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Old 01-16-08, 11:50 AM
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Paul L.
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Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Arizona, USA
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Bikes: Mercier Corvus (commuter), Fila Taos (MTB), Trek 660(Got frame for free and put my LeMans Centurian components on it)

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Originally Posted by graywolf
Since there are a couple of posts on how to teach a kid to ride a bicycle, I will present my method.

1. Set the seat to where the kid can put his feet down without falling over.
2. Give the kid the bike.
3. Go watch TV.
4. When the kid comes and wants you to watch him ride his bicycle, go out and watch, and give him lots of praise and hugs.

This works for two reasons.
1. No one wants to be watched making a fool of himself, not even a little kid.
2. Kids love attention, so they will keep falling off the bike to get it if you are there.
3. Since the kid made the effort and learned for himself, he deserves that attention he did not get in the second instance.
4. He has learned a valuable lesson about self-reliance.

And finally spend time going on short rides with the kid. You will both enjoy it, if you are not critical of his performance.

Note: I used him in a gender neutral way above.
Worked for one of my sons (the one with a can do attitude big enough to make Richard Simmons appear a pessimist). The other son gets discouraged easy without encouragement so it took a lot of helping him. Will see how my youngest daughter goes on her birthday next month (she's turning the magical age of 4).

Anyway, the lowest common denominator is practice and doing. Whether supervised or not. Just do it.
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