What a great story, Jim! Mojo - don't sweat her learning the 'right' way. If training wheels get her on a bike, she'll learn to ride it. My kid rode training wheels for about six months, and took them off when he was 4 1/2 (Memorial Day weekend, in fact). That summer he rode all the way around Angel Island.
At Toy Fair (Interbike for toys) I saw a product: a kids' bike wheel with a gyro inside to keep the bike upright. Just the wheel cost as much as a really nice Skuut. And you couldn't pass it down, because the battery wears out and can't be replaced. Philip 97128 On Jun 28, 11:10 am, Mojo <gjtra...@yahoo.com> wrote: > Yeah well, I wish it was going so well for my 3.5yr old grandaughter, > Kiana. She has a Skuut, the crankless wooden bike sold by REI. She > hates it. Really...hates it. "Go put that away Grandpa!" She wants a > training wheel bike SOOO bad. This doesn't fit into my plans for here > to learn to glide and balance, then add in the pedaling. I know best > about bikes, right? :~} > > I am about to go look for a used training-wheels bike for her. > So I am jealous of your nephew's day of discovery. > > On Jun 28, 10:04 am, James Warren <jimcwar...@earthlink.net> wrote: > > > > > I had three great rides this weekend: > > 1) Halfmoon Bay (in California) down to the Tunitas Creek climb > > 2) A loop around San Luis Obispo > > 3) the absolute best-of-all: a ride with my brother and his 5.8-year-old > > son on the Santa Clara bike path. It was flat and was probably about 6 > > miles total. (We rode by the Great America roller coasters.) Here is why it > > was the best ride: My nephew had learned to ride the day before. He spent > > Friday morning learning to negotiate a complicated loop near his house, and > > every once in a while had spontaneous pure-joy outbursts like, "It's great > > to ride without training wheels!" "This is the best!" and "I love donuts!" > > > After all that training, we raised the bar by going out on the public use > > trail. He got really good at holding his course and stayed to right and > > learned to pass people on the left (using his bell) and he had the best > > time. There is nothing better than riding with a kid on a steep learning > > curve and having a blast discovering the exploring you can do in a bike. > > > And Rivendell-connection: Many years ago, they reviewed some learning bikes > > that teach kids balance on wide tire bikes without training wheels and > > without pedals. The idea is that the kid learns to get the feel for the > > balancing process on a moving bike so that they experience the gyroscope > > effect but don't have their balance-feeling process interrupted by the > > training wheels. My nephew's experience: he had had some training wheel > > experience with its typical ineffectiveness. He then started to ride one of > > these learning bikes described above. After using the learning bike for a > > little while, one day (last Thursday specifically) he picked up a regular > > bike with pedals when no one was looking and decided to see if he could get > > the balance on that. He started doing it in the drive way, wobbly figuring > > it out himself, but certainly getting it up to speed and pedaling it on his > > own. My brother was in the kitchen cleaning up, looked outside and noticed > > what his son was doing. He excitedly grabbed the camera nearby, ran > > outside, and started filming. > > > A day and a half later, my nephew was ready for the trail. One thing I love > > about all of this was that there was no coaxing or frustrating teaching > > from adults who want it so bad for their kid. Maybe they were lucky; maybe > > he's gifted, but I'm pretty sure the learning bike did the job for which it > > was designed. Thanks for reading. I had to share and since the learning > > bike was in the RR, I found a loophole to share with this list! > > > -Jim W. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
