Bike riding
Before you start
• Make sure your child wears a helmet.
• Elbow and knee pads
are also useful to minimise bumps and bruises. These
are
also used for
skateboarding and in-line skating.
• Gloves are essential
to prevent abrasion to the palms in the event of a
fall.
• A small-sized children's
bicycle. The bicycle must be small enough so that your child can
reach the
ground with the saddle
adjusted all the way down.
Adjustments
• Make sure everything fits and is in working
condition.
• Make sure that the brake
pads make sufficient contact with the rim of the wheels when the
brake levers are
engaged.
•
Remove both
pedals
Balance
• Push the seat all the
way down so that your child can touch the ground with his/her
feet.
• Get your child to sit
on the bike and push the bike along with his/her feet.
• Once your child gets
used to this, try to give them a little push and get him/her to
lift his/her feet off the
ground. You could
also find a gentle sloping road where your child can coast downhill
at a safe speed,
as this will help your
child get used to the feeling of balancing the bike when it is in
motion. Once
comfortable with this,
encourage your child to gently steer the bike to one side and then
the other.
• Remove the training
wheels.
Propulsion
• Fit the pedals back on the
bike and then gently push just enough to get the momentum going
for
your child to
place their feet and start pedalling.
• Do not hold the handlebar
while he/she is riding because it will prevent him/her from feeling
being
balanced.
• Try to get him/her to
relax and not to grip the handlebars too tightly or tense up
his/her body (do this
for about 10 minutes at
the beginning of each session).
• Let him/her develop a
leading foot to know which to start off with.
• He/she will begin
slowly at first, maybe 3 or 4 pedal revolutions.
During this time, monitor your
child's progress and evaluate whether his/her saddle can be raised
to give him/her greater bio-mechanical efficiency. During this
learning stage, do not raise it beyond the point where s/he can
reach the ground.
Raising the saddle will often
improve steering, especially if the bike is small for
him/her.
Once the child is
comfortable with propelling forward by pedalling, s/he will usually
figure out very quickly how to start pedalling from a stationary
position without the need for someone to hold the bike upright for
them.