Last Updated on 26 September 2019 by Colette
Just a quick one to update on Ben’s progress today!
My Googling session yesterday unearthed this article which, after a quick glance over, seemed to be full of sensible ideas so I sent it on to Dave.
The main focus of the article is that you should break down riding a bike into its component skills of balance, pedalling, steering and braking – rather than expecting them all to be mastered at once – makes perfect sense really when you think about it!
Based on yesterday’s experiences we knew that Ben still needed to work on his balance so this afternoon the boys set off to a small slope not far from home. The idea being that you encourage them to coast down the slope with their feet either side (rather than on the pedals) to develop their ability to ride upright and in a straight line!
The smile on Ben’s face when they got home said it all. He had successfully coasted down a slope approximately 50ft long with Daddy running backwards in front of him just in case! Dave said he’d actually got quite a pace up and that his best attempt was in fact when he was resting his feet on his pedals (having his legs to either side made it easier for him to put his feet down and stop rather than trying to correct himself). They had one small incident involving Ben veering into a prickly bush which knocked him off his stride a bit so they decided to call it a day at that point.
On the way home Ben asked if he could ride his bike a bit and Dave said he was able to ride his bike down the road with Dave just holding his fingers under the seat and didn’t need to be corrected once! Perhaps he’s going to crack this quicker than we thought!
Dave says his next step is to go back to the slope and continue to work on balance but with added braking at the end!
(Apologies that this post is photo-poor. Understandably Dave didn’t quite manage to get any photos / video today being as how he was too busy running backwards down the hill!)
Well he's let us all down not having his camera at the ready while running backwards, hasn't he?! Great idea to break down the skills, and nice to hear it worked and that Ben loved it!
Bless him I said "I assume you didn't manage to take any photos?" His response was "I did try" and he even proved that he had set his phone to record to try and capture a video 😀
I shall ensure there's supporting visual evidence for the next update lol x
Taking notes for the years to come! Glad it went well – cannot wait to see Peanut ride his bike one day!
Be sure to check back and see how we get on with the rest of the skills 😉
yay!! what a fantastic skill to learn. I cant wait to see how he gets on
Thanks for linking up with #MagicMoments x
He's just so proud of himself! I hope he nails it quickly 🙂 x
Well done for his progress so far, even though we have tried and tried our son's have never managed to actually ride a bike.
Returning the visit from #magicmoments
It's really a memorable moment when they finally learn to ride the bike. With your determined son, I'm sure that moment will come soon! All the best.
Thank you 🙂 x
We can't even persuade Monkey to sit on a bike. We were both gutted as we'd put money a side to buy him a bike for his birthday last year and nearly a year on he still has no interest 🙁 But well done on your achievement so far 🙂
Oh what a shame! He'll come round I'm sure.
I think Ben's current focus comes from the fact Daddy has recently taken up cycling and did a 72 mile charity ride earlier in the summer with Ben's Grandad and Aunty Nic. He thinks if he can ride his bike without stabilisers he'll be able to go with them . . . 😉
aww bless him, that is fab progress and seriously give Dave a break with the photos and videoing lol or else you'll be blogging about a hospital visit, you see its a skill in itself running backwards lol.
Hope soon Ben will be whizzing round and show you both how its done 😉
I didn't really expect him to take photos lol 😉 x
Aaaw bless him and well done x
Fantastic skill to learn, well done Ben (and Daddy!)
I'm glad I was able to pass this one over to Daddy! Dave was so proud to be teaching Ben to ride his bike that he'd told all the lads at work that he was going to be doing it at the weekend – how cute are my boys!
That is great! riding a bike is an important skill to learn and not always an easy one, but it seems Ben got it covered!
And well done you for not having to run backwards down the hill yourself 😉
*Got here through #SSAmazingAchievements
My own personal achievement there Orli 😉 x
Thank you for this useful post as well as sharing such a fantastic achievement. I didn't know that about breaking it down and my 4th child is about to have his stabilisers off.
Will be sure to post again in a few days when he's had some more practice and let you know how it goes! X
Tee hee – I can just see it now! I still can't ride a bike at 30 so I'm already jealous!
What great advice for learning how to ride a bike. From the sounds of it, it works really well and Ben has come very far in a short time. Can't wait to hear about when he has totally mastered bike riding.
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