Riding Bikes

My five-year-old daughter is in the process of learning how to ride a bike. She already knows how to balance bike, but the pedals are a completely new thing to her. When she rides a bike with pedals, I have to be there to make sure she doesn’t fall and frequently have to hold the handlebar. I’m sure she will learn at some point and falling is a part of the learning process. I just don’t want it to be so early on in the learning process where is scares her away from it. She already knows how to ride in a straight line pretty well and can do it without me close by. It’s the turns and any uphills and downhill that throw her off.

My wife came up with the idea that because our daughter couldn’t easily reach the ground when she’s on her bike that she learned with a much smaller bike. I thought that this was an interesting idea to explore and try it out today. Maybe it was hunger or being too tired that threw her off. Maybe it was the change in the size of the bike that she was riding. I’m not sure exactly what it was, but my daughter was not interested in learning how to ride today, even though she expressed a lot of interest in trying with a smaller bike.

One thing I constantly stress is being persistent and consistent. Today was an off day, but tomorrow is a new day to learn. Hopefully she can learn how to ride the bike before she starts kindergarten in the fall and if not, we will keep at it until she learns!