READY

Sponsored by Generations United (www.gu.org) I work with a Intergenerational Balance and Natural Movement Program (Balance Bookends) for young children (3-8 year olds and older adults 55+) to promote various physical and social acitivities that revolve around skating and cycling (in both Europe and the US).

As a result of introducing a balance learning product into the US market from Europe last year, I become increasingly shocked at what I witnesed in regards to the fitness levels and lack of activity/ability when I compared Europeans and their US counterparts.

I know that cultural differences and reliance on the automobile play a big part in this. However, I was so surprised that I submitted the following paper to the International Velo-City 2007 Conference (www.velo-city2007.com) to discuss the issue.

The Challenge of Raising A Cyclist In 21st Century America
In Europe the laufrad has "revolutionized" the way 2-5 year olds learn how to ride a bike without the dependency created by "stuetzraeder" (outside stabilizers). It has helped thousands of children get on the path to an active lifestyle and garnered numerous toy design and educational awards.

Yet in North America there is a reluctance to embrace the laufrad, an inexplicable resistance to comprehending the benefits of the "laufrad phenomena" in Europe and denial of the increasing emergence of "training wheel dependency" in American society.

Even with an overall flat-to-declining US bike riding population, surging levels of childhood obesity and more children abandoning bike riding because they become dependent on outside stabilizers (known as "training wheels" in North America), the self-proclaimed world's leading bike magazine, Bicycle (July 06 issue) stated: "the best way to teach 2-4 year olds how to ride is to put them on a "training wheel" equipped bike*."

Many Americans blithely say, "we just take training wheels off, while Europeans add pedals." Actual rider-ship belies that statement. More European children are learning to ride untethered at an earlier age. More American children are carrying extra body surface area and are learning to balance a bike at a later age, if at all.

*The Article was called "How to Raise a Cyclist". (An extensive several page spread.)
Here is the LOE to Bicycle Magazine,

Dear Editor,

I was caught by surprise when your How to Raise a Cyclist article recommended starting 2-4year olds on "a training wheel equipped bike."

Perhaps a broader glance around the world may have better grounded your essay writer's instruction.

European cycle enthusiasts have recently recognized so-called, yet mis-labeled "training wheels" were the construct of clever marketing nearly a half century ago. (They offer little benefit in the way of balance training and generally instill fear/doubt in a rider's natural balance capability.)

By using a new form of pedal-free bike for the past three years on the continent, the application of outside stabilizers has become the exception and the average age of newly self-supported bike riders is now about four and a half.

Though this may seem a minor point, when the underlying issue for "raising a cyclist in the U.S." is actually countering the influence of a sedentary lifestyle and a culture of obesity. Shockingly, health organizations like the National Institutes of Health (NIH), American Heart Association and American Medical Association report balance ability now peaks at about the age of 10, that 18% of adults (18-55 years of age) report being non-bike balance capable and that childhood obesity is expected to reach the 25% level in the U.S. population by 2010. It's no wonder the NIH predicts one out of three (one out of two hispanic) children born after 2000 will contract diabetes. It's also no wonder the bike industry will be facing lower and lower rider-ship levels if more and more children get stuck on training wheels and aren't weaned off before they're drawn to the virtual fascination of a screen-based substitute.


Based on many of the comments already seen in this forum, I would be very interested in getting a full range of reader feedback on how they've "experienced the challenge of raising a cyclist in 21st Century America."

My goal would be to synthesize some of the experiences to include in the June 07 presentation in Munich. Thanks!

GamecockTaco

well, not sure exactly what you're looking for, but, I have 4 kids, now 8, 6, 3 and 19 months.

Each of the older 3 started riding with training wheels by age 3, the older 2 on a 12" bike and the 3 yr old got a 16" giant on her 3rd birthday.

The 8 year old was 5.5 when we finally took the training wheels off of his 16" and he was riding without them within 1 day, starting and stopping confidently within about 2 weeks.

The 6 year old insisted that same day that we take the training wheels off his 12" bike and he was actually riding unassisted before the 8 year old (albeit only by a couple of hours).

The 3 year old has now had her training wheels off for about a week and is riding circles in our cul-de-sac without assistance, although she hasn't quite got starting down pat yet. My guess is long before her 4th d-day in March she'll have that down no problem.

Good luck.

READY

"Not sure exactly what you're looking for..."

Right on target! Sounds like each of your children learned to ride @ a younger & younger age because they had such positive role models... Bet your youngest is getting a real eyeful of your 3 year old in action!

GamecockTaco

and, he already loves to be in the seat on the back of my mtb.

BUT, first things first, no helmet, no ride. Only time he complained about the helmet was the first time we put it on him before the bike started moving. After we started rolling, no complaints. Of course, just as "car comas" happen, so too do "bike blackouts" as he would fall asleep after about 20 minutes of riding.

Paul L.

My 4 year olds recently started riding by themselves on their 12 inch bikes (were too slow with training wheels so I took them off one day and the younger of the two spent the afternoon figuring out how to ride and his brother got it within a few days. From their they went for rides with me and their older sister (7). It soon became apparent that they were spinning their little legs off to keep up so we changed them up to 16" wheel bicycles which they can ride for 11 mile rides now (and when we got home they asked if we could go for another ride). My 7 year old managed to ride 18 miles with me the other night. Our 2 year old still rides in the trailer but I expect she will be riding soon when she turns 3. I look forward to the day we have a 5 person paceline cruising the roads every Saturday but I am also enjoying the here and now with them.

BluesDawg

Both my boys rode with training wheels to about age six. They gave little resistance to the idea of removing them and quickly adapted to riding without them. They both became enthusistic riders within a few years.

One thing I've always thought to help is to get cheap, flimsy training wheels so they bend and become less useful the more they are used. Once the bike is leaning way over to reach the support of the training wheels, the kid decides it is easier to balance upright than to lean on the training wheels.

Not to discount the advantages of another type of starter bike, but I don't think the typical training wheel equipped bikes are much of a factor in creating fat and lazy kids. I think there are plenty of cultural causes, like fat and lazy or overprotective parents that are more of a factor.

READY

...I don't think the typical training wheel equipped bikes are much of a factor in creating fat and lazy kids. I think there are plenty of cultural causes, like fat and lazy or overprotective parents that are more of a factor.[/QUOTE]

You are "right as rain" on that one. When harassed recently by the alliance for healthy generation to contribute to the effort against Childhood Obesity, I asked them about promoting exercise and cycling and pointed out DisneyWorld as an example:

Now if We Could Just Get Mickey to Walk a Bit More...

Obesity in the U.S. is not an Epidemic, It’s a Culture!

Beyond Attacking the Symptom. Examining the Culture of Obesity.

Taken a trip to the U.S. version of Mecca lately? Do an instant scan around the Magic Kingdom next time you’re in Disney World and note the "cradle to early grave" anti-exercise philosophy that abounds. Splayed before your eyes is the grandeur of all American splendor: wheeled vehicles everywhere. Thousands upon thousands of strollers competing with motorized carts; hobbling those merely hoisting EBSA (extra body surface area) and gulping flagons of syrupy liquids @ every turn. We need to get to the root of the childhood obesity epidemic by addressing the physical activity portion of the equation, as well as diet.

Lest someone think I'm critical, I observed dozens and dozens of folks get in and out of carts and walk w/o problems...convenience was the issue. Sadly, some people should spend a few days with me in rehab work for the elderly and they just might bike/walk a tad more before they really lose the capability...

As RJ the Raccoon (Bruce Willis VO) put it in "Over the Hedge"...pointing at an SUV..."They say because of these, humans are slowly losing the ability to walk."

WoodsterSS

My boys dumped the training wheels at age 4 and 3 1/2. In retrospect, I realize that there was no real point in using them, they just needed to be trained to ride. When I first went to a bike store to ask about a trike, the advice I received was, skip the trike and the kid will learn to ride a bike faster, so we did. Then I went on runs with my first child as he used his training wheels and noted that occasionally he would balance rather than rock onto the trainers. I also noticed that the training wheels were actually a hindrance in learing to turn as he was leaning out of the turn. So I took them off and held the back of the seat and ran with my son. Immediately his speed went up (pant, pant) and the amount of time he balanced the bike increased dramatically. Only the turns remained fully supported, but at least he got the feel of leaning into the turn. Within a couple of weeks of this training, he could feel his own balance and told me to let go and that was it. Because of that experience I started much earlier with the second child and he was solo 6 months earlier. By age 5 my youngest complete the Chilly Hilly (33 miles) on his own (7. 5 hours, but he completed it.) Kids are capable of much more than we give them credit for, but the parents must put in the time and forgo some of their own indulgence (like completing the Chilly Hilly in 2 hours) so they can help their kids to attain theirs.

kf5nd

I think the original poster misses the entire point of how to raise a cyclist in 21st century America.

95% of kids learn to ride a two-wheeled bike; they eventually graduate from the "stuetzraeder". Maybe later than Europeans, but they graduate nonetheless.

The real challenge is getting them to continue cycling and developing as a mature, capable, safe cyclists after they get their driver's license at age 16 and migrate into that Great American Birthright, the gasoline-powered cage.