Children and bikes

April 2, 2018 Karen 29 comments

Now that we are officially in British summer time and  hopefully have some good weather on the way, lets encourage our children  to get on their bikes, enjoy some fresh air and get some exercise.

Children usually start to learn about the concept of a bike at around 12 months of age when they are introduced to their first ride-on toy

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My own boys had hours of fun playing on their ride-on toys in the garden.

 

As children grow in both size and confidence they move on from ride-on toys to trikes and three wheeled bikes

and then onto a 2 wheeled bike with stabiliser wheels .

My eldest son learned to ride a two wheeler bike with training wheels for extra support. That was until a girl of a similar age told him that she didn’t need these extra wheels, my son told us he no longer needed them either and to prove that he wasn’t going to be beaten by a girl once they were taken away he got on his bike and rode along the pavement outside our house.

 

When my youngest son was about a year old I had a seat on the back of my bike for him.

I went out with my older children for a cycle ride along our local trail.We were all doing great until we came to the metal structure that I guess is there to slow cyclists down, it certainly slowed me down because when I went through the structure I lost my momentum  and the extra weight caused me to wobble. Once I got going again it was fantastic until I arrived at the next structure when it happened all over again!

When Adam was old enough to ride his own bike, he just like his brother started with the training wheels. One day he informed us that now he was ‘a big boy’ he no longer needed them, so my husband took them off, Adam proudly jumped on his bike shot off down the driveway and sped across the road.

“STOP”  we all shouted, realising that he didn’t know how to stop I sprinted after him, luckily he had managed to stop using his feet and because we lived in a quiet cal-du-sac he was unharmed. I didn’t let him near the bike again until I was confident  that he knew how to use his brakes.

With the school summer holidays just around the corner, use this time to get your children out on their bikes, there are bikes to sit all ages and abilities so you have no excuse, go with them, ensure everyone wears a helmet for safety and enjoy a free activity  ( there aren’t many things that you can do for free).

Read more about my cycling adventures in my post titled a cycle ride with my boys to Remington Quay.

As always questions/comments are welcome and please share this post on social media using the option provided.

I would like to thank Kirsty Butland, Julie Talin and Sophie Land for supplying the photos used in this post.

Until next time.

Karen

x

 

 

29 Comments on “Children and bikes

  1. I’ve never been a confident cyclist which is such a shame as its a brilliant way to keep fit.luckily the rest of my family love to cycle. I remember when my brother taught me to cycle for the first time. He was holding onto bike then let me go and and i went straight into the back of a parked van. Guess this was not the best start for me! Interesting blog Karen .

  2. My husband is a semi professional cyclists so my kids have been on bikes since they could toddle. It’s such a good form of exercise for them!
    Thank you for sharing.

    #goinggreen

  3. Our girls love their bikes, we can’t wait until we get go on a proper bike ride with them! Thanks so much for sharing with #Blogstravaganza xx

  4. I don’t remember the last time I rode a bike, but we are hoping this year is the year we can get my little boy riding his. He’s been reluctant so far for some reason. Fingers crossed. Thanks for joining in with #TriumphantTales, do come back Tuesday!

  5. growing up one of my favourite things was riding my bike, it gave me thats sense of freedom and discovery. My husband actually rides everyday to and from work, it takes just over an hour and he loves biking on weekends. Unfortunately our son, now eight really dislikes riding his bike, he loves scooting and is extremely active, but doesn’t enjoy his bike. I am hoping we can turn it around as his sisters enjoy it and it would be nice to do it as a family. Thanks for linking up #ablogginggoodtime

  6. Aw this post made me smile. LP learned to ride his bike without the stabiliser wheels last summer, and we’ve not been able to stop him since. It has encouraged the Hubby to get out on his bike and now they both love it. They’ve ridden hundreds of miles over the last few months and are looking forward to the better weather so they can get out on the bikes more!
    Thanks for linking to #pocolo

  7. Lovely read. We have always enjoyed a family bike ride although padded shorts are a must! We get out in all conditions and never let rain stop us. A great way to stay fit! #tweensteensbeyond

  8. We love a good bike ride but I have to say living in London I restrict it to the parks and ban my kids from cycling on the roads. It is just too crazy, which is sad because I can remember 30 years ago when I moved here I cycled everywhere without a helmet and it was fabulous! We are lucky to be surrounded by so many parks so it is still doable and enjoyable. Thanks for sharing this post with us. #TweensTeensBeyond

  9. I have to admit I don’t cycle. I have a back problem that makes it painful to cycle and we don’t love somewhere where it is easy to pop to the shops etc on a bike … plus I am not sure I could manage 13kms with a 25kg sack of animal feed!! But we have always encouraged our boys to cycle and they do go to the nearest town by bike. They are fitter than me! #GoingGreen

  10. I’m absolutely all for encouraging more kids onto bikes and, as you say, this time of year is perfect for it. I definitely intend to do more cycling this year once my running training has eased and I’m hoping the kids will join me either on their own bikes or in the trailer. Thanks for joining us on #adventurecalling. We open for new posts again tomorrow morning.

  11. That reminds me, I really need to get a helmet for Finn. He has a balance bike at the moment but we’ve barely used it. Now the weather is getting better and we’ve got a big garden we’ve got no excuse! This post bought back so many memories of riding my bike and the freedom it gave me when I was younger. Thanks for sharing #AdventureCalling

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