Wednesday, October 03, 2012

What age did you learn to ride a bike?


I remember that I was 7, nearly 8, before I started to ride my bike without training wheels (stabilisers).  It took me AGES to master balancing on a bike.  It was my dad and me, in the parking space in front of our house, that morning.  And my dad tried all day to show me how it was done.  He was wonderful and patient at first, and then he began getting more and more impatient until he huffed and finally went inside.  It was only with him gone that I felt more comfortable and was able to ride my bike in a straight line without wobbling or falling off.  I got so excited that I was finally doing it, sped off across the street, couldn't remember how to brake, smashed into the kerb on the other side of the street and nearly fell off from the impact.  But I did it.  I still remember that giddy, amazing feeling of accomplishing something like riding my bike for the first time. 

So it was with that in mind that N and I took E to a nearby field with his bike.  We'd taken the stabilisers off that morning and he was so pumped to start trying.  N ran around with him for a little while, holding the back of the bicycle seat, keeping him upright.  And it was hardly more than an hour, before E was doing it all on his own.  I hope he had the same incredible feeling of accomplishment that I felt.  That surely we all feel! 

8 comments:

  1. I think I was about seven, too. My dad removed the stabilisers of mine and my sister's bikes and we took them down to the park. On the path, my dad was in front of me, helping my sister, and I had my feet on the ground and was pushing myself along. I then decided to try pedaling, and managed to actually cycle(!) for a couple of metres. I wobbled past my dad and sister shouting 'Look! I'm doing it!' before promptly falling off (luckily, I landed on the grass). I remember how proud I was when we went home and I told my mum that I could ride a bike! :)

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    1. YAY! I love happy stories like that. You did it without needing any help at all, that's amazing :)

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  2. I bought my son a bike without stabilisers in August. It's still sitting in the store room unused as he's too scared to even try! He's just 6 so I'll try him again in spring.

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    1. Aww, bless him! Maybe with some more confidence in a years time, he'll feel better about it!

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  3. I was probably about 7 or 8. I recall my younger sister had a proper bike (albeit with stabilisers) while I was still on a tricycle. I remember my first trip down the cycle track on a proper bike, I fell into a patch of stinging nettles - ow!

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    1. Oh no! That's an awful first time riding a bike story :( Stinging nettles, that had to have hurt..

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  4. I was a quite late learner, I was about ten before I got the hang of it. In fact I gave up learning at one point, but then one day when my friends were off and about, i picked up one of their bikes and just rode it. :)

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    1. With no trouble? Yay! Maybe that's what I should have done.. would have saved on some of the trauma :)

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