Learning to cycle

Learning to ride a bike is a rite of passage.  We have been talking about helping Baby to learn for a while now and he had actually never shown much interest until recently.  About two years ago we bought him a balance bike for is birthday and, although he had taken it out occasionally, he much preferred to use his scooter.  We took him to a couple of balance bike sessions, called Veloblance, at the velodrome at the Olympic park, which he loved and kept asking to go back to, but he didn't really show all that much interest in cycling otherwise.

We bought him a pedal bike for his birthday last year but made the mistake of buying one with a frame that was slightly too large for him- even though we measured his inside leg to try to determine frame size- and he didn't really take to riding it as he couldn't quite put his foot on the ground to steady himself.  So for the Summer holidays we bought a slightly smaller bike, one on which he could easily put his foot on the ground for support.  However, he still did not show much interest until recently one of his friends went to school on their new bike.  Then it became a bit of race to get good at the cycling: he wanted to go out on his bike come rain or shine and in about 3 days he managed to pedal.  He also now voluntarily puts on his helmet, cycling gloves and high-vis straps- all of which he had previously refused to wear point blank- because the other kids at school wear them too and one of his teachers commented that they liked that he was staying safe.

I guess the moral of the story is that there is no hurry.  Children will do things when they are ready.  Cajoling by parents is fairly ineffective; peer pressure works very well.  Baby has been asking to go back to the velodrome for more lessons.  He was very impressed by the track cyclists when we were last there and he is keen to become as good as them.  I guess the Olympic games keep inspiring the generations even after they have been and gone!