I've Got A Bike You Can Ride It If You Like
I was determined to teach Genevieve how to ride a bike this spring. She's definitely old enough; I saw a 3 year old at the playground the other day riding a bike. She also was tipping over when using the training wheels which made them pretty unsafe.
I vaguely remember when my father took the training wheels off of my bike. I remember being in the school yard and having a great sense of accomplishment as I cruised around without falling over. How hard could it be to teach her?
Genevieve and I took her bike and walked down to the school yard by our house. She started pedaling while I held her up and she refused to not fall over. It was like she just wanted to lay down on the asphalt while moving at 2.5 miles per hour. Well, maybe she didn't really want to but she wasn't putting any effort into _not_ falling over. The first lesson ended with quite a bit of frustration on my part and no progress on her part.
It was at that point that I realized that I had no idea what I was doing.
So I went to the source of all useful knowledge for lazy fathers: the internet. Sure enough there are tons of web pages devoted to how to teach your kid to ride a bike. Some involved exactly what I was trying while others involved using towels for some strange reason. I also found out that the parks department in New York runs free bike riding clinics. They will teach anyone to ride a bike. Now, I'm all for lazy parenting and letting someone else teach my kid to ride a bike but the nearest park was quite a schlep so I did the next best thing. I watched the YouTube video of them teaching someone.
The method involved putting the student on a bike that had its pedals removed and was way too small for them. They would then learn by just scooting around on until they could balance. Once they could balance the pedals were put back and viola they can ride.
Okay, Mr. Smarty-Pants Internet, you are on. Let's see if you can teach my kid to ride a bike. I took the pedals and training wheels off of Sophie's bike and lowered the seat as far as it would go. We took it to the school where Genevieve scooted it around for about 10 minutes before she decided she had had enough and wanted to play on the playground. She wasn't quite able to get enough speed to balance because she was just walking the bike around. A few times she even got caught up in the handle bars. I tried pushing her but I found that I was still doing most of the work.
Round 1
Internet: 0
Genevieve: 1
The following weekend we tried again. This time she tried a little harder and I pushed her a little to give her some speed and she was able to cruise around. She was pretty excited but grew bored quickly and went to play on the playground. We brought Carrie to show her the progress and took the following video.
Round 2
Internet: 1
Genevieve: 1
We didn't get a chance to try again for 3 weekends but we went yesterday. I brought the pedals and a wrench to the playground just in case. On the first push Genvieve was coasting around perfectly. I put the pedals back on and after a few false starts she was biking like a pro. At this point the undersized bike was a handicap as the little wheels and the awkward pedaling angle gave her some issue but she did great. I snapped a quick video, took her home and swapped out bikes. Carrie and Sophie came back to watch as Genevieve tried riding her own bike for the first time.
Round 3
Internet: 2
Genevieve 1
The internet wins. This was by far the easiest, most frustration free way to teach her to ride a bike. If she was more interested in riding we would have done this the first day but I've no complaints. She can ride and now only needs to practice. Perhaps I'll get to take her for a real bike ride this summer.
Now if only the internet could teach Sophie to use the potty.
I vaguely remember when my father took the training wheels off of my bike. I remember being in the school yard and having a great sense of accomplishment as I cruised around without falling over. How hard could it be to teach her?
Genevieve and I took her bike and walked down to the school yard by our house. She started pedaling while I held her up and she refused to not fall over. It was like she just wanted to lay down on the asphalt while moving at 2.5 miles per hour. Well, maybe she didn't really want to but she wasn't putting any effort into _not_ falling over. The first lesson ended with quite a bit of frustration on my part and no progress on her part.
It was at that point that I realized that I had no idea what I was doing.
So I went to the source of all useful knowledge for lazy fathers: the internet. Sure enough there are tons of web pages devoted to how to teach your kid to ride a bike. Some involved exactly what I was trying while others involved using towels for some strange reason. I also found out that the parks department in New York runs free bike riding clinics. They will teach anyone to ride a bike. Now, I'm all for lazy parenting and letting someone else teach my kid to ride a bike but the nearest park was quite a schlep so I did the next best thing. I watched the YouTube video of them teaching someone.
The method involved putting the student on a bike that had its pedals removed and was way too small for them. They would then learn by just scooting around on until they could balance. Once they could balance the pedals were put back and viola they can ride.
Okay, Mr. Smarty-Pants Internet, you are on. Let's see if you can teach my kid to ride a bike. I took the pedals and training wheels off of Sophie's bike and lowered the seat as far as it would go. We took it to the school where Genevieve scooted it around for about 10 minutes before she decided she had had enough and wanted to play on the playground. She wasn't quite able to get enough speed to balance because she was just walking the bike around. A few times she even got caught up in the handle bars. I tried pushing her but I found that I was still doing most of the work.
Round 1
Internet: 0
Genevieve: 1
The following weekend we tried again. This time she tried a little harder and I pushed her a little to give her some speed and she was able to cruise around. She was pretty excited but grew bored quickly and went to play on the playground. We brought Carrie to show her the progress and took the following video.
Round 2
Internet: 1
Genevieve: 1
We didn't get a chance to try again for 3 weekends but we went yesterday. I brought the pedals and a wrench to the playground just in case. On the first push Genvieve was coasting around perfectly. I put the pedals back on and after a few false starts she was biking like a pro. At this point the undersized bike was a handicap as the little wheels and the awkward pedaling angle gave her some issue but she did great. I snapped a quick video, took her home and swapped out bikes. Carrie and Sophie came back to watch as Genevieve tried riding her own bike for the first time.
Round 3
Internet: 2
Genevieve 1
The internet wins. This was by far the easiest, most frustration free way to teach her to ride a bike. If she was more interested in riding we would have done this the first day but I've no complaints. She can ride and now only needs to practice. Perhaps I'll get to take her for a real bike ride this summer.
Now if only the internet could teach Sophie to use the potty.
posted by daniel @ 8:16 PM
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