Tag: learn how to ride a bike

How do I teach my child to ride a bicycle?

How do I teach my child to ride a bicycle is one of the most frequent questions we receive. Here is a simple step by step guide that any parent can follow:

Firstly, find a suitable location. You will need plenty of space, a mix of different surfaces like gravel, bitumen and grass and ideally some flat and gradient areas. Quiet Cul-de-sacs and car parks work – the tighter the spaces the harder it’ll be to learn. I personally prefer some leafy parks with shade, trees and interesting areas to ride along as an extra incentive. As parks can get busy, chose a time when it’s still relatively quiet so your child doesn’t have to contend with too many walkers, runners and dogs.

Secondly, prepare the bicycle. A bicycle that’s too small will be terribly difficult to ride on. A bicycle that’s too big can potentially scare your child as they can’t make contact with their feet. What’s the right size? Get your child to sit on the saddle, if your child can comfortably reach the ground with his or her feet, that’s perfect. If they can only just reach with their tippy toes or there’s no contact with the ground, the frame is too big – particularly if the seat is on its lowest position. If your child has to bend the legs or would stand with space above the saddle, the frame is too small, particularly if the seat is on its highest setting.

If adjusting the seat doesn’t get your child into the optimum position, your frame isn’t suitable. Try and get the right size bike before attempting to learn to ride.

Remove training wheels. Training wheels do absolutely nothing for your child as they take away the ability to learn how to mount the bike and how to balance, which are both core skills of riding. Yes, your child will be to pedal, but pedalling is easy. Transitioning from training wheels will require you to follow the below steps. So, off they go, bye bye training wheels!

Check the brakes are working. Ideally you want a bicycle with two brake leavers on the handle bar. Most bigger bicycles have two brake leavers (as opposed to a pedal back brake) so why not learn one system once and make the rest of the life easier.

Once you know the brakes are working, check that your child is able to use the brakes – a lot of the times leavers are set so that adults can use them, but children can’t. Adjust the position of the brakes so your child can easily reach and pull the leavers.

Optional: remove the pedals. If you want to ease your child into riding, this is the gentlest option. Take the pedals off, keep them close by and when following the instructions below you get prompted to put them on, put them on. A tool is required for removal of pedals, but to put them on only elbow grease is required.

If the bike is ready, you’ve sourced a suitable location then you’re ready to rock’n roll:

  • Explain to your child how brakes work and encourage him or her to always use both brakes. The left needs more pulling, the right is sensitive and both together will always help her control her bike.
  • The main goal is to get him or her scooting, like on a balance bike. Scooting means you sit on your saddle and use your feet to move yourself forward. You can stabilise yourself by putting her feet down on the ground.
  • Get them to start slowly, in their own time. Some children like to slowly ‘walk’ the bike, others go fast quickly. There’s no right or wrong here.
  • If you haven’t removed the pedals get your child to stick their feet out like a v-shape so they don’t hurt themselves on the pedal.
  • With growing confidence, encourage them to go a bit faster and count the seconds they can lift her feet off the ground and simply glide using the momentum they’ve build up. We’re aiming for three to five seconds of feet off the ground and the child gliding. That’d be sufficient time to start pedalling.
  • Depending on your child’s progress this part can take a while. There’s no point in rushing this part as this is how your child learns to balance.
  • To make it interesting you can swap between different surfaces – try to scoot down grassy slopes, gravel and/or bitumen and allow your child to feel the different responses of the bicycle. Anxious children tend to like grass as it slows the bicycle down and allows them to build their confidence.
  • Your child will be ready for pedals when she can glide for three to five seconds. This is the right time to either put the pedals back or explain the next challenge. Show her how to move the pedals with her foot backwards to a parallel position. If the bike has a pedal back break this will be a bit frustrating and tricky, you will need to help your child to dismount, lift the bike and move the pedals for them.
  • The goal is to put the pedals parallel to the ground then scoot as before. Once they have got the sense of gliding explain to your child to lift their feet up, place them on the pedals and start pedalling in a forward motion. Usually a lot of stop starts happen at this point in time. If you feel your child is getting frustrated, get them to refocus on scooting and gliding – the more confident they are at this, the easier it is to start pedalling.

While you may feel the urge to hold your child’s bicycle and run with her: don’t. You will need to allow your child to discover the feeling of balance on their own. If you hold the bicycle for your child you are depriving them of learning the skill and the magical sensations that come with it. While letting go may be a bit scary (for both of you),  it is a step towards independence, which makes riding a bicycle so much fun. You can run behind your child when they scoot, glide or ride, but I would recommend if you are keen to stay close to your child, bring your own bike and ride behind them.

If you follow the steps above, you should be able to see some major improvements soon. If you run into troubles, please comment below so we can help you trouble shoot!<

Payal’s chain reaction

I actually never learnt riding when I was young, just one of those things that got totally missed out. We had a bicycle at home and my brother rode it often, but I never did! I learnt how to drive a car but could never balance myself on a bicycle and never really tried. Somehow, I wanted to learn much later in life in my late twenties, but never came around to doing much about it.

I had my kids and then whenever they’d ride I would think of teaching myself. Finally, when I saw the course at the City of Belmont I just had to join. I learnt a lot at the course, but my balance was still off even on the last day of training. By that time though my confidence was high and I was persistent. I just learnt how to balance very recently after practising with my kids on my elder boy’s bike. It’s only been three or four weeks since I can ride a bike. But I enjoy it immensely.

Now I ride about two to three times a week and for very short distances. I still do not have the stamina to ride uphill from my cul-de-sac, so haven’t gone much further from home yet. But I practice regularly and intend to eventually be able to ride farther from home, maybe to the train station or every day for work, if possible.

My kids ride with me too. And just a couple weeks back my husband bought a bike for himself. Even my father in-law has picked up bike riding. He used to drop my kids to school and walk with them while they rode, which was frustrating for him. He now rides a bike alongside them when he goes to drop and pick them up. This all started in a way after I mentioned that I wanted to learn how to ride…like a chain reaction!<

November courses open for enrolment

November is unarguably the best time in Perth to learn how to ride a bike, get back into it and join a riding group to keep practicing. The wind is losing its cool nip, temperatures are climbing into the comfortable 20 degrees Celsius – not too warm, not too cold – and then there are the vast blue Perth skies. True, there’s always a blue sky spanning across this city, but there is no better place than marveling at it from the seat of a saddle.

Because November is simply perfect we’ve just scheduled another set of adult riding courses that will enable you to learn, practice and perfect your riding skills. There is no better way to actually ride a bike than knowing exactly how to avoid the most common hiccups and safely navigate through curly situations. Many people use shared paths across town to enjoy Spring, which makes paths a busy place to be, which can be challenging for those who have never ridden, or those who need a refresher of how to handle the bike.

If you like people watching this is good fun there is more out to see. Although not a native to WA, Jacarandas are now in full blossom and Applecross is a particularly great neighbourhood if you’re keen to have a look at the sea of purple flowers. Not sure how to get there? Join Jillian’s five week social ride and learn the best tricks and trips for planning your own journey around town.

New adult learn how to ride courses

People on Bicycles is pleased to offer a fresh set of adult rider classes. Learn how to ride caters for absolute novices, who are keen to acquire the skills of riding a bicycle. There are many reasons why some people never learned as a child – from parents being overprotective, a neighbourhood that wasn’t overly cycle friendly or bicycles that were just too expensive for families to buy.

At the end of the three-week course most participants will be able to balance on the bike, ride a short stretch and master wide turns, which is a great start and a good basis to continue to build on

Many participants are motivated to learn to ride as it is a fun activity and good way to get fit, but are afraid of getting hurt and sustaining injuries that will put a stop to any further exercise. The focus of the course is on safety and how to avoid any mishaps so that participants know exactly how to get on and off the bike, balance and use the brakes, which will keep them safe during the class and whenever they head out on their own.

Those who learned to ride a bike when they were little, but haven’t set their bum on a seat for a while will find the Back on Your Bike class extremely useful. The reason why many adults don’t ride a bicycle is because they worry about what might happen and getting into a situation they feel they can’t control. Learning how to ride safely is key to building people’s confidence and with a few tips and tricks it is easy to make a ride as safe as possible.

For those keen to practice their newly learned or re-freshed skill, but are too shy to go out on their own can join the Share the Ride: social ride which guides them on Perth’s shared paths network through the city, discover some of the hidden treasures of the town and really continue to build their skills and confidence. The rides are guided by experienced accredited cycle coach who provides useful recommendations for each rider to improve event further.

Check out the upcoming courses for more information and future dates.

Sian’s discovery of joy, health and happiness

How many new skills have you been acquiring lately? If you’ve grown out of your twenties, maybe even thirties, answering this question may be not so easy, particularly when it comes to skills that can be physically challenging. if not mastered as a child, Learning how to ride a bicycle as an adult is definitely a task left unaccomplished by many. Not so for Sian, who is telling her story of how she fell in love with a new hobby.

 

“I’m a middle-aged woman of questionable social standing, often talkative, who prefers dogs to cats, reads science-fiction, and thinks the TV program Justified was significantly under-rated.”

“Two years ago I decided to get “a bit” serious about losing some weight and getting fitter. Swimming isn’t always easy to organise. I’d grown bored with walking (so slow!), and the cost of attending a gym was getting a little prohibitive. I had friends who cycled, so I thought ‘why not?’ and stumbling upon a cycle course organised through the City of Stirling. Having never been on a bicycle before, the prospect of learning to ride was certainly daunting, however, I opted for taking the ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained’ perspective.”

“My first cycling lesson was in early 2013 on a Saturday morning in the Stirling Council car park. I was terrified. And very intrigued when virtually the first thing the instructor did was to take the pedals off all the bikes. This turned out to be one of the most practical and safe ways to assist complete novices with the process of learning how to balance on the bike. I also have a distinct memory of suffering the most excruciatingly sore bottom and hamstrings for two days afterwards. By the end of the three week course I had earned both pedals back, could hop on and off, ride in a straight-ish line and turn very, very, very wide corners. Oh, and stop. Stopping by choice is a critical skill.”

“If support had ceased there, I doubt I’d be riding today. Thankfully, the City of Stirling ran a 10 week social ride which basically helped the small group of recent ‘intense course’ graduates to continue practicing those raw, new skills in the safety of understanding company and under the ever patient guidance of an instructor. These 10 weeks were pivotal for so many reasons, but let me list four: ongoing contact with other women who were at a similar point on their learning-to-cycle journey, regular time to meet just for the purpose of practicing newly acquired skill, an enthusiast yet empathetic mentor to guide the group and keep us distracted from our fears, and repetition of the basics, including safety considerations, without pressure to improve or compete. I simply cannot thank each of the women who participated enough, just for being there. We began the course with some of us wondering if we would ever be able to cycle 10 kilometers. We finished the course knowing that 15 kilometers was totally within our grasp, though we might need a coffee at the end.”

“At the conclusion of the 10 week course I purchased my first ever bike. Her name is Rosie, and she is a supremely sturdy beast of the hybrid variety, with wide tyres and straight handlebars. Rosie and I attached ourselves to a regular Saturday riding group, the Wheelie Wonderful Women, a truly great bunch of women, and occasionally would sneak in a mid-week ride on our own.”

“The amazing thing was how little I knew of Perth. This city has beautiful secrets one may never discover without a bicycle.”

“Time passed. My rides were getting longer and more frequent. I  joined another fabulous Sunday riding group. I was having fun. Then a small number of group members announced plans for a trip to New Zealand to ride the Alps 2 Ocean cycle trail, which is eight days of riding some of the most scenic places on the New Zealand South Island. We trooped over in early December of 2014 and had the most spectacular time. There were several instances where I judiciously chose to dismount and walk and there were many, many more instances where I needed to stop and catch my breath (they have real hills over there). Nonetheless, it was glorious. I was having even more fun. Who knew cycling could be all that?”

“Back in Perth, Rosie was no longer everything I wanted in a bicycle. I had reached the point where the optimal number of bikes to own is N+1 (where N is the number of bikes you have right now). Besides, the sales were on. So, in 2015, I purchased my second bicycle; her name is Maxine. She is a carbon composite, flat-bar road bike with disc brakes and together we have yet more fun.”

“I still ride Rosie as she is safe in the wet, can trundle off-road and haul luggage, but there is something very pleasing about a bike like Maxine whose sole purpose is to just go.”

“An average week for me right now would involve 2–5 separate rides. At least one of those will be a social ride with social group, at least one will be over 30 kilometers and the extras often arise from commuting between home and work, which is ‘only’ 11.6 kilometers one way. If I can’t make a social ride I just pick a route and trundle off alone – there is no better stress relief than a decent bicycle ride.”

“Joining the social riding group and learning to cycle has changed my life in so many good ways. I’m certainly fitter, healthier and a little lighter. I’ve met amazing, inspiring women who are a delight to spend time with. I’ve explored places that would otherwise have remained unknown or inaccessible to me. Friends who used to cycle have ventured back on their bikes, and they are most impressed to discover that there is always a good coffee at the end of a ride.”

“One of the more curious run-on effects of becoming a fun-oriented cyclist was chatting with a friend who has been a cycling commuter for more than a decade. She realised that she hadn’t cycled for fun in years, it was simply a means to get from place to place. Now she has re-discovered riding for pleasure by taking a trip once a week along the coast or river and wonders why she deprived herself all this time.”

“There’s always something new to try once you have a bike. And in my experience, people interested in cycling are, for the most part, incredibly supportive and helpful. Who wouldn’t want to be part of that?”

If Sian’s story has inspired you to learn how to ride, get back on your bike or join a social ride, check out our upcoming classes.

Launch of bicycle classes

Have you never learned how to ride a bicycle? Or has it been a very, very long time since you’ve been on a bike and it all seems a little too scary?

Learning how to handle a bicycle safely can be extremely daunting – particularly when you’re not a little child anymore and the thought of falling seems less than appealing. Finding adult classes that have no prerequisites and cater for the absolute novice can be equally frustrating.

From experience we know that people capable of riding a bicycle have forgotten how challenging learning these set of skills can be. And really, is hoping to remember how to ride a bike really the only thing you want to count on when it’s been a while?

For a few years we have been teaching – particularly women – how to master the skill of safely riding a bicycle. The classes have helped hundreds of participants to rediscover the joy of riding a bicycle.

We teach without judgement, just facts, useful tips and a whole heap of fun. No question is too little and the speed of how you learn is up to you – metaphorically and literally.

Sounds like the right thing for you? Check out our upcoming courses to find out where and when we’ll be running the next set of classes.