Daddy's Fish BowlA Clear View Of A Father's Family Experiences

Do you remember when you first learned to ride your bike without training wheels? If you’re anything like me, that moment was THE single most important achievement of your 5 to 6 years on this planet. Well some 20 odd years after I learned to do it, I’ve taught Ty to ride without training wheels & it felt as though I had achieved greatness again. What’s even better is that I was able to witness the feeling of a 5 year old conquering his biggest challenge yet & it was invigorating to be on the other side this time. But then that all came crashing to a fiery end; once the excitement subsided, the dreadful memories of my training wheel boot camp came flooding back & the tears of joy that I shed for Ty turned to tears of heartache and pain.

You might be saying to yourself: “come on Keith, it couldn’t have been that bad” Well it was, first off, when I was taught to ride, there were no fancy bike helmets & pads. If there were I surely didn’t have them. Handy “teach your kid to ride” guides, like the one I’m writing right now weren’t readily available either. So the process was a very long, tedious, & injury full one. My Dad thought it’d be a good idea to start teaching me in the grass, “the grass is soft” he said, “it doesn’t hurt if you fall” he said. WRONG, the grass is not soft and it certainly hurt when I fell.  I think his words gave me a false sense of security and caused me to believe that I was invincible as long as I was in the grass. 

Once we moved to the pavement, I was so badly bruised up that the fear of another fall is probably the only thing that kept me upright for so long.  My Dad gave me the “I won’t let go until you tell me line” and we were off.  Unfortunately, my Mom hadn’t gotten the memo and when she came outside and witnessed me riding was so overjoyed that she began applauding my efforts.  Well this kind of tipped me off to the fact that Dad was no longer holding on, my first thought was the pavement is a lot harder than the grass so I have to stop before this ends badly.  Between all of the excitement, I totally forgot all of my brake safety lessons and this lesson ended in a big boom.  Let’s just say I stuck to my scooter for a while after that.

My experience with riding wasn’t fun, which is part of the reason I put off teaching Ty for so long, but luckily his experience was a lot more pleasurable than mines. He didn’t have one scrape, cut, or bruise by the time we finished.  Hell, he only fell once and even that wasn’t a complete fall.  He was a natural and it warmed my heart to see him excel so well.  I don’t know if it was the 95 degree heat, or his own determination, but we were only out there for 5 minutes before he took off on his own and was riding freely.  He was ecstatic, I was relieved.  All of the alcohol, peroxide, and band aids could be safely tucked away in the medicine cabinet for another time.

***Sidenote*** I’ve talked to my parents about my memories of learning to ride and they deny all events.  They claim, I learned to ride in a matter of minutes and didn’t shed a tear doing so.  Did I obtain the memories of my past from some movie or TV show, or are they covering up a family conspiracy?  They sounded suspicious in their recollection and kept giving each other shifty glances (We had this conversation over FaceTime) so I don’t believe them. Until time machines are cheap enough for household use, the debate wages on.

Tips To Teach Your Kid To Ride Without Training Wheels

• Start with a scooter, it teaches the child the art of balancing their weight, which is crucial for riding without training wheels
• Don’t hold the handlebars, hold the seat only.  The handle bars are used for both steering and balance, if you hold on to them, the child won’t get a since of their weight shifting and how to adjust accordingly
• Ensure they have a good understanding of how to use the brakes so that once they get going, they’ll be able to stop without jumping (or falling) off the bike.
• Tell them up front that they are probably going to fall and may even get a scratch or cut.  This makes them aware of the possibility so that if it happens they will be more willing to get back on and try again.
• Don’t tell them that you won’t let go, the shock and enjoyment of a child realizing that they’re doing it on their own is enough to cause an immediate crash.  Instead, by informing them that you will let go at some point, they already know that they’ll be doing it on their own at some point
• Avoid the grass. It is more difficult to pedal in the grass than on the pavement, which diverts attention away from more important things such as balance and proper break usage

These are the tips I used to teach Ty to ride his bike in under 5 minutes, they may not be all inclusive or universal for every child, but I’d say it’s a good place to start.  What tips or tricks have you used to teach your child?  Are there any memories of your own learning experience that helped or hindered your progress in becoming a teacher?