Taught my 7 year old grandson to ride without training wheels on Wednesday. On Friday we rode 13 miles. Him on his little 18" Next kids bike. He wanted to go further. Part of the ride was moderately hilly, too. Today we only did 6 miles, but temps were in the mid 90's so we took it easy and went swimming instead.

Thirteen miles! That's impressive. I'd say you're a grandfather that has an impact. What a special day.

Fantastic.

I am still working with my 4.7 year old granddaughter on the no training wheels thing. She seems to prefer the run bike since she went down the drive and crashed into one of the prized hostas. Will keep at it. I think training wheels just delay learning how to ride. I see kids with their parents on the rail to trail with training wheels. Few of the kids look very happy about the deal. A better place to learn would be an empty school parking lot.

Try taking the pedals off the bike and then letting her coast on it and "get the feel" Doing this on a slight down hill grade works too. Then after a few trys at that put the pedals back on the bike and try. I learned this technique from a friend and it worked for my daughter where nothing else seemed to. She was riding on her own quickly after that.

Saw this technique used with a youngster at our local park. They have a few gentle bumps like a BMX track and there was a crowd of 6 or so cycling at speed over the bumps. He was the last one and was no slower but he had no cranks fitted to his bike. He was just as capable as the others and seemed to be enjoying himself just as much.

This guy on his first day without training wheels at age 3 years & 6 weeks. He did 2 &1/2 miles that day. Now he is doing ramp jumps that his big brother built (6). If only pull-up diapers were that easy.

Here's what worked for us. Our backyard is moderately hilly. I would get him seated on the bike then push him down one of the small grassy hills. He would coast till he ran out of steam then fall over. Sometimes he would land on his side, sometimes he would stay up on his feet. He's a tough little guy so the falls didn't hurt him.
As time went on he would add a little peddling before he slowed down and crashed. Finally he got to where he could balance and propel himself.
It took the better part of a day to get him riding but now he's like the Energizer Bunny.

I held my kids up and pushed their bikes until I thought I was going to drop. I see kids in the neighborhood riding training wheels, with the bike on a terrible angle, until the wheels wear out. I'm looking forward to trying the no pedals thing with my grand kids. I've already got the bikes, the kids are 14 months and 3 weeks old, so it will be a while. I do have training wheels as a back-up, but the kids or their parents aren't to know that.

13 miles just after getting off training wheels at age 7? seriously? ... WOW ...

Yup. And he would have gone further but I made us turn around and start back. I wanted to make sure we didn't have trouble getting back to the truck.