Sprout's New Bike Skills

One of my fondest childhood memories is of teaching my youngest sister how to ride a two-wheeler. I was nine, she was four, riding on my hand-me-down red sparkly banana seat bike. I remember how proud I was when she kept going after I let go of the back of the seat. But that memory doesn't hold a candle to watching my own child learn to do things. I am inordinately, embarassingly proud of Sprout's recent accomplishments on his little runner bike.

After near daily practice for a lot of the summer, Sprout has figured out how to glide on his runner bike! This week he's started going much faster & will pick up both feet for a few seconds. He's figured out a really wide-legged stance so that he's sort of tripoded & hasn't fallen over yet has only fallen a few times yesterday. He cried each time, but got right back on.

Of course, I didn't have my video app ready when he did his best gliding, but I got a little. Here he is on Friday:

I have to be honest--he was so slow & cautious when he started with this little bike in late May that I thought he'd take a long time to start gliding. The first few times we put him on it, he'd just stand there, taking a few tiny cautious steps, then quickly requiring us to help him off it.

Here he is just four months ago:

Since then, he's gradually gotten faster & improved his steering abilities. He can get on & off the runner bike much easier than before, probably in large part due to the two or three inches he's grown since getting it.

Among my parent friends, the debate still continues about whether trikes or runner bikes are better for learning to ride a bicycle. For Sprout, I'm positive the runner bike has been the best choice. He likes to ride the trikes at the Family Centre when we go there, but after probably a year of trying them out, he still hasn't figured out how to pedal yet. Considering the strides (sorry for the pun) he's made this summer, I can't wait to see where he's at next summer!

How did you or your kids learn to ride a bike? Did you use a runner bike or a tricycle?



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