Mallory’s bike training part one
Mallory asked me the other week to take the training wheels off her bike. I think it had something to do with the Franklin book we got about the little turtle learning to ride a bike. I recall being older when the training wheels came off, but then I also recall hearing somewhere that training wheels are rubbish for helping ride a bike.
So off they came.
Last weekend I took the bike to my dad’s and we did a little biking up and down the gravel drive, but the weather was so bad we didn’t get very far.
This weekend is a bit different. She’s wanting on the bike often. Mostly it was about me running along beside her, one hand on her shoulder, the other on the handle bar.
But today she said she wanted to ride without me holding on. Now, she still hasn’t mastered the notion of getting going (or stopping for that matter) but I said I’d get her going, count to three and let go. She said that was fine.
And so we did. She made it a few metres, started wobbling, and grabbed for me. I could hear her start to greet as her bike started to tilt, so I thought that would be it for that, but a minute later she wanted to try on her own again.
And so we did. Many more times. Each time she got a little further, and she got to the point where she would slow herself and put her foot down when she felt like she was going over.
It’ll be a while before she’s riding on her own for reals, but this first step has me very excited.
March 27th, 2010 at 7:38 pm
Well done Mallory – first skating on the canal – now biking in the hood. I think this is great! C
March 28th, 2010 at 12:00 am
They are, cause they don't teach balance. If Mallory is having trouble, take the pedals off and get her to practice pushing the bike along with her feet. We did this with our kids and both were riding in a week.