I was a self taught cyclist. We were visiting my grandmother who lived in a small town on a dead end street. I was desperate to learn how to ride a bike, so I somehow persuaded my father to take my aunt's bike out of the basement so that I could try. This was a full size woman's bike with huge 28" wheels. However, I could easily straddle the step through frame. I had a scooter at home, so I simply put one foot on a pedal and pushed myself along with the other. So far, so good. I was also used to riding a tricycle, I had a tricycle at home with a huge front wheel, at least 24", so no problem with pedalling. Once I got up to speed, I lifted my other foot onto the pedal and I was off, with the bike saddle prodding me between my shoulder blades. By the end of the day, I was steady enough to turn around on the street without stopping and ride back to the house. I had to do this to show my father that he had to buy me my own bicycle, there was no other way. A friend of mine says that our family must have cycling in our genes. My son and daughter both completed the Tour de L'Ile de Montreal when they were 10 years old, about 65 km. My son's boys were both able to ride pedal bikes without training wheels by the time they were 4(the younger one was 3 but almost 4). My son used a balance bike to teach his kids. Both of them were able to balance on the bike, lift their feet and roll along when they were 3 years old, you would have to run to keep up with them. My daughter's girls used training wheels. The older one was still using them by the time that her younger sister had learned to ride without them. All kids are different, its just that they progress at different speeds. My oldest grandson did a 25 km ride when he was 6 years old, he was very proud to be able to ride to his grandmother's home