{"id":7461,"date":"2025-01-02T12:10:52","date_gmt":"2025-01-02T11:10:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/uk\/?p=7461"},"modified":"2025-01-20T12:19:56","modified_gmt":"2025-01-20T11:19:56","slug":"what-ive-learnt-while-trying-to-teach-my-daughter-to-ride-a-bike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/uk\/2025\/01\/02\/what-ive-learnt-while-trying-to-teach-my-daughter-to-ride-a-bike\/","title":{"rendered":"What I\u2019ve Learnt While Trying to Teach My Daughter to Ride a Bike"},"content":{"rendered":"

Are you excited for your child to start riding a bike? Have you read all the instructional guides and are now just waiting for the right weather to begin the journey together? Don\u2019t be discouraged if things don\u2019t go according to plan.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

When my daughter Adina was born, I was convinced she\u2019d be a cyclist. A cyclist\u2019s daughter has to love bikes, right? Or could she have other interests? Everyone says not to push it, so I didn\u2019t. But let\u2019s face it \u2013 every cyclist hopes their kids will share their passion. We look forward to riding together and investing all the time needed to teach them. In return, we expect progress \u2013 not immediately huge steps, but at least some. But in our case, progress just didn\u2019t come. I\u2019m not writing this to complain but to assure other dads with similar experiences that they\u2019re not alone.<\/p>\n

When Adina was a year and a half, a friend gave me a child seat that mounted to the bike\u2019s headset, allowing her to sit in front and enjoy the ride far more than kids sitting behind their parents, staring at their backs. Together, we enjoyed long rides. I loved sharing the experience, and it was obvious she loved it too. To my surprise, one of her first words was \u201cbike.\u201d \u201cBi-ke!\u201d she\u2019d shout every time I started putting on my cycling gear, immediately running for her helmet. The highlight of our \u201ctandem\u201d days was entering a family bike race where we were the only duo riding on one bike.<\/p>\n

\"Cycling<\/a><\/p>\n

The next logical step was a balance bike,<\/a> which teaches kids to steer and maintain balance. We bought a versatile model that could be converted from a tricycle into a two-wheeler as she grew. I started bringing the balance bike along on our walks, offering it to her whenever the conditions or her mood seemed just right. She wasn\u2019t very keen on riding herself, so I often pushed her along instead. But to be honest, she was more interested in stones on the path or butterflies flying by. I didn\u2019t mind; I enjoyed the walks with her, but progress on the bike was non-existent.<\/p>\n

While other kids sped past us on their balance bikes, Adina remained disinterested. Eventually, we stopped bringing the bike on walks. If you\u2019re thinking, \u201cYou shouldn\u2019t have given up,\u201d you\u2019re right. I didn\u2019t give up. That spring, when she was three and a half, she got a bike with training wheels. Adina loved it! It was pink, and to motivate her even more, I added a basket for her toys and lights on the front and back. I couldn\u2019t wait to take her to the park, her helmet decorated with Paw Patrol<\/a> stickers. She eagerly packed Ariel the mermaid and a pony into her basket but insisted on wearing a flowery dress instead of sporty clothes. \u201cWe\u2019re going for a picnic!\u201d she cheered.<\/p>\n

It soon became clear that she lacked the fundamentals she should have learned on the balance bike. Instead of focusing on the path, her attention wandered, and any slight downhill made her nervous. Steering was her biggest issue, which led to two falls when the handlebars \u201cclosed up\u201d. I comforted her each time and didn\u2019t push her. When she wanted to stop, I carried the bike on my shoulder, and we went for ice cream instead.<\/p>\n

Slowly, Adina learned how to pedal and managed to ride loops around the colourful concrete track in the park. But, as it turns out, her interest faded \u2013 and eventually disappeared entirely. Right now, she\u2019s four years and a few months old. The season has ended, and I\u2019m waiting to see what next spring will bring. I\u2019ll stick to my strategy of not pushing or forcing it, so I don\u2019t turn her off cycling entirely. I still believe that every child learns to ride a bike eventually \u2013 it\u2019s just a matter of timing. And how was your story?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Are you excited for your child to start riding a bike? Have you read all the instructional guides and are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":190,"featured_media":7552,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"global-categories":[],"class_list":["post-7461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-the-latest"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat I\u2019ve Learnt While Trying to Teach My Daughter to Ride a Bike - \u0160koda We Love Cycling - United Kingdom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/uk\/2025\/01\/02\/what-ive-learnt-while-trying-to-teach-my-daughter-to-ride-a-bike\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What I\u2019ve Learnt While Trying to Teach My Daughter to Ride a Bike\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Are you excited for your child to start riding a bike? 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