Belazriel

So today I managed to set up my first ride home from school with my daughter. She's 10 and in the fifth grade. She's gone on a few small rides with me to the park and I wanted to get her to where my wife and I don't need to use the car to drop her off at school and take her home (we leave the car at the school now and bike to and from work). She did pretty well overall and she would like to do it again which is always good to hear. However at two points she had a bit of trouble:

Starting out I knew she's had a little trouble using her brakes, so I keep reminding her to use them rather than trying to use her feet. Since we have to go downhill to get home I take the routes with the smallest hills for her. But on the way down she started to speed out of control, squeezed her brakes once or twice before letting go of them and just holding onto the handlebars and hitting a tree. The brakes stop her bike fine as long as she squeezes hard enough but she doesn't seem to have the hand strength for it (and they still seem a little far for her hands) so I need to look at what I can adjust on them to make them easier to use but still provide stopping power. She had used them fine on our smaller hills on the rides to the park so I thought she was fine with the way they were, but I guess they still need more adjustment.

Second thing she has trouble with is keeping herself in a straight line, this isn't a huge problem although I try to remind her to stay straight because it's a pretty essential skill. Unfortunately after starting up at one point she went a little too far to the one side and was off the sidewalk, as she turned the wheel the side of it caught the side of the sidewalk and she spilled onto the ground. I had just been talking to her earlier about how if she's moving over a small change in the sidewalk/curb/etc she needs to hit it straight on so her tires don't do that. I think practice and speed will hopefully help her with staying straight.

So overall it was a good ride, a few mishaps but nothing other than minor cuts. The sidewalk riding at 7mph gets to me a little but I tend to stay pretty focused on watching her and watching for any obstacles that may pop up that I need to warn her about. Unfortunately I doubt she'll ride in the cold or rain but I think we may still get a few good rides out of the year.

CACycling

That brings back memories. Following my older son for miles on his Diamondback with 16" wheels. Even when he was peddling like crazy, I'd just be trying to keep from falling over.

Jerry in So IL

Its just going to take her time to learn. So buy a first aid kit and some bubble wrap for the first week!

Jerry

Fremdchen

What a great, patient Dad! Keep up the encouragement... she'll figure it out in no time.

Nachoman

I remember those days well. Now my son is fifteen and bikes to and from school everyday on his own.

Lizzylou

I hope she's ok after hitting that tree... and I hope she is still willing to give it a go after that. Keep of the encouragement. A lot of the issues that she has (like going straight) I think are developmentally appropriate for her, kind of like it's natural for really young kids to have trouble saying their r's.

Belazriel

You know, hitting the tree was maybe three minutes from leaving the school. The car was left at the school (so we could decide whether to bike home or not, my wife ended up picking it up on her way home) and I was a little surprised she didn't want to go right back and drive home. I found not focusing too much on her getting hurt works pretty well. I simply treat it as, yes, you fell, now get back up because we have to get home and this is how we're getting home.

Her knee was a little worse after catching the sidewalk but after walking the bike for a half mile I convinced her to get back on and ride. We were a lot closer to home that time. We had meant to ride home first on a day when my wife wasn't working and could pick her up if anything happened. I think the lack of a safety net helped keep her motivated.

tbdean

I think if you can hit a tree, fall off a curb, and she still wants to do it again - you're doing great.

It really does take practice to hold your line and to learn not to panic when you are going down hill too fast.

Sounds like you guys are doing everything right.

gmule

I think we are at the same point in teaching our kids. Although my child is using a bike with coaster brakes. I think the key is just putting miles in. I let my daughter ride every where I go. trips to the library, grocery store etc. On days we have more time I let her pick the route. I have seen much improvment with her ability to hold a line and riding with control using the brakes on the down hill. Yesterday she begged to go for a ride in the rain so that she could splash through the puddles.

xerotope

So I know my first bike was a bmx style with a coaster brake. I don't know how they rate in terms of stopping power versus hand-lever style brakes.

Or maybe you should build your daughter a fixie!

rugerben

She sounds like a persistent little lass. Good for her!!! And good for you being the responsible, and supportive dad.

you don't tell us, how far is it from school to home?

ItsJustMe

Many brake handles have a reach adjustment. If she's not able to reach the lever with her fingers, you should be able to pull it in a bit. Of course, that means she has less travel to work with, but you can adjust the brakes to handle that.
If she's really lacking in finger strength, you may be able to find stickier pads to effectively improve her braking performance. Just be sure they don't tend to lock up her wheels; you don't want her doing a header. I watched my son do one at a stop sign at the bottom of a hill when he was first learning to ride on the road. Luckily in that case he wasn't hurt and thought it was kind of funny (though he had no desire to do it again - funny AFTERWARDS, scary when it happened).

sasquatch2

sounds like she needs to lay off the booze! she'z all over the sidewalk! Ha!
That's awesome tho, if she's getting back on the bike after a spill then you're teaching her well! To make the brakes easier for her to use: you could lube the cables and adjust the location of the levers so they are easier to reach. Also try replacing the pads with new ones that are softer. you could buy new levers with the adjustable reach but that's a few more dollars...

good luck on your mission!

-S

DieselAmy

I totally fell off my bike a couple weeks ago and I'm 32! Anyway, if it were happening a lot, I'd probably go for knee pads or something. I already know my gloves are a necessity. Maybe she could use items like that too?

I remember riding around the neighborhood all the time when I was a kid and the skills came with that... I imagine things are different now that kids can't just be gone for hours, playing on bikes.

TromboneAl

Sounds like this will be a great experience/routine for you guys.

I'd second adjusting the brakes so that there is as much play as possible, as long as you can lock up the brakes before the lever bottoms out.

As for riding straight, have you suggested that she look further away from the bike (that is, at a point further away)?

Belazriel

Here's the ride home from school:


And a shorter view of just the hill:


Today was what I would hope is a fairly typical ride although she's walking down the hills until I take a good look at her brakes. I think she just needs to focus on trusting them and not letting go. I pulled into the schoolyard around 2:33 and we got home around 3:50. That's with getting her, getting changed, getting her bike off the car and all ready. I know she has the little screws that are supposed to adjust reach but they didn't seem to move anything when I was first building her bike. I'll probably look into that a little more. For lubing the brake cable and moving parts, chain lube or white lithium grease? I know to leave the pads and rim clean.

atbman

I may be teaching granny to suck eggs, but is she looking far enough ahead? It's one of the things we concentrate on in coaching kids as they often look down at, or just ahead of, their front wheel. Once they get into the habit of looking, say, 15 yards ahead, they ride in a much straighter line.

On our little family rides, we also sometimes find that youngsters who are fine on our cycle circuit, get a little distracted and, perhaps, excited, by all the things that are going on on the road and around them. The result is that their bike control suffers.

As far as the brakes are concerned, they are often pretty poor on kids bikes, which is why coaster brakes are fitted on many of them.

The adjustment screws can have a pretty fine thread, so may require more turning than you might think - pull the levers half-way to putting the brakes on and then screw them in, as this reduces the effort needed. Dismantle the brakes themselves and grease all pivot points.

The brake cables and pads are also often of poor quality. You may find that upgrading and/or lubricating them will pay dividends. Also, pay attention to the path of the rear cable particularly. There is often a considerable loop where it moves from the top tube to the seat stay. This creates more friction, so if there is such a loop, remove and cut it short enough so that there is a smooth curve as it follows the straightest line down to the brake itself.

Hope she's not been put off and goes to/from school by bike by choice and for pleasure

markf

Are you sure that handbrakes are a good idea? Maybe go back to a bike with coaster brakes until her hands get bigger and stronger. Holding a straight line is, as a bunch of people have suggested, accomplished by learning to look further down the road.

Boston Commuter

Please check out her bike and brakes carefully. My experience is that a 10-year-old should be fine with hand brakes if they work properly and the levers are sized correctly for her hands. Of course if she is a new rider, she will need some practice to have control of her bike -- that appears to be rather a steep hill at one end of your ride.

My daughter is 11 now and has been riding with hand brakes for a couple of years, she has not had trouble stopping her bike. She rides a Novarra kid's bike with 24" wheels.

Last summer I met a father and 10-year-old daughter who were touring northern Vermont. The girl was riding 30-40 miles per day across the Green Mountains on a well-fitted road bike with drop handlebars. This is certainly not something I would expect of most 10-year-olds. However it does show what a girl that age can do with good equipment and practice!

Belazriel

I readjusted her brakes so she she has a more play in them. They stop the bike before bottoming out but it's more room than she had before. She's taken a while to learn, we never really pushed her that much on it so she's just gotten out of training wheels this year. She'd be able to ride fine once she was moving but I had to show her quite a few times how to start up without falling.

That's what I want! We didn't ride today (raining lightly and my wife doesn't think she needs to ride every day since she has to go to swimming too) But I remember riding my bike quite a bit when I was a kid, I just never went anywhere. I never was introduced to a bike as an alternative method of transportation. I'm almost sure I put on more miles riding around the median strips by my house in the afternoon than I would have if I biked home from school.