“Look, Mum, I’m riding all by myself” is a common yell we heard from happy kiddos who came along to our recent bike education workshop.
For most of us, riding a bike is easy and comes second nature. Let me ask, how many times have you said, “it’s just like riding a bike”?
You might not remember, but try being a 6-year-old, with 6-months experience on training wheels up your sleeve, we take them off you and throw you in the deep end – daunting to say the least!
Our bike education workshops arm kids with the basics of bike riding to get them skilled enough to feel confident and safe while riding, especially on the road.
For most, it was getting them confident enough to ride without training wheels.
Even though they were a little nervous, these littlies did not give up. There were a few (ok, many) falls, but every single one of them got back up, brushed it off and gave it another go until they nailed it!
“I did it” – 7-year-old Alex, as he throws his fists up in accomplishment
During our workshops, we focus on general bike safety, like the A, B, C, D pre-ride bike safety check we should all be doing before we jump on a bike.
In case you didn’t already know,
- A is for Air – are the tires pumped to the correct pressure?
- B is for Brakes – do both brakes stop the bike when applied?
- C is for Chain – is the chain free of dirt and not dry or rusted?
- D is for Drop the bike – are there any funny clanging sounds when dropped from 5cms?
How to safely mount and dismount the bike; balancing skills; pedal power position; riding straight, turning, signaling, and scanning are all just some of the other skills we work on too.
These kids came in on training wheels and left without them, feeling more confident riding a bike, increased awareness of their surroundings and knowledge to be safe while riding.
“Seeing their little faces light up with excitement when they managed to ride by themselves without training wheels was priceless” – Corey’s Mum
We’ve never given out so many high-fives or seen so many kids feel prouder than these who had achieved so much in so little time.
What we’ve learned: don’t underestimate a 7-year-old that’s keen to ride!
Riding to school one of the easiest ways to increase daily physical activity and now these littlies (and their parents) feel confident to ride to school.
Stay tuned for the next bike education workshop and where we’re looking to expand our bike program to next.
