Last Updated on 1 May 2023 by Colette
Learning to ride a bike is a major childhood milestone and in fact one that some of us never master. Last weekend, Chloe nailed it.
Chloe got her bike for her 5th birthday. We purposely avoided getting a bike with stabilisers, hoping to just teach her to ride a pedal bike from the word go. She’d obviously used a variety of balance bikes and such like, both at home and at Nursery, and we know from experience with Ben that stabilisers can knock the whole process back a bit.
We took her to the park a bit when she got her bike but she really struggled with balance and the whole process was pretty exhausting for Dave running along side her. Over time he’s taken her back and they’ve tried again but we’ve never pushed the issue – partly due to time and also because Chlo really doesn’t respond well to being pushed when she finds things hard. She is so keen to be able to do things well that when it doesn’t click straight away she can get really upset and frustrated – which is never going to work on a bike!
After our trip to Center Parcs last June, where she confidently rode on a tag-along with me, we thought she would be in a better position to try again. Unfortunately, right at the start of the summer holidays she had an accident and damaged the ligaments in her knee which meant cycling was well off the agenda.
Fast forward to last weekend. With no plans, blue skies and a sense of determination – we took Chloe off to the park again. Ben whizzed round on his bike, Amy pottered around on her balance bike with me walking alongside her whilst Dave and Chloe worked their way up and down one side of the park over and over again.
And eventually, after plenty of wobbles and the odd crash . . . she did it!
As her confidence grew she even had a go at going round a few corners and now she just needs to master setting off by herself! I can’t tell you how proud she is of herself, particularly as she’s managed to learn to ride a full six months younger than Ben did . . . there’s nothing like a bit of sibling rivalry is there!
Check out our tips for family bike rides next!
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Ahhh wow she looks so pleased with herself and rightly so!! Brilliant achievement, there’ll be no stopping her now!
Yay well done, look how happy she is. We’ve been mastering this with Alice and today she mastered it by herself. The beaming smile for all to see. Corners are tricky!!!
Oh wow! She looks pleased as punch! You must be so proud!! x
Yes, especially as she went out again with Dave on Sunday afternoon and mastered setting off by herself too! She was buzzing when I got home and she told me!
Oh bless her I am the same and always have been, I hate not being able to do something when you know how it works in theory! She’s done so well, i’ll be remembering that stabilisers aren’t for everyone when Lu’s time comes
Yay, look at her go! Bless her, she really does look chuffed! We’re buying Max a bike for his birthday I think, but given how long it took him to be able to scoot, I think it will take him a while to work it out.
Yay, well done and how proud does she look! Such a lovely moment. We have this to come with my eldest but we have the dreaded stabilisers to contend with too, such a setback #TheOrdinaryMoments