robcor2

My son has been riding with me since before he turned 4 on the trail-a-bike. Shortly after his 4th b-day I took him to the park and gave him a push on his own bike for the first time without training wheels and sure enough he took off and has not needed any help since. He has ridden as far as 8 miles straight and his total that day was over 10 miles. He rides 4 days a week and loves it. I am ecstatic and proud.

My question is: Has anyone ever heard of such a young person doing this? Are there others? Do you know of any programs for bike riding for advanced kids? Suggestions for further encouragement of his riding? I have looked on Google and have come up with nothing.

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions.

atbman

Fi Robcor - congrats on your kid's achievements - pretty impressive. Depending on terrain, most active kids you son's age could do what he's done, but parents can underestimate their ability, but there's no doubt that riding the trailer bike with you has built his stamina and confidence up.

I don't know of any US programmes, but you could log on the the British Schools Cycling Association site, www.bsca.org.uk, and look at their Trix Awards scheme. It gives a number of skills at bronze, silver and gold level which you could follow. The bronze award is about basic bike handling skills, the silver is based on skills needed for off-road riding and gold, well, let's just say that I'm to old and slow to be able to do it, tho' I can give them some pointers.

Good luck and tell him he's a pretty fit kid.

Just remembered about US Bike Rodeos. Google them and there's a lot of material you could use. The road safety stuff will probably be a bit above his head, but the activities would be useful.

by the way, you may not know what you're letting yourself in for in the long(ish) run. Two of our kids, aged 8 and 10, did the Tour de France Alpe d'Huez climb a couple of years ago and two of our kids did the 70-mile Wetherby-Filey Charity ride - when they were 8

You may want to consider getting some extra miles in yourself

If you want more support, why not form a local kids' bike club? There may be other parents in your position and there's strength in numbers. Since you're in the famously litigous US, you might want to consult the US cycling Federation or the League of American Bicyclists about insurance and coaching

DieselDan

If you are in the USA outside a major market or the few odd cycling towns, you are pretty much screwed. We have kids around here that love to ride and some have serious road bikes, and some parents tried to have races for them, but were shut down as being too dangerous. (WTF?)

atbman

Who shut them down? And where were they proposing to race? You can run a fairly respectable race on a large, coned carpark - I believe you have those in the States?

DieselDan

Car parks have speed bumps, sleeping policemen as Jeremy calls them, and you can't race bicycles over speed bumps. Car parks are also private property, and the USA is well know for litigation. We were racing in a park within a planned development, but people complained we were putting kids in harms way by allowing them to race bicycles. The kids do get to race their own event in the two critirums held here every year.

Trust me, in the USA, bikes are widely considered as toys, unlike guns. Let's stop there before we end up in P&R...

cod.peace

Isn't riding with Dad and having fun reward enough at 4? I wouldn't stop saving for his college fund just yet.

atbman

[QUOTE=DieselDan;10344200]Car parks have speed bumps, sleeping policemen as Jeremy calls them, and you can't race bicycles over speed bumps. Car parks are also private property, and the USA is well know for litigation. We were racing in a park within a planned development, but people complained we were putting kids in harms way by allowing them to race bicycles. QUOTE]

Good grief! Which people? And what proof? And who actuallly took the steps to prohibit it and on what legal grounds/authority?

You - and the kids - have my profound sympathy at such drivelling idiocy. Still, they could always switch to American Football, a sport renowned for its safety

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0815154430.htm

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0703171622.htm

DieselDan

Some people don't understand "mind your own business".

We could play rugby.

atbman

Certainly, nearly as safe as cycling

CarynLea

Hey, that was cool how the kid transitioned from the tag-a-long directly to a bike with no need for training wheels, thats very neat.

robcor2

thanks for all the replies. The computer has been down, so I haven't been able to check them. It is interesting how he transitioned form trail-a-bike to regular bike so easily. Many of my fellow parents have gotten their children balance bikes......their kids are still not able to put the action of pedaling into play. I think that these "balance bikes" actually hinder theirs kids progression. Oh......and codpiece......thanks for your concern.....I actually think that athletics make for better students not worse. Comments like yours make me want to stay away from these boards.

atbman

Not my experience robcor2. We use club balance bikes for the very young/small ones as they have slightly restricted steering to they can't swerve too much, but turn the bars enought to control balance. The bigger/older kids use some of our smaller bikes (bmx/small mtb style) without the pedals (or their own). we usually get them going before the half-time break.

Of course, with anything up to 50+ kids taught each year, the parents/grandparents who do it for us have developed some good teaching and observation skills.

caloso

That's wonderful. I'm the dad of an early rider as well. We took his training wheels off when he was 3 years, 3 months. Here's a short video of him when he was 4.



Every kid is different. His twin sister is still on training wheels and the trail-a-bike, even though she's actually a better natural athlete. I also suspect she just really enjoys having Dad do all the work....


Most criteriums have a kids' race -- usually just a hundred meters or so for the really little kids and a lap for the bigger kids. Everyone gets a ribbon and it's a hoot for all involved.

robcor2

Wow! Caloso.....you must be so proud! great video! I just got my mother-in-law and Father-in-law both bikes so they can spend time with my son on his bike. The bicycle is becoming this thing that binds us all in the family.....oh.....we have a song that we sing when we go uphills now. It is cool to watch him try to sing when he is working so hard.

oh....Atbman....I am sure that balance bikes are working for some, just has not been the experience with those I know. All cycling is good, because it involves excercise and self confidence. He has brought up wanting to do cyclocross like he saw last year, but we will try to do some stuff this summer here in town I hope.

5kdad

I did Ragbrai last year. One morning, passed a lady riding with her son, 4 1/2 years old. Found out later, he rode 22 miles that day! Here's a link to the photo:
https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/p...v=0&size=large