I live with a tiny cyclist!

[andrewducker]

Sophia has been asking to go out on her bike again, after several months of no interest. She's never managed to cycle on her pedal bike mostly because she found out too frightening and would panic as soon as I wasn't holding on to her. So we'd left it for a bit, until she started showing an interest again two days ago. And we got out for a practice yesterday.

We started off on her pedal bike, but she was clearly feeling overwhelmed by having to pedal, steer, and balance all at the same time. So we switched to her old balance bike (basically a small bike with no pedals, suitable for small kids to learn on. I've seen lots of kids ride them to nursery and back). And over yesterday and today she got more and more confident with it, until she was happily turning corners on it.

And then she asked to try her pedal bike again. I thought she was rushing things, but I have her some tips on how to manage the pedals and three minutes after that I was running alongside her, one hand on each of her shoulders, as she cycled as fast as I could go.

And then she told me to let go.

And the fourth time that we did this I felt confident enough that she wasn't going to crash and burn that I stopped running after her and took this video.

Watch on YouTube

Comments

[angelofthenorth]

Wel done Sophia!

[bearshorty]

Yay. Congrats Sophia!

[affreca]

Congrats! Those are some big steps towards independence.

[calimac]

Oh, excellent. Very soon she'll be cycling so well that you'll look back at this stage and think, "How was that again?"

This is also a good illustration of how I realized I'd reached an age when, not having had children, I was never going to have them. It was when I realized that, 5 or 6 years hence, I was not going to be limber enough to run after a 5-year-old on a bicycle.

[andrewducker]

I appreciate your thought process, and I agree that parenting tends to use up all of the energy you have, and a bit more, but I wouldn't say that inability to run after a bike was an immediate disqualifier. I assume you hadn't been waiting for just the right moment in any case?

[calimac]

I meant that as an illustration of the kinds of challenges that aging brings, not as an of-itself single disqualifier. Having children was never a practical likelihood for me throughout relationships for various reasons: what happened at this point was that I realized it was now best that it never become one. (Not that B. would at all disagree, I hasten to add - that's one reason it wasn't likely in the first place.)

[andrewducker]

Understood.

And as someone in their 50s, I sometimes wish I had the energy of a 40-year-old!

[adrian_turtle]

Go Sophia, go!

Those little bikes without pedals are called "balance bikes," here. I keep thinking they should be called "pushbikes," if only that name had not been claimed already for bikes with pedals.

[andrewducker]

You're right, and that was totally what I meant to write there! Fixed it now.

(And I agree)

[channelpenguin]

Cool!

The bike looks a bit too small for her though. But I'm not an expert in fitting kiddies bikes. I suggest you get some pro advice on adjusting the bike or what size she really needs.
Might make it easier/more enjoyable and avoid developing problems or pain from cycling. (Which I've personally had from a badly fitting bike)

https://youtu.be/bbnziWQpyBg

[andrewducker]

You're right, the seat needs to come up. Which I hadn't noticed, because I hadn't noticed that she'd grown in the last 6 months since she last rode it and I adjusted it!

[channelpenguin]

Hehe,I bet the growth rate of kids catches one out in all sorts of ways! Here's to more cycling fun!

[mtbc]

That's great! Was interesting to experience the difference in ease in my two learning: one was persistent effort, I think partly because they were scared, the other was almost immediate.

[andrewducker]

Yes - fear has a really big effect. Most of what I've done to help Sophia learn physical things has been to help her deal with that, until she's ready to do it by herself.

[fub]

I learned to ride a bicycle with 'side wheels', which meant I never really learned to keep my balance. So when it was time to learn to ride without them, I froze up and simply plonked down on the street, making me even more afraid.
Balance bikes are much better, because once you get the balance right, the rest is much easier, as Sophia demonstrates!

[andrewducker]

That was the advice we got from the people at the bike shop too, and I'm glad we took it!

[anef]

Well done Sophia!

Yes, I remember throwing a major tantrum when my father took the balance wheels off my first bike. (Ahem.) I then cycled straight into a gate, just to show that I still needed them. After which I picked myself up and it was fine.

[andrewducker]

I'm glad you survived!

[ljgeoff]

Woo-hoo! Look at her go!

[myka]

amazing!! happy for both of you 😀

[andrewducker]

Thank you!

[threemeninaboat]

AWWWW!!!