Conference noted::bicycle

    Depends a lot on the child.  My son started using training wheels
    when he was 4.  By age 5 he wanted me to take them of, which I
    did.  After running along behind him just a few times he was able
    to balance by himself and of course he had alrady learned to stop
    thanks to the training wheels.  My daughter on the other  hand is
    5 now and still using the training whells.  I plan to gradually
    increase the height of the wheels over the next few months so
    that she starts getting the feel of balancing only on the bike
    wheels.  It shouldn't be long now.
    
    						_Jerry

    
     When my daughter was 5 1/2 I taught her to ride a bike in a day. She
    had been riding some with tranining wheels and when she was ready to
    learn w/o the wheels I took her to a sloping grass hill, took the
    pedals OFF and let her coast down the hill with me running beside her.
    After a few times down the hill she could balance the bike very well.
    Then I replaced the pedals and she took off. A little wobbly at first,
    but with out any crashes and all in one day.
    
    Joe

    Unlike the two previous noters, I've nver seen a kid learn to ride
    a bike until the training wheels were taken off.  My experience has
    been that it's kind of like toilet training; when the kid is ready to
    do it, it's easy.  When the kid isn't ready, no way.  I vote No to
    training wheels, and start when your child wants to start.  

    
    
    	.2
    
    		Explain please the theory in pedals being taken off.
    
    	Roger

>   Explain please the theory in pedals being taken off.

    It lets the rider use their feet without banging their ankles
    into the pedals, kind of like the draissenne (sp) (an early bicycle
    before there were pedals).

    The shallow hill takes care of the motive force.

    -Jeff Bell

    	After helping two children learn to ride, I agree with .3.  You
    can't really teach children to ride; all you can do is help them when
    they are ready (physically and mentally) to learn by themselves.  You
    can usually tell when children are ready by the interest they express
    in riding.  

    	A few tips:  

    	1.  Start your child out on the smallest bike you can find.  Even
    strong, athletic children have trouble learning when they can't control
    the bike.  I know of parents who have purchased large bikes for the
    wrong reasons ("he will look silly on a small bike"  and "I don't want
    to buy him something he will outgrow in two years") and ended up with
    frustrated children.

    	2.  With the seat down all the way, try to get the child to coast
    down a slight incline with his or her feet off the pedals.  Doing that
    successfully will boost his or her confidence and give him or her a
    sense of what is required to balance the bike.

    	3.  Don't allow your child to become discouraged if he or she
    doesn't get it immediately.  Be patient and calm.

    	4.  Prepare to enjoy the very rewarding moment when your child
    first rides successfully.  When my older son first "got it" after
    trying for a week or two, he rode up and down the street exclaiming
    "its a dream come true, its a dream come true."  That is a memory I
    will always cherish.

    .5
     Has most of the reason I took the pedals off. It's easier for a
    child (or maybe any new rider) to learn to balance with out having to
    also pedal the bike. The hill does provide a good area to coast, a
    gentle hill is best, it's also very hard to push the bike on a flat
    surface with out upsetting the balance of the rider. So I found a
    gentle sloping grassy hill for my daughter to coast down. Once she
    could balance the bike with out any problems I replaced the pedals
    and it was very easy for her to take off riding. 
    
     She rode the bike with training wheels not to learn but, because she
    was too big for a tricycle and was not ready to learn to ride on two
    wheels. I don't think training wheels train a child for any thing.
    They are on the bike to keep the kid from falling off until the kid is
    ready to learn to ride.
    
    Joe 

    I live on a street with lots of kids and watched my two children each
    learn to ride without training wheels at about 5.  I believe it is good
    to start them on training wheels and take them off when the child is
    ready.   Basic signs of readiness are when the child can ride with
    training wheels pretty fast and steer.  If the child does not have the
    momentum they will not be able to learn to ride.
    
    I had the training wheels off and on three times before my daughter
    learned how to ride.  You can tell after running up and down the street
    with them  1 or 2 times whether they are ready.

    How about starting them on something that teaches balance like a scooter
    with brakes?  Feet on the pedals are stabilizing and having legs hanging
    could be more prone to injury on accident.  Training wheels don't teach
    balance through a corner.  

    How about starting them out with a helmet?
    
    ed

There is another benefit to training wheels that was not mentioned.

The action of pedaling to get moving is easier to learn without 
having to worry about pedaling. This was previously mentioned. But 
the action of pedaling backwards to stop is not always easy to 
learn. If the child can get these to things down before having to 
worry about balance he/she will be that much more confidence. So I 
guess I disagree with the previous statement that training wheels 
don't train the children for anything.

As to -.1 and the comment about kids wearing helmets.

Amen!

JC

    When my son turned two, we got him a small Schwinn two weeler bmx bike
    with training wheels.  I would take him down to the local school parking
    lot on evenings and weekends and just let him ride around at his leisure
    to get the feel of the bike.  This also helps him strengten his leg
    muscles and endurance.  He rode the bike with training wheels for about
    the first year.

    When he turned three, I took off the training wheels.  I taught him to
    ride by letting him get on the bike and start pedaling while I would be 
    supporting the bike by holding back of the seat while running along 
    side.  When doing this, my son couldn't tell if I was holding the bike
    or not, so he wouldn't get too nervous if I let go.  As he rode, I 
    would occasionally let go for a few seconds at a time, but would grab
    hold of the bike when it started to lean.  This taught him to balance
    the bike as he felt it lean.  After an exhausting few hours of running
    along side giving occasional support, I would let go entirely.  And 
    that's all there is to it!  My son was riding a two wheel bike without
    any help at the age of three.

    Keep in mind, however, that you shouldn't try this until the child is
    physically and emotionally ready.  If they are really excited about
    riding, and can pedal hard and fast enough, then chances are they are
    ready to shed those training wheels.  If they are still kind of timid
    on the bike and don't want to pedal fast, they probably need more time
    to practice with the training wheels.

    As for helmets, my kids have been wearing them since day one.  They
    *NEVER* get on a bike or child carrier without a helmet.

    Hope this helps.

    Regards,
    Denis

    
    
    .11
    
     Don't tricycles and big wheels (for recumbents of course) teach a
    child how to pedal.

    With the little 12 inch bicycles I hardly ever see kids on trikes or
    bigwheels anymore?  When my kids had big wheels, they never peddled
    them they just rolled them down the hills.

    I rode around on training wheels before learning to ride without them.

    I know this because I still remember the day we took them off, when
    I was about 5...  I was afraid of falling but embarassed about being
    afraid; nonetheless, when the time came, my father helped me get
    going, catching me a few times as I wobbled and found my balance
    and suddenly there was this exhuberant feeling of the fear vanishing
    as I got the hang of it and pedalled down the street!

    When kids are ready they'll do things, like starting to talk, ride
    a bike, or whatever.

    It's not clear if training wheels are bad or not, or if I could have
    been better off being forced to learn to ride without them sooner.
    Probably they were useful for me though.

    I wouldn't worry about "cornering" - once a kid gets his balance
    the rest comes pretty naturally.

    - Jim

    
    	RE:12
    
    		I use the same technique but no training wheels. It speeds
    up the process by a year.
    		Do people learn to walk with crutches? I guess some do i.e.
    walkers etc. I never did. IMHO a person doesn't learn to balance with
    training wheels. When my first bike showed up it had training wheels
    and I refused to ride it until they came off.
    
    	Roger

BTW

Fischer Price has a great new bike out for this kind of thing. 


There are two sizes 12" and 16".

The seat has a handle in back for mom and dad to hold. The chain
is completely enclosed to keep kids fingers out of the dirt and
for extra safety. It looks to be a pretty good product.


Do what seems to make the kid most comfortable,

JC

    I'll add my $.02!
    
    Some one asked "don't tricycles teach to pedal?"  Not exactly.  My son
    and his friend each had/have one of those Fisher-Price blue and yellow 
    plastic trikes.  The pedals are fixed, so that when the wheel gets
    turning the pedals turn or visa versa.  
    
    My son would go with me to the bike shop and make a B-line to the
    2-wheeler with training wheels.  He would pedal slowly back and forth
    in the shop.  (Friendly shop owners.)  He got a hand-me-down 2 wheeler
    a couple of weeks ago and I have to tell him to slow down, he pedals
    too fast.   (I guess it's time for the training wheels to come off.)  
    
    Now, on the other hand, Andrew, the boy down the street, had never been
    on a 2-wheeler.  This Sat for his B-day he got one.  Because he was use
    to the wheel keeping the momentum of the pedals going, he would pedal
    acouple of strokes then, before the pedal would come "over-the-top" he
    would press down to soon and jam the brake on.
    
    SO, with that long winded explanation, IMHO, trainings DO teach
    something.
    
    And as for people not learning to walk with "training wheels".  My son
    learned to walk using a small plastic chair, he would cruise around the 
    kitchen.  And most kids I see, move from crawling to walking by holding 
    onto chairs, couches, tables etc... and moving around to get the
    "walking motion" down before they learn to balance.
    
    
    Maybe that was $.05 worth! ;-) 
                                 
    Tim B
    
    "Helmets required!"  
    

    Let me sum it up and add some stuff.
    
    It seems when the kid is ready you'll know.  I think he's ready, he
    wants to take a ride with me whenever I go out, but I say he can't go
    until the training wheels come off.  
    
    He started on a tricycle at two.  He out grew it at 3 1/2 and right
    before he was four he got this bike.  He did by the way have problems
    adjusting to the different type of pedaling.  It seems on a tricycle
    the pedals are in front of the rider and on the new bike they're
    underneath.  Also you can coast on this bike, and he wasn't use to that
    or the breaks.  Now he really rips, I have a problem running next to
    him.  He has no problems turning or stopping. 
    
    In that respect I think he's ready.  If I remember correctly, and help
    me here, the hardest part when I was learning was to start by yourself. 
    What about that, any pointers.  Also my wife says he's not ready, and
    that puts negative thoughts in his head.  Shes no expert though and she
    really doesn't help him ride. 
    
    By the way the helmet goes with the bike, he doesn't even realize that
    you can ride a bike without a helmet.  
    
    Need some suggestions for starting.  I was thinking before I took the
    training wheels off that I would teach him how to mount and get the
    bike moving.
    
    Comments please.
    

    My father tried to teach me to ride a bicycle and it was a horrible
    experience. He tried to make me want to learn to ride without the
    training wheels and it just didn't work. We spent many frustrating days
    trying. One day, I just decided to try and learn and without my
    father's help I was riding around in less than an hour of trying. I
    remember making sure that he wasn't around before even trying.
    
    Obviously my relationship with my father is different than your
    relationship with your son. I just want to point out that my father's
    well meaning enthusiasm did exactly the opposite and turned me away
    from riding my bike for several years.
    
    	Marty Sasaki

         Marty's experience reinforces my belief that when dealing
         with small children, or anyone for that matter, you can't
         force them to learn anything before they are good and
         ready.

         I have seen evidence of this over and over with my son who
         will be four this summer. The best example I can think of
         was learning to pump a swing by himself. We spent all last
         year in vain trying to get him to pump so Mom and Dad could
         have a break. It wasn't until this year and two hours of
         *motivated* practice that he learned. Point being he just
         was not convinced that he was ready. I have read in several
         places that it is much better to take things at the child's
         pace if you want the learning to be a positive experience.
         Timing is extremely important and most often governed by
         the child, not the well-meaning parent.

         JC

    	I have to agree about letting the child decide when
    	the right time is.
    
    	My youngest daughter (now 14) used to be this way when younger.
    	Learning to ride a bike, swim, do this, that, or the other.
    	She wasn't scared, she just wanted to do it herself, by
    	herself. In fact, she used to say, "I'll do it my own self."
    	When she said this, we knew she wanted us to butt out.
    	So, we did.
    
    	Let the kid learn at his/her own speed. If they ask for help,
    	give it. Otherwise, leave them alone.
    
    	Scott

    Ditto with regards to forcing children to learn to ride without
    training wheels.  I think every parent would like his/her son/daughter
    to become the next _______ (fill in the blank).  But you have to
    make a conscious effort not to force them into what you happen to
    find fun or interesting.  For all I know, my boys might join the NRA
    and become avid hunters, or become addicted to synchro swimming!
    
    They'll learn what they want, when they want.
    
    Phil  

    I agree with the previous replies that the child will not learn to ride
    without training wheels until good and ready.  However, I also feel the
    parent can play a constructive role in teaching the child how to ride.
    I found the key is to make it *FUN*, and to encourage the child all along
    the way.  

    Only parents who are too serious about it and put unnecessary pressure 
    on the child need butt out.  Otherwise, it can really be a great child/
    parent experience.

    I used the technique mentioned in .12 to teach my son, and also taught
    three sisters and a brother.  As long as it was done in a fun way, they
    learned quickly.  

    Regards,
    Denis

    
    	One more opinion....
    
    In answer to the previous question regarding how to get the kids
    started, my two boys (and about 30 other kids on our street) all
    started off like this :
    1. get real close to the curb
    2. line up the pedals so the one closest to the street is 'up'
    3. get on the bike from the sidewalk side
    4. push down like crazy on the street side pedal!!!
    Hopefully, enough momentum is generated to keep the bike going until
    both feet can find the pedals and get into a rythym.
    
    As to merits, or lack thereof, of training wheels. I believe that they
    very definitely help a young child learn to pedal, steer, balance, and
    brake. I disagree with the concept of raising the training wheels to
    help the child learn to balance the bike. The only thing I've ever seen
    occur when the wheels were raised is that the child leans to one side,
    therefore rides on 'three' wheels. I also think it is downright
    dangerous for the wheels to be raised because when the child does begin
    to lose his/her balance there is a natural tendancy to overcompensate
    to regain balance. This can easily result in the bike being 'thrown'
    well beyond the balance point in the opposite direction. ( I hope that
    was clear) With the training wheels both down , the bike is very solid.
    This provides the child with a level of confidence and security.
    When did we remove the training wheels from our kids' bikes? When they
    began riding fast enough that the bike was turning with the front wheel
    and ONE of the training wheels on the ground! Yes, we did wait a little
    too long in both cases....BUT, it was the childrens wish to keep the
    training wheels on up to that point.
    For those of you still reading this, I apologize for its length. I'd
    like to leave you all with one more thought. For the most part, you
    seem to be dealing with very young children (under 10 years of age). I
    suggest that taking some time to attend a coaching clinic would
    be beneficial. Pick your favorite sport, and go to listen to some
    'experts' in the field of teaching/coaching our kids. You will learn an
    awful lot about the motivation and needs/wants of our young folks as
    they relate to sport. I mention this because a lot of the comments I
    read in this note have come from personal experience and the coaching
    clinics I am referring to would facilitate this learning and may help
    you (as I have been helped) in relating to your children. 
    
    regards,
    dennis
    

    I'll toss in my 20 millibucks with my own story:
    
    I got my first bike (with training wheels) when I was 7 for a B-day
    present.  I went along with my parents to pick it out... while I
    was there my dad mentioned something to the salesman about "well,
    we'll need training wheels for a few weeks, but they'll come off".
    Well, about 3-4 weeks after getting the bike, and I was nowhere
    NEAR ready to ride on 2 wheels, I started to get panicky that the
    nice man from the store was going to come by and take the training
    wheels back!  (What can I say?  In some ways I was too smart for
    my own good, and in other ways I was really dense...)
    
    Anyhow, with reference to .19, my mother NEVER believed that I
    was ready for ANYTHING!  She also firmly ingrained in me the
    habit of asking permission before doing anything.  So when I
    started getting comfortable on the bike, I started pestering her
    to let me take the training wheels off and start teaching me how
    to ride... but she kept insisting that I wasn't ready yet (well,
    I WAS a rather klutzy kid...).  Finally, one day, without telling
    her, I decided to compromise; I grabbed a wrench, took off the
    left training wheel completely, and raised the right one a bit.
    I found that when I got up to speed, the right wheel would leave
    the ground and I'd actually be on two wheels, but the wheel was
    there as a psychological security blanket.  After a few weeks of
    this I took the right wheel off too.  She didn't know what I was
    doing until one day she saw me riding on two wheels.  When she
    asked me what had happened, I lied and said that my big brother
    had been teaching me how to ride (Ron never helped me worth a damn
    unless he could get a favor from me out of the deal 8-) 8-) ).
    That seemed to satisfy her...
    
    The moral of the story, of course, is the same thing everyone else
    has been saying; when the kid is ready to ride for real, s/he will
    start doing it whether you want the kid to or not 8-) 8-) 8-)
    
    --jim
    

      My son has ridden a 2 wheeler + training wheels since age 3.  For
    almost 2 years he did this and went through 3 sets of training wheels.
    When he turned 4, Dad decided to take the training wheels off and see
    what would happen.  My son was not ready yet, so we put them back on.
    
      A week before his 5th birthday we took the training wheels off (he
    had been asking me to do this for a few weeks after seeing kids about
    his size riding that way).  With 1 push he was riding, stopping,
    turning with no problem.  He instantly discovered how much the training 
    wheels had been slowing him down.  
    
      Those 2 years with training wheels taught him a lot - balance, safety 
    on streets and sidewalks, avoiding obstacles.  He now rides with me on
    low traffic streets and is learning more safety skills - avoiding 
    encounters with cars, watching his speed on downhills, not locking the
    brakes, learning how to crash, starting by himself...  He always wears a 
    helmet and gloves.
    
      The freedom and pride of riding on 2 wheels is one that is never
    forgotten.

    Re: -1

    Dave, thanks for renewing activity on this subject.  Reminds me of a
    story with 2 lessons for parents - (1) get a well-fitted brain bucket for 
    them, even if it takes significant effort to find one & (2) watch them 
    after they go into 2 wheel mode, to assure that they don't try to sneak
    an unauthorized/unsupervised adventure.

    1987 I relocated to a sales assignment in MI, ahead of the
    family in NH.  While back in NH for one of my weekend visits, it became 
    evident that daughter #1 was ready to go "sans training wheels".  Both 
    that Sat & Sun, dad & daughter were doing fine.  Then I flew back to MI, 
    Sunday PM. 

    1.5 weeks later, the family was scheduled to fly to MI for a
    househunting trip.  The day of the scheduled trip I called the NH house
    to verify that everything was ok.  The first clue that there was a
    problem was that a strange voice, not my wife, answered.  The second
    clue was when the babysitter (the voice) said that my wife & #1
    daughter were at the emergency room.  Next call - emergency room.  Both
    parents rattled, kid in a real hurt.
    
    Seems that, while my wife packing the family for the trip, #1 daughter 
    took it upon herself to exercise her new bicycling skills down the 
    driveway, collided with a large rock, which made her airborne until she 
    did a face-plant into a tree. 
    
    FACE=0, TREE=1.  Did I indicate that our driveway/neighborhood is
    rather hilly??  Multiple face fractures, teeth problems, and no
    househunting.  Medical care was great and subsequent years of
    orthodontia show no evidence of this event.  Great looking teeth, no
    scars.
    
    The househunting trip occured several weeks later, after the swelling
    had gone down enough to handle pressurized aircraft travel.
    
    Years later, when the time came time for #2 daughter's turn with this 
    rite of passage, her bike helmet was a well-known fixture and we hung the 
    bike up after each use.
    
    Bill

    Re: -1
    
    Youch !  Kids sure love to experiment and many times learn the hard
    way.  Glad to hear your daughter survived her accident.  I'm sure that
    memory is still quite vivid.
    
    Sometimes I want to provide body armor to prevent all those hurts.  But 
    somehow we have all lived through it with scars to show everyone.  I
    see the greatest danger for novice 2 wheelers is encounters with
    vehicles.  I am taking my son to city parks where he can ride laps on
    the sidewalks, bump across grass, and discover the magic of soft sand.
    We live in a hilly neighborhood where he can reach dangerous speeds
    and just a few blocks away is a road where cars habitually speed so
    dangers lurk nearby.
    
    Good suggestion around supervision.  Now that my son can start off by 
    himself it's only a matter of time before he opens the garage door
    and pedals away without asking permission.  The only unknown is at what
    age will this happen, 5..21 ?

    I remember when my kids first solo'd.
    
    My daughter, within the first couple of minutes of riding on her own,
    decides to immediately show off and ride with no hands (crash and
    burn).  After the wimpering and lecture she was up and riding again in
    a minute.
    
    My son, took him to the high school track.  Loaded him up with helmet,
    gloves, winter coat, boots, knee pads, etc.  He was all set within a
    few minutes.
    
    Its a lot of fun teaching and watching your kids to ride.  Just as you
    are getting tired from running with them and holding their bike up,
    they seem to just get the hang of it.
    
    Mark  

          
  With my son I did the run-alomg-holding-the-seat-routine. Even with
  all the riding I was doing there is nothing like trying to run stooped
  over holding the bike up.  I was exhausted in no time!  "Come on Dad, I 
  want to keep riding!"

  My daughter REFUSED help.  She didn't want to "roll" down the slight 
  decline in the side yard!  She wanted to ride on the street (quiet 
  cul-de-sac, so that wasn't the concern.) were her brother was riding.

  I took the training wheels off the "old, little" bike (12" wheels) she 
  had a new 16" wheel, but wanted the old.  To her credit, she took 2-3
  days to conquer the bike.  first pushing off on 1 pedal then putting
  both feet on the ground.  Then it was 2 strokes and 5 feet. Pretty soon 
  she was chasing her brother up and down the street.

  AND after the other kids her age (5) saw her riding without training
  wheels they all followed suit.  We now have 4 or 5 5yr olds buzzing 
  up and down the cul-de-sac.


          Proud Pop!

                   - Tim

    For those in Colorado Springs I found a good place to teach my
    daughter.  Try the old airport.  There is no traffic or people for them
    to run over.  When they (I) got tired we sat down and watched the
    planes takeoff and land.
    
    Gary