In 2020, my 10-year-old daughter learned to ride a bike for the first time. It wasn’t easy.
In this article, I will teach you what to do and what to avoid so that your children can learn to ride a bike quickly and simply.
What you shouldn’t do
My daughter is afraid of any activity, afraid of getting hurt. So I can assure you that it was not an easy task.
We made a first try at Decathlon, a real nightmare.
Then we offered her a Ridgeback Bikes so that she can learn and ride with us.
One of the first mistakes I made, I can already see you saying, how come at the age of 10 she still can’t ride a bike especially that you are in the bike industry? The longer you wait, the harder it will be for your child. The younger they are, the less scared they are of adventure.
Buying a 4-wheeled bike? To be perfectly honest, I don’t think that’s the answer either. However, I have seen bikes without pedals that help children learn balance from an early age and this is the method we have used.
One last thing, when you teach your child to ride a bike, follow the different steps that we will advise you in the second part of this article and above all, don’t hold your child, it won’t help him/her to learn balance as he/she will put all his/her confidence and weight on you.
Steps to learn how to ride a bike in a simple way
Step 1: This may seem obvious, but unfortunately we still see too many people without helmets. Adult and child, wear a helmet, in any circumstances. If your kid do not want to wear a helmet, no bike ride. Simple.
Also, make sure your child’s bike is the right size. Do not hesitate to ask for advice from specialists such as Aztec’s Bikes.
Step 2: Tell your child to take off with an impulse to build a momentum and raise their legs. Repeat several times so that your child can begin to gain balance.
Step 3: Same exercise, telling your child to start to put their feet on the pedals. The previous exercise helps with both balance and how to position his/her feet for the pedals.
Step 4: Keep going and once your child understands about the pedals, tell them to keep pedaling. This should come naturally.
Step 5: Practice. Once they understand the trick, they have to keep going, pedal again and again. Once they become more confident, do small exercises to teach them how to stop with both brakes. How to change gears. Etc.
And that’s it!
Easy peasy
Now you know, in just 5/10 minutes she finally figured out how to ride a bike.
There’s no secret, it’s like everything else, the more they practice, the easier it will be, the more confident they will become.
Be careful where you take your children cycling for the first time to put them in the best possible environment. Avoid the road, wait until they are confident enough to shift gears, stop, and master their bike properly before shifting to another terrain.
If you need, we’ve made a video on Instagram & Youtube where we share with you how my daughter Carmen learned to ride a bike thanks to the simple steps we have explained before.
Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions, that’s what we’re here for.
