Learning To Ride A Bike

Baba wanted a bike for his birthday, it was all that he asked for, and to be honest he has never had his own bike. He has always had hand me downs from his cousin and he doesn’t do well on them so we thought for his 5th Birthday he really deserved a brand new bike and needed to learn to ride one as well.

We took him off to get him measured, and Baba isn’t short so he measured for a really tall bike, one that comes with no stabilizers and one that was very heavy.

We went against the advice we were given and brought the next size down, one that was lighter, came with stabilizers and I am glad we did. When we gave it to him on his birthday he could just touch the floor with his toes on the bike. So it was the perfect size.

He managed to go for a ride on his birthday, but since then he has been so busy with school that we haven’t really had a chance so this half term we made a real effort to get out on his bike.

He was a bit shaky at first, and didn’t cope to well with the bumps on the pavement. But we eventually found a bit of a clearing near some flats near us. That was all the same level, and not near a road. It meant he could ride, turn and carry on riding and nothing was there to interrupt him.

And his confidence grew.

He was doing the corners on his own, he was gathering speed and he was squealing with delight.

And I think his face says it all!

He had a great time, he still needs to move his feet to the front of the peddles as he naturally puts them at the back of the peddles meaning that when he has to push he makes it a lot harder for himself. But for his first real attempt he did super.

He only needed a push at the start, and then he was off.

I don’t think he will need the stabilizers for long, but I am pleased we chose to go with them as it is giving him the confidence that he needs to become a good rider!