The saying goes that you never forget how to ride a bike, but first you need to learn how. Learning to ride a bicycle is one of the great rites of passage of childhood and is also often one of the first major challenges a parent and child face together. As a parent, you can provide invaluable help in making your child feel secure, confident and prepared for this exhilarating step toward independence. Some basic tools can offer some assistance to make learning to ride a bike a bit easier.
Tricycle
One of the first tools to help your child learn to ride a bike can be introduced before she can even walk, reports Sheldon Brown of Harris Cyclery. A tricycle can teach your child to steer and pedal, both of which are important aspects of the bicycling experience. Brown of Harris Cyclery recommends using a small tricycle and having your child practice riding it indoors, or on a flat, smooth outdoor surface.
Training Wheels
Also known as stabilizers, training wheels are the next important step toward independent bicycle riding. According to Brown of Harris Cyclery, a child as young as 2 1/2 years old may be ready to try a small bicycle with training wheels. One common mistake is to adjust training wheels improperly; the bicycle should have some "lean" to its position. If both training wheels can touch the ground at once, this minimizes weight on the bicycle's rear wheel and decreases traction. Eventually, your child's own weight will bend the training wheel struts, giving the bicycle a leaning quality and teaching balance. Brown of Harris Cycling recommends your child use training wheels for no more than two to three years.
Bars, Handles or Harnesses
When your child reaches the stage where it's time to abandon the training wheels and run with him for balance, it's important you position yourself correctly. Brown of Harris Cyclery reports that you shouldn't hold onto the handlebars, as this will prevent your child from learning to steer and achieve balance. Instead, you should hold onto your child's shoulders. If this is uncomfortable for your back, you can buy or make special handles that are attached to the saddle and allow you to hold on to your child. Kids can also wear commercially available harnesses that attach to a handle you can hold.
Helmet
Another crucial tool for initiating your child into a lifetime of bike riding is a helmet, reports the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute. Every year, roughly 700 people in the United States die from bicycle accidents, many of which involve head injuries. You should introduce the habit of wearing a helmet as automatic so that your child will never think to ride without one. One exception, reports the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute, is the use of helmets on playgrounds, in light of possible strangulation on playground equipment. Instruct your child to remove her helmet before playing on playground apparatus.
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