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Scared 6 y.o on tag-along bike?

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Scared 6 y.o on tag-along bike?

Old 09-13-05, 07:17 AM
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Scared 6 y.o on tag-along bike?

My daughter (average-size six year old) is very anxious & scared about riding. I suspect she might be braver on a Burley Piccolo, but it's a lot of money to lay out if it's not helpful. Anybody have experience with this? Thanks.
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Old 09-13-05, 07:51 AM
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What scares her about it? Is she affraid of getting hurt because she may fall? Has she ridden a bike at all yet? Have you sat down and spoke with her about itIf not you may want to start her out on something with training wheels at a local park.

The Piccolo should work but I do not know you or your daughters personality so I could not say if that would work for you.

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Old 09-13-05, 08:28 AM
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I guess I should have included more in my initial post. Her fear is falling and getting hurt. She rides slowly and with some fear with training wheels, and pretty much panics without training wheels. She is not scared when on a bike that is too small for her without pedals (scooting along with her feet). She loves being in the trailer but is quickly outgrowing that, obviously.

Right now I am just concentrating on putting time in on the bike with training wheels b/c I don't want to totally freak her out. She does seem to be less scared of things in general when she thinks I'm in control, which is why I'm considering the tag-along.

I read a lot here about kids who are great at cycling, but I'm curious about those that haven't started out so well.
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Old 09-13-05, 09:32 AM
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I would say keep her on the training wheels and keep them flush with the ground so for now she does not have to worry about balance at a slow speed, put the pedals on and have her get used to riding with them rather then just pushing along with her feet. Once she is comfortable with the pedals raise the training wheels a bit so she can get used to balancing the bike. Then slowly raise the wheels until you feel comfortable she can ride with out them.

You should explain to her that she may fall from time to time but she needs to get right back on after each fall unless of course she really injures herself (broken bone, sprain, etc. etc. etc.). May be you can learn to do a controlled fall so she can see you fall and get right back up. Also, just be sure not to make a big fuss when she does fall if she only scrapes herself. I know with my little girl, when she sees me crash hard and get back up she is more inclined to keep trying (she will even crash on purpose so she can "Be like Daddy" which has helped her learn to fall with out to much injury.

Lastly, always have her wear a properly fitted helmet.



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Old 09-13-05, 09:39 AM
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Originally Posted by whatever6304
I guess I should have included more in my initial post. Her fear is falling and getting hurt. She rides slowly and with some fear with training wheels, and pretty much panics without training wheels. She is not scared when on a bike that is too small for her without pedals (scooting along with her feet). She loves being in the trailer but is quickly outgrowing that, obviously.

Right now I am just concentrating on putting time in on the bike with training wheels b/c I don't want to totally freak her out. She does seem to be less scared of things in general when she thinks I'm in control, which is why I'm considering the tag-along.

I read a lot here about kids who are great at cycling, but I'm curious about those that haven't started out so well.
We're in the starting out stage as well- my son rides with me on the trail-a-bike, and talks about riding his bike without the training wheels, but has yet to muster the nerve to do it yet.

My theory on his nerve is this: Every good experience he has on a bike-like conveyance is time well spent developing his nerve. So we're putting a lot of time in on the Trail-a-bike, and I take him out on his training wheels as Dad-n-son time. He'll have much more time on the bike when he is ready to go, and we get to spend time together doing something we both enjoy in the meantime.

When we (my wife and I) were active rock climbers I was always struck with how much more comfortable I was with heights when we got out regularly. Take a couple months off, and boy! did I have problems with the exposure.
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Old 09-13-05, 11:17 AM
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If you want to help alleviate her fears, you can buy her a mouth guard, elbow and knee pads and gloves (total cost of under $20) in addition to her helmet. Having all that stuff on can really give confidence to some kids who fear falling--it works great for my 6 year old who is just beginning to ride without training wheels. Sure it's not going to prevent broken bones if she really takes a spill, but it may be enough to get over the psychological hurdle to let her relax and enjoy riding on your tag-along bike.

It will also give you peace of mind that she won't knock her teeth out, which would be a lasting reminder for the rest of your life if she did freak out and fall (and save you some medical/dental bills).

Lastly, I highly recommend the tag along bike. You probably will never fall over on that and she'll gain quickly gain confidence riding it. In my experience, the bigger the kids get while riding with training wheels, the more often they'll fall over because the bike becomes so much more unstable due to the seat being raised (higher center of gravity) and the kids riding faster (causing instability while cornering too sharply, with the main point of contact with the road being one training wheel and the front wheel, sometimes lifting the rear wheel off the ground--ACK!!). A few falls while riding with training wheels may make her never want to get back on a bike if she's already afraid.

Last edited by RRZ; 09-13-05 at 11:23 AM.
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Old 09-14-05, 06:10 AM
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I think the tag along is a great way to build her confidence. With a properly fitted helmet, and gloves she will soon have a smile from ear to ear. What I would do, is show her how the tag along is just that, and Mom is the one doing the controlling. Then put her in the seat and go slow enough to keep the bike moving without steering wobble. She will be good to go.

Once that happens, watch out, she will rapidly turn into a cycling fool, and you will be the one trying to keep up.

Good Luck and most importantly have fun. The time you spent with your daughter will be memories that will last forever.
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Old 09-14-05, 06:51 AM
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Mine was anxious at first (she's 6 also) about it tipping because a trail-a-bike is a lot wobblier than a 2-wheel trailer. I started out just having her sit on it a few times while I sat up front and braced it. I had her put her feet up on the pedals while I leaned gently side to side to show her that we wouldn't fall over (not often, anyway). After she was OK with that we took off, and the thrill of the thing overcame her anxieties.

If you have a hybrid or mountain bike try hitching to that, it's more stable with a trailer than a traditional road bike.

Building on what bigmark said, go slow, but not so slow that you have to do a lot of steering corrections. With a trail-a-bike, the ride smooths out as you go faster, so go as fast as you need to provide a steady ride.
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Old 09-14-05, 09:34 AM
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Thanks for the helpful responses--we're borrowing a trail-a-bike for the next couple of days, and we'll see how it goes.
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Old 09-17-05, 06:18 PM
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My 7yr old daughter is about the same. She can balance fine, even coasts down big hills. Put the pedals on and she's scared to death. Several kids in her class ride fine.

I'm having my LBS put together a Trek Mt. Train with gears. I really wanted the burley, but $199 vs. $3?? and my wife returning to school full time made up my mind. Although if you have the cash, the Burleys sell for almost new prices on ebay. So when she outgrows it you should be able to sell it, and prolly have a total cost of ownership lower than a cheap one. And the folks here claim it tracks a little better with it's attachment centered over the rear wheel pivot point.

One of our biggest reasons for ordering this is family rides. Even when she learns to ride, I doubt she will be able to handle a 20-30 mile ride with the family. And she is really too big for our trailer already (height not weight), but we keep strapping her in there. Hopefully in 2-3 years she can go the distance on her own, and my son can switch from the trailer to her trailer bike.

I can't wait to go riding with my daughter on her own...someday.
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Old 09-17-05, 07:25 PM
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Thing about biking is that you do fall. I have 3 daughters and taught 2 to ride. The third will learn next season. I try to remind them when they are just learning that falling is natural and so are making mistakes. Everyone has to make mistakes to learn something new. As a parent you can have a huge effect in making those accidents less painful. I find that the fear of pain is often worse than the pain itself. Whenever I am injured and a bit bloody I try to never show the pain. I might acknowledge that it does sting, but that it will heal quickly. Likewize when a kid is injured I try to not over-react, often they will see the fear in your face and freak out.

We just bought an original trailobike for $180, it is a 7 speed. I like the way the mount joint works. The 5 year old "baby" loves it. And she can learn to count. We tag that behind our Burley Rock and Roll. I keep the speed down to under 20mph. Once she was in too low of a gear and called out for us to stop becuase "my bike is broke". We have owned the another single speed version, but its mount was poorly designed and tended to put too much torque on the seat post. If you tour remember that you cant use a rear rack with a tagalong.

Kids should have:
Helmet and full length gloves, or teach them to fall on their palms of the half finger gloves, so they dont tear up their finger tips-- that can cause nerve damage.
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Old 09-23-05, 12:40 AM
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From experience, give her a scooter and let her learn and gain confidence in her own way.

There are no champion six year olds all kids are different, I've seen parents push kids to achieve a specific task such as riding instead of looking for developmental steps. I've then seen those kids wary and confused of the task once it is achieved and the pressure is off though mum or dad is delighted.

Its big picture stuff, look for her comfort zone in an activity that will contribute to the final goal. you will find most kids are happy to ride a scooter which indirectly gives them balance, steering/control whilst coordinating the application of power with their legs, all the things she will need to ride a bike.

I went through this exercise and still do with both my sons the second being a wary type, he was happy on a scooter and I left an appropriate size bike against the garage wall, once a week we went to a nice flat park for a picnic and ride where I gave him a few starts on the bike without training wheels and then let him go enjoy himself on his scooter and the playground.

It took over six months but one day I heard a rummage in the front of the garage and looked out to see him heading up the street like he'd been riding for years. It turns out his schoolmate had just got a bike, never discount peer pressure.

He was 5 years 8 months at the time, within two years he was riding on a velodrome.

Give the training wheels a big miss they will only delay learning, keep the pressure down and the fun up and you will eventually end up with a rider.
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Old 09-23-05, 08:57 AM
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My five year old was the same way. The smartest thing that I ever did was to get a good helmet and a good set of knee and elbow pads...and dump the training wheels. I lowered the seat on his bike so that his feet could touch, took off the pedals and found a place in the yard with a little incline so it was easy to push/coast. At first I only took him out onto this soft grass to practice rolling along as I pushed. I kept it really short, like for maybe 10 minutes each time we went out. At first that might have only been a couple of days a week. I made sure that he could feel me right there holding the bike, and hear me softly encouraging him. At this point, I figured that he would either like it, or still be scared. I decided that either way it was best not to push him. That turned out to be really smart.

After about a week of doing that though, he realized that could slowly coast a bit on his own and fall all that he wanted and it would barely even leave him with grass stains. The pads were key though, because I noticed that they got pretty dinged and nicked up from contact with the bike. After a couple of days of that, he got to where he actually enjoyed wiping out. He kind of made a game out of it.

When he said he was ready to try the pavement, all that we did was roll around the driveway, or up at the school parking lot in the evenings when the place was deserted. This was mostly with me pushing while holding the back of the saddle to keep him going and, if need be, balanced. He couldn't believe how much easier it was to roll smoothly on the smooth pavement compared to plowing through the grass. In short order, we put the pedals on and let him get the feel of those, mostly with me pushing. I was amazed at how fast he picked it up from there. After only a couple of circuits, he had his balance and could pedal along without wobbling too badly. We kept it short and sweet. He had a couple of spills but nothing bad enough to scare him. It was a bit longer before we took the pads off. By then, he had his balance, his technique and his confidence on the bike.

We still stick to quiet areas to ride. He has a healthy respect for staying off the busy roads. We do bike handling outings up at the school parking lot. He still dumps the bike every now and then but isn't scared of getting dinged up. He has learned how to step off the bike and keep his feet when needed. We did our first rally (6 mile) ride together last weekend. It was a hoot! And he is already bugging me to find us another rally with a family route.

Good luck with yours. Hope this helps!
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Old 09-24-05, 07:21 AM
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My 6 yo learned to ride w/out training wheels from her playmate; one day after her playdate, she just asked to have her training wheels removed and off she went. We don't exactly know how the transition went but she said that her friend was teasing her for not being able to ride on two wheels, we heared she even shed a few tears.

A week later, she'd ride faster than before- wound up in the ditch for taking her eyes off the road. We've taken her to the "family ride" of the MS150 w/ the trail a bike & she would help me out on steep hills; other times she gives us entertainment singing out of tune w/ her MP3s. She'd shout that its scary when were going over 20MPH downhill but my wife says she actually has a big smile on & pedals to make it go faster.

Like other posts mentioned earlier, I think its important to keep the pressure off (I'm not too good at this myself & I think we just got lucky that she took a positive response to pressure form her friend).

Good luck & keep the fun meter up!!!!!!!! Oh btw what's a Burly????
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