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!