moved easier and stayed in a straighter line. She was four at the time, and she has always been a tough kid -- more interested in keeping at the playing than crying about a boo-boo -- but I would recommend this somewhat homemade method to anyone.

Here's what we did. It worked for us, ymmv...

We first got her on a Razor scooter. My theory was that the balance "feel" was about the same as riding a bike. After a few weeks on the scooter she was riding it all over the place and able to keep both feet on and turn and all that good stuff. Then we got the bike out. Used what sounds like the BF method :D except we didn't take the pedals off. We just had the seat low enough so she could "scoot" on the bike. I had her scoot and then slowly start picking her feet up. It took about 10 minutes and she had her feet on the pedals pumping away. She has not fallen once (except trying to dismount and getting hung up once).

Like I said. Worked for us. YMMV.

Good luck!!

BTW...the fact that she got mobile on the bike is what made me buy one after about 23 years of not riding. I'm loving it!! Been riding now for about 2 months and I did a fairly hilly 35 miles last Saturday and thinking about doing a 42 mile organized ride this weekend...

It's amazing what kids will get you back into!!

:D

A week ago last Sunday my 6-year-old daughter was riding like this:
http://stradasystems.com/mtb/images/DSCN4434.jpg

That following Wednesday I took the training wheels and pedals off and told her to scoot along the sidewalk with her sister. On day one she was walking the bike and by Sunday she was scooting 4-5 sidewalk squares. She kept asking me to put the pedals on.

I did last Sunday. I went around the crescent in front of our place with her for about 3 laps with one hand on her shoulder to give her confidence. I let go a few times and she was excited to be going on her own even though she was a little fearful.

Until this point I had only tried taking off the training wheels one time but she had picked up a terrible habit of leaning that she kept losing her balance. I had started looking into buying a bike that allowed the cranks to be taken off when it was brought to my attention that I could just take the pedals off.

Last Sunday this is what she was doing:
http://stradasystems.com/mtb/images/DSCN4450.jpg

Here's the thing, though. I let her "scoot" around. We scooted over to her friend's place 2 streets over and she never had any pressure to put the pedals on. Even when I had put them back on and she was feeling scared I told her that I'd take them back off. Scooting was just something to do outside and nothing more.

I'm in the throws of it also. My little one is only 4.5 yrs old, but wants to ride with the family. She is a peanut, so I picked up a 12" tire bike at a yard sale ($4), took off the pedal crank and chain, and lavishly covered every sharp part with duck tape. I have here wear her rollerskate attire (helmet, gloves, knee & elbow pads), and have been letting her coast up and down the lower section (35' x 75') of our drive. It has a gentle slope to the ends, lowest in the middle. She can go 10-15' with her feet up, and I bet she could balance further if it was not for the diminished speed.

I firmly believe that she will teach herself, she is that motivated. Don't be so quick to give up!

I believe Bicyling magazine suggests the gently sloping grass field method.
That's what I intend to employ in the next couple of weeks.

Yep...that's what I did, with seat down, pedals off and with knee and elbow pads for my five year-old son. For a start, we worked on him just coasting down a short hill and teetering over in the grass. He actually liked that part the best, mostly because he had pads on to take the punishment.

We didn't push the process. We did that for a couple of weekends off and on when he felt like it or if I was out grilling burgers. If he only made a couple of runs at it, that was fine. He had better luck when we didn't force things. Once he got the feel of keeping his balance we moved to a longer hill. He was pretty much hooked from there on out on his own. He liked the speed and feeling the wind in his hair! After a few tries, he got to where he was staying up and coasting to a stop. On went the pedals for a few goes so he could get the feel of keeping his feet moving. Next day we were up on the road and he was riding. It took about a week of road practice after that to get him squared away.

My kid'll be 6 in 2.5 wks (need to get cracking on the party...). He had a great run the 1st day w/ no training wheels (I know, not supposed to have training wheels...), w/ me running behind him on grass but hasn't been able to recover that. I've spoken to other people who had that false dawn effect too, a good run early on, but takes a while to recover it. Meantime, we try to work on it on weekends, but just let him ride w/ training wheels to/from school. It seems like being happy on the bike is the most important part. Though it does get frustrating to his posse (me) staying down around 2mph.

Here's what we did. It worked for us, ymmv...

We first got her on a Razor scooter. My theory was that the balance "feel" was about the same as riding a bike. After a few weeks on the scooter she was riding it all over the place and able to keep both feet on and turn and all that good stuff. Then we got the bike out. Used what sounds like the BF method :D except we didn't take the pedals off. We just had the seat low enough so she could "scoot" on the bike. I had her scoot and then slowly start picking her feet up. It took about 10 minutes and she had her feet on the pedals pumping away. She has not fallen once (except trying to dismount and getting hung up once).

Like I said. Worked for us. YMMV.


+1 on the Razor scooter. I think a factor in the success is that with the Razor it's easier to go fast, and the kid quickly learns that speed = stability. We skipped the "scoot" step.

Kotts

I believe Bicyling magazine suggests the gently sloping grass field method.
That's what I intend to employ in the next couple of weeks.

Did this over the weekend. Worked beautifully. He's now riding laps in the front yard. Amazing how quickly they get it. He's having trouble getting going and needs a push, but in about fiive minutes he pretty much had the balance and pedaling thing figured out.

http://images.kodakgallery.com/photos3569/2/83/20/89/65/7/765892083207_0_ALB.jpg

OK, here's my method. It worked on my 2 boys (who were having the darndest time getting it) as well as a couple of neihbor kids. Now I tell everyone:

Hold the kid, not the bike!

I was initially holding the back of the seat and the handlebars and letting go. The kids never got the balance and then crashed, over and over again. Scrapes. Tears. Stomping. Frustration. And that was just me!

Then I went to the grass and held right under their armpits and ran along side, releasing my hands - first for 2 seconds, then 3, then 10 -- from their body but keeping my hands in place to grab them quickly when they were about to fall. It worked within about 15 minutes and this was after weeks of trying other methods.

Did this over the weekend. Worked beautifully. He's now riding laps in the front yard. Amazing how quickly they get it. He's having trouble getting going and needs a push, but in about fiive minutes he pretty much had the balance and pedaling thing figured out.


You could try getting the LBS to put on a larger rear sprocket to overcome this. when he's developed the strength and co-ordination sufficiently, try putting the original sprocket back on.

You could try getting the LBS to put on a larger rear sprocket to overcome this. when he's developed the strength and co-ordination sufficiently, try putting the original sprocket back on.
great idea. I can't believe that never occurred to me.

I'll have to try that scoot method. I know if my daughter (turned 5 Sunday) falls and gets a boo boo, it'll be all over for a while. We live in the country so the roads are a bit scarey for me with her so I take her to a Church parking lot a few blocks away. She could scoot all over the place there. My wife wants to ride also and get a trailer for our one year old, but I'd love to get her sister riding. Not sure what it would be like to haul 65 - 70 lbs. around in a trailer. I just got back on the bike myself. I'm 44 and figure it's something we can continue to do together for some time.

For me, the key is not to pressure, and keep the size of the bike/height of the seat low enough and the speed slow enough so that the child can learn to balance at his/her own pace without suffering all the bumps and bruises.

I remember when I learned to ride. There were no small scooters then (or they were not available in my area). We had no sidewalks, so I had to learn on a bike that was too large for me on a cinder covered drive way. I had plenty of space to ride - and there were no cars around, but training wheels were out of the question - wouldn't roll in the cinders - and the inevitable falls were out of the question.

I remember that I finally learned how to stay on the bike, but, would have a terrible time getting off - just could not quite master the technique of slowing down and breaking my fall with my legs. I was forever plowing into bushes or just plain falling off to stop.

There were many painful falls. As much as I loved riding, I dreaded having to come to a stop.

When I taught my kids, I was not aware of any BF recommendations (internet was pretty primitive back then), but I was determined to eliminate as much of the fear and unpleasantness of the process for my kids as possible.

Really small bikes were available, and that is what I bought.

I doubt either of my kids would have tolerated not being able to pedal right away - they were products of the hot wheels trikes - and my son was particularly impatient and stubborn - so, I left the training wheels on for quite a while. But, when they came off, both kids sailed away on their own without a single fall - and, for the most part, the process was enjoyable with both kids.

Obviously, some learn faster than others. My daughter was easier to teach than my son - he tends to be strong headed and tough to teach - she is more compliant, trusting, and more readily accepts and follows instructions.

Above all, try to enjoy your role as a teacher and do not let the apparent slowness to catch on frustrate you.

Caruso

The Bf method worked wonderfully for my son . He has used training wheels for a long
while . I removed the pedal and lowered the seat . Being patience is the key and trying
to explain what he is to do . I let him roll around for a week and he was starting to caost quite
good with his feet up. He asked me to put the pedals back on. I left the seat down still .
I was getting my bike out and was asking if he was ready to try . He was already gone
with a big grin on his face. That was one of my most happiest moments since having kids.
I don't have the best skills and temper when trying to teach a kid something to do and translate it
to him . This Bf method works wonderful just give it time and patience.

Dynodan

I'm in the throws of it also. My little one is only 4.5 yrs old, but wants to ride with the family. She is a peanut, so I picked up a 12" tire bike at a yard sale ($4), took off the pedal crank and chain, and lavishly covered every sharp part with duck tape. I have here wear her rollerskate attire (helmet, gloves, knee & elbow pads), and have been letting her coast up and down the lower section (35' x 75') of our drive. It has a gentle slope to the ends, lowest in the middle. She can go 10-15' with her feet up, and I bet she could balance further if it was not for the diminished speed.

I firmly believe that she will teach herself, she is that motivated. Don't be so quick to give up!

I wanted to add / update progress since I posted this. Annie can now "Flintstone" to speed quickly, then coast with her feet up for quite some distance. When she slows and begins to wobble, she kicks back up to speed and continues. If we have a car parked in the center of our 'basketball court', she can steer around it and go round and round. Bottom line is that she has the balance and steering thing pretty much nailed.

So with much fanfair, I brought up the box with her new 12" tire bike from Target on Sunday ($29, purchased about a year ago), and together we built it. She was so excited.

I put on the pedals but not the training wheels, hoping that her balance skills would immediately transfer. It didn't work. Getting started, even when using the downslope, was more than she could handle. Several times she pedaled backwards, locking up the coaster brake. We needed to master basic pedal skills first. So at mommy's urging, I put on the training wheels. Within an hour, I began to slowly move the training wheels up along their slotted holes so that she could add in some balancing. As of last night they were up about 1.25" on both sides.

On straight runs she keeps the bike up on the tires, and the training wheels barely ever touch the ground. Turns are a problem, however, as she is now leaning outward. The presence of the training wheels is oddly counterproductive, as she is relying on them rather than working the balance she showed when Flintstoning on the other bike. More than once she almost rolled it, going too fast. For the rest of the night, I had her go back and forth between the two bikes in hopes of combining the skills.

The saga continues.....

Our experience is that they spend a lot of time wobbling twenty feet at a shot, day after day. Then, they suddenly "get it" and reach a pretty good level of proficiency in an afternoon. You just have to be patient and work to keep the learning process fun.

Paul

OK, here's my method. It worked on my 2 boys (who were having the darndest time getting it) as well as a couple of neihbor kids. Now I tell everyone:

Hold the kid, not the bike!

I was initially holding the back of the seat and the handlebars and letting go. The kids never got the balance and then crashed, over and over again. Scrapes. Tears. Stomping. Frustration. And that was just me!

Then I went to the grass and held right under their armpits and ran along side, releasing my hands - first for 2 seconds, then 3, then 10 -- from their body but keeping my hands in place to grab them quickly when they were about to fall. It worked within about 15 minutes and this was after weeks of trying other methods.

I did something similar -- well, a combination of this and the 'whiz-bang' method -- in that I couldn't find a suitable hill nearby, so, after taking off the pedals and lowering the seat, I pushed her along by pushing on her back and running alongside.

Which brings me to the OP: if your hill isn't steep enough, or long enough, then the child will just 'walk' the bike along without ever gaining enough momemtum to have the epiphany you're anticipating. Push her along so she can pick her feet up a bit.

Just please, please don't do what my parents did to teach my to ride w/o training wheels.

My parents removed the training wheels. Told me I was to ride on the sidewalk infront of our house and the houses on either side of us (for a three house length total distance). Then they basically went inside and told me I wasn't allowed back in until I could ride. I fell over so many times and got so frustrated, but they wouldn't let me quit until I finally got it after who knows how many attempts and falls. Yup, not the best way to teach IMO, though it did work in the end.

SNIP
My wife wants to ride also and get a trailer for our one year old, but I'd love to get her sister riding. Not sure what it would be like to haul 65 - 70 lbs. around in a trailer. I just got back on the bike myself. I'm 44 and figure it's something we can continue to do together for some time.

May I suggest a tandem (or two) to get something your entire family can be involved with? You might want to visit the Tandem portion of this forum.

I wanted to add / update progress since I posted this. Annie can now "Flintstone" to speed quickly, then coast with her feet up for quite some distance. When she slows and begins to wobble, she kicks back up to speed and continues. If we have a car parked in the center of our 'basketball court', she can steer around it and go round and round. Bottom line is that she has the balance and steering thing pretty much nailed.

So with much fanfair, I brought up the box with her new 12" tire bike from Target on Sunday ($29, purchased about a year ago), and together we built it. She was so excited.

I put on the pedals but not the training wheels, hoping that her balance skills would immediately transfer. It didn't work. Getting started, even when using the downslope, was more than she could handle. Several times she pedaled backwards, locking up the coaster brake. We needed to master basic pedal skills first. So at mommy's urging, I put on the training wheels. Within an hour, I began to slowly move the training wheels up along their slotted holes so that she could add in some balancing. As of last night they were up about 1.25" on both sides.

On straight runs she keeps the bike up on the tires, and the training wheels barely ever touch the ground. Turns are a problem, however, as she is now leaning outward. The presence of the training wheels is oddly counterproductive, as she is relying on them rather than working the balance she showed when Flintstoning on the other bike. More than once she almost rolled it, going too fast. For the rest of the night, I had her go back and forth between the two bikes in hopes of combining the skills.

The saga continues.....

I always started with the pedals and training wheels to acclimate the child to the propulsion/braking skills.....then I removed the pedals and training wheels and waited for the balance to kick in. The I put the pedals back on and ...away they went.

OK, here's my method. It worked on my 2 boys (who were having the darndest time getting it) as well as a couple of neihbor kids. Now I tell everyone:

Hold the kid, not the bike!

I'm sure that he was just ready yesterday anyway, but when I focused on him rather than the bike last night, it really did result in pedalling independence that he carried through to this morning. I stayed running with him. The first time, he was panting, panicking at being cut loose when I let go of his shoulders, and then I could just touch his back and that calmed him down, he knew I was there, and he got on w/ the business at hand. Now he can pedal indefinitely, but starting is still rough for him. I don't mind helping him get going, I want his pedalling fun/starting work ratio to stay around like 9:1 for now. Will boost the work on starting as the week progresses, hopefully he will be independent in time to ride to school.

Mission control reports we have successful liftoff. Liftoff at 7:25pm EDT. The one kid crew reports all systems are normal....

Last night when I got home Annie, now 4yrs 7months old asked me to take off the training wheels. I asked her to demonstrate that she could 'flintstone' on her other bike (the one stripped of crank), and she glided along with her feet up at will. So off came the training wheels of her new bike. I also took off the pedals and had her flintstone that one for a bit. While they are the same size, I wanted to make sure that her balance would translate to a slightly different frame geometry. Within a few minutes, she figured out how to balance on it, so on went the pedals, and a gentle push start. Off came my hands, and she pedaled away with me running hard to keep close enough to rescue her if necessary! It was a great first night.

We got my daughter riding fairly quickly, and the only real key was to minimize the "ouch" for the falls we knew she would take. We have a community park close to our house with a football-sized grass area that has about a 1% grade, and which they never mow too close. We put her on the bike at the top of the grade and told her to ride down it. She fell frequently, but not at much speed and onto a forgiving surface (because she was riding through and falling onto the grass). When she got to the far end, we carried her bike back "up" and did it again. After a few (combined) hours she was flying around the grass. And, as every cyclocrosser will tell you, since it's harder to peddle and steer through thick grass, when she hit the pavement she was even more confident because the bike moved easier and stayed in a straighter line. She was four at the time, and she has always been a tough kid -- more interested in keeping at the playing than crying about a boo-boo -- but I would recommend this somewhat homemade method to anyone.


+1

This is very similar to how I taught my friend's daughter to ride. A slightly sloping grassy area. Once she wasn't afraid of falling on the pavement, she learned quickly on the grass. Once she had cofidence on the grass, she was pretty good on the pavement.

Well my oldest (turns 5 on Monday) has improved in balance and can ride without training wheels (he can't start the bike moving though - still needs a push start).

I took the pedals off his little brothers bike and had him scooter it (I had show him on my old bike). He enjoyed down hills, but we have a lack of grassy slopes that don't end in a lake, so that made it harder.

Tonight little brother wanted his bike back, and the neighbor (rides w/o training wheels) came over, and he wanted to ride with his friend. I put pedals on his bike, his balance is much better after scootering but he couldn't balance alone. I had my hand under his arm and after a few trips up and down the driveway with me running I started letting go. Off he went, made the turn to our drive and stopped (didn't crash) over 50 ft away!

He needs more practice, but I think he will have this down by his birthday. Now I need to get him to look where he is going. :lol: Wanted to say thanks to everyone on the forum for telling me how to do this!

We need a "My kid learned to ride" sticky. I love these stories.

</sappiness>


but we have a lack of grassy slopes that don't end in a lake, so that made it harder.


You could have taught him how to ride and swim on the same day!

My 6 yr old has really taken off in the last week, is completely independent to start the bike (I'd be annoyed as heck having to walk the bike forward to get a pedal up in starting position), and able to stop the bike and get off it rather than his previous Kevin-Costner-in-Silverado-style flying dismount. I think there is major synergy from splitting time between the bike and his bday present razor scooter.

Now I'm back to thinking about raising the seat some more.

It's crazy, watching him finally put it all together at the same time our 2 yr old is finally putting all her thoughts and words and stuff together to hold a conversation. Synthesis I guess, taking the accumulated parts and doing something with them.

We spent a few hours at the school yard on Sat and Sunday building skills and confidence. She can now start and stop on command, steer around objects, stay straight on a narrow path, and the like.

Tossed into the basement was the Flintstone bike and the training wheels!

Last night my daughter officially joined the ranks of family biker. We headed over to a local park where she did 1.4 miles on a path that circles a lake. Her cruising speed was around 4 mph, with occasional 'bursts' over 5 mph. Considering that she is on a tiny 12" tired bike and is spinning at better than 60 continuously, that was quite a feat. I had added a handlebar mounted cage, and we stopped twice for refreshments. Needless to say, she slept well last night. Dad is sooo proud! Mom is giving dad a hard time that she is too young to be on a bike.....

Then I went to the grass and held right under their armpits and ran along side, releasing my hands - first for 2 seconds, then 3, then 10 -- from their body but keeping my hands in place to grab them quickly when they were about to fall. It worked within about 15 minutes and this was after weeks of trying other methods.
I had the first such session with my 4.5 year old daughter two nights ago. No grassy slopes nearby, so we used the road, which has little to no traffic. She was quite excited when we managed to get in a few 10-15 foot glides. As she began to realize that daddy was going to keep her from falling, she got more brave with the gliding. If she can't get it within a couple more sessions, I'll do a serious search for a grassy incline. She's already been pedaling and steering with training wheels, so I'm hoping that once she can glide comfortably that I'll be able to put the pedals back on and away she'll go.

The author of this thread suggests that the seat down, push method probably doesn't work better than any other. I have to disagree emphatically! The prevailing training method in Europe is the seat down, push method. There, the average age to learn to ride is about 2 years and usually earlier. In the US, the average age to learn is 4, 5 or 6 years. To suggest that a child will still take a long time to learn using this method is pure baloney. We bought our child one at just 2 years and "got it" almost immediately....within hours with no injuries or false assurances from training wheels. Happy biking!

I think a number of us agree with you. I'm loaning my "Flintstone" creation to a friend, and have another one waiting in line for it. I may go hit some yard sales for some junkers, and build up a few more of these and give them out as gifts!

FYI - my local Target sells a knockoff of the "like-a-bike" for ~ $50. I plan on getting one for kid #2.

Agree about "sticky".

I am a strong believer in the like-a-bike method. I bought one of those bino bikes on ebay for $100 or so last Xmas.

My 4 year old used it sparingly, though I tried to get her to use it more. A few months ago, she could coast for a few seconds on her own w/ me cheering her on. But she still preferred the bike w/ training wheels. Her 2.5 yr old brother also uses it and he seemed to get the hang of it but was limited to the fact that he wasn't tall enough to scoot along.

Recently, my 4 year old's friends/neighbors were starting to ride 2 wheelers. I figured that "jealousy" would motivate her. Eh, kinda. But then I saw my son continue to use the bino bike. He's gotten taller and he now "gets" it, he can MOVE and coast VERY fast. Of course, I'm beaming cause I can see him ride a 2 wheeler by Xmas. Last Friday my boy is tooling on the Bino bike so I offer my girl that I'd remove the training wheels and she can scoot like her brother, so she can learn to ride the 2 wheeler. My fear was that he would learn before her, and that would be a problem of EPIC proportions.

I take off the wheels and she wants me to hold her bike, she doesn't want to scoot. Oh great, I think, here we go at square one. She starts to pedal, after 10' I gently let go. She rides her bike solo!!!! She literally "got it" in 20' or so. Talk about a proud cycling dad moment. She's got the hang of it and can ride on her own in the driveway. Still needs some practice starting from a dead stop but that'll come. She's psyched and so am I.

Excellent! Hope she is heavily padded. By that I mean sneakers, long pants, elbow pads, gloves and helmet. If it doesn't hurt, they don't mind an occasional brush with the pavement. My girl now rides regularly, and has gone down a few times. She gets up, laughs it off, and keeps going.

I just looked up Like & Bino - basically what I did with stripping down a kids bike, with the exception of limiting the steering angle. That's a very good idea.

I took my 4yr old son's training wheels off last weekend and it went great! This is his second summer riding with training wheels and he could ride a razor really good so I figured it was time. I lowered his seat, but left the pedals on. We started in our back yard, and the first try I supported him under his arm pits. He went all the way to the end of the yard without much help. We turned around and then he told me to "Get Off" so I let him go and he made it all the way to the other end. The only problems he had was getting started, and remembering to put his feet down when he stopped. We later moved out front in our circle, and by the of the night He was racing me the other kids around. He is a little hot head when he can't figure something and I couldn't believe how smooth it went.

This thread makes me so jealous b/c I can't get my dd4 to ride a bike, even with training wheels, for very far. She is doing much better now than earlier in the spring but she still gets very frustrated with starting off when the pedals aren't positioned so that she can push forward on them easily. She also gets a little freaked out if the bike is on a slight incline and begins to roll backwards...she just screams and holds on--refuses to use the brakes! She'll be 5 in October and I was so convinced that we'd be buying her another bike by Christmas but I'm not sure it's going to happen. I bought a trail a bike off of craigslist to see if it'll help her feel more comfortable w/ a bike but it's been in the high 90's to 100 degrees for the last week and half so we haven't been out at all! I see other kids her age riding around easily...I think the key might be to get her around some other kids who ride...perhaps she'll get jealous enough to really put some effort in?

Seeing what others can do, Cristy, is a great motivator. My oldest basically taught herself how to ride. She and her best friend were together at an afterschool program when she was in kindergarten. Her best bud could do the razor scooter, so she mastered it. Then when Julie showed a few weeks later that she could ride a two wheeler, my daughter just got on it and did it (!!!) just to prove that she could do anything that Julie could do. Imagine my amazement when I got there to pick her up that evening. She wasn't terribly stable, but the smile on her face was a killer.

perhaps your driveway isn't long enough. a looong straight line helps if I remember correctly (about 30 years ago for me).

The neighbor's son didn't start riding until a 16" bike was left at his house this summer by my son, he prefered that to his 12". He (the neighbor) turned 6 last month and is very stable w/o training wheels.

My oldest (just turned 5) was motivated to keep up with the neighbor boy, that is part of the reason I got him riding w/o training wheels.

My 3.5 yo has the same problem starting to move as your daughter, I may try taking him to a paved parking lot (empty of course) to let him ride around. I'm not sure what else to do for him other than follow along and push if he gets stuck.

Our son is 7 years old and still dependent on training wheels. We're going to try the "remove pedals, lower seat" and just let him go on a gentle, grassy slope. I just would like to add that our son's confidence was a little dampened when he was riding with his father on a trailer bike and were hit by a careless driver in a parking lot, no less. My son had to get stitches in his knee, but other than that both riders and the bike were ok. The car had most of the physical damage. I think the emotional damage was more severe. Hubby was thrown over the hood of the car but was completely unhurt. (Helmets were on both riders!)

Despite the accident, I would advocate starting children on a well-constructed/designed trailer bike so that they can feel the wind in their face (isn't that what inspires us all?) and get the feel of sitting on a saddle. They enjoy being a companion to mom or dad, even if their "contribution" to the ride is nonexistent. (You don't have to let them know that their pedaling isn't making a difference.) But you *can* tell them to be the "spotter" for the ice cream store.

So glad I found this forum!

Mary

I'm 2dl (too darn lazy) to search for what BF Method means (Balance First? Bicycle Forum? Big Fantastic?). Anyhoo, way back when my daughter was learning to ride we started her out with the same old way we learned how to ride - training wheels. Every little imperfection in the riding surface seemed to come at the precice time that she was leaning the wrong way and the result was repeated falls and continuous frustration. A week of this "fun" was about all either of us could handle. I yanked the training wheels off and explained that I was not trying to kill her, but that she was going to learn to ride differently than other kids did. The first step was to walk along astride the bike, next was to coast the bike with one foot on a pedal and using the other to push along, then both feet on the pedals. This seems like a lot of instruction for a 4 year old to remember but she didn't have much time to forget. After 20 minutes or so she got tired of pushing with her feet and was pedaling around the yard and driveway, never needing any helping hand for balance. When it came time for our son to learn the training wheels got tossed in the trash right out of the box and he learned to ride in about 30 minutes without any more balance help than holding the bike up for him to get into place.

Spills and scrapes happened, of course, but riding basics came almost as if by magic. No slope, no need for pavement, no running alongside to help balance. The key was simplicity, I think. Pedal one way to go and the other way to stop.

had a great day today. just a few months after the removal of training wheels my 5yo became a bike commuter this morning as he road 2m down a MUP to his first day of kindergarden. The plan is to let him ride everday, unless it's raining. It was just awesome.

Here's what we did. It worked for us, ymmv...

We first got her on a Razor scooter. My theory was that the balance "feel" was about the same as riding a bike. After a few weeks on the scooter she was riding it all over the place and able to keep both feet on and turn and all that good stuff. Then we got the bike out. Used what sounds like the BF method :D except we didn't take the pedals off. We just had the seat low enough so she could "scoot" on the bike. I had her scoot and then slowly start picking her feet up. It took about 10 minutes and she had her feet on the pedals pumping away. She has not fallen once (except trying to dismount and getting hung up once).

Like I said. Worked for us. YMMV.///

:D
+1 on the two wheel scooters. We started our kids on the three wheel Razor scooters. They come with bushings on the wheels instead of bearings, so I bought a sleeve on ABEC5 skateboard bearings (same size) on eBay and upgraded them. They switched to the two wheelers at around four.

Daughter #1 started trying a bike at age 6 and didn't want to fall or be embarrassed. She required many sessions of driving her down to a local track that had a soft surface. In the meantime she started using the Razor a lot. One day she just got on and rode off.

Daughter #2 was five, we took her to a paved school courtyard and on her third try she was off to the races - so she could keep up with #1!

Learning to ride a bicycle is very trying - for parents!

Some great points made here. Obviously, different children excel in different areas (so some methods work for many kids, but not all). My husband and I just returned from Europe and it was amazing to see all the young toddlers riding around on the balance bikes. To look at some of these young'ins...some of which couldn't have been older than 18 months) was eye-opening to say the least. What I realized was that the balance bikes on the market are really just toys to really young kids (2-year olds). They enjoy them because they're toys, not because their parents say, "ok, johnny...today we're going to develop your sense of balance and coordination". If kids enjoy them as toys, they're more apt to stick with it. And, they learn balance and coordination in the process! It was amazing to see so many young (toddler) children riding bikes at such an early age. It's got to be the training method.

OK, but that seems to apply to 18 month olds thru 3 or 4 years. For older children (maybe 5 and above), the "flintstone-balance bike" method is probably much less appealing as evidenced by the testimonials here. For them, perhaps the best methods are from the school of hard knocks.

My 6 year old soloed two days ago.

She and I were doing the "Daddy holds bike seat and runs alongside like a neanderthal" method for about a half dozen sessions in an empty parking lot. She loved this, but it was killing my back! While she got used to the handbrake (bike has both coaster and rear caliper), she was having trouble getting the proper feel of keeping her body in line with the bike as she leaned it into a turn.

So we borrowed a Razor scooter which she spent the next week or so tooling around and getting the hang of the lean-thing.

When we returned to the bike, I continued to run alongside but did not hold the seat, instead I merely put a little pressure on her bum to maker her believe I was holding it. Also my hand was ready for a quick grab of the seat in case of a major wobble. This we did for a couple more sessions and then I would trot alongside and show her BOTH my hands to prove she was doing it on her own.

Next thing you know, she's starting/stopping/turning on her own.

One major stumbling block she had along the way was getting the bike going. She was very fussy that the left pedal be the one she started out pushing down on and would spend a lot of time stumbling along getting pedals oriented just so. If she rotated them too far, I simply could not convince her to then just start out pushing down on the right pedal.

Somehow something clicked in her brain that let her know if she gave just the slightest push off with her ground-based foot, that gave her enough speed to get BOTH feet on the pedals and go regardless of the pedal position.

whew, 2 wks ago, before vacation trip, 6 yr old finally established complete independence; he'd ditched the training wheels at beginning of summer, but periodically asked for a push start or whatever, maybe a mid-block flying dismount, but not that day. And again today, 1st day of school, just hopped on his bike and rode there. I think he's done it! Long trail-a-bike outing in traffic yesterday running pre-school errands, he liked that too.