BALANCE BIKES& Learning to Cycle
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Why choose balance bikes for your beginner cyclist????
Using a balance bike helps children develop essential balance and coordination skills, making the transition to a pedal bike smoother. It allows them to focus on balance first, simplifying the learning process compared to training wheels (stabilisers), and builds confidence in a fun and intuitive way.
Gliding while cornering - like a pro!
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Some summer camp action on balance bikes.
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Lesson 1 usually involves the introduction to a helmet, as much for "association" as it is for safety. Balance bikes are quite safe, but it's always better to be safe, than sorry.
Our warm up exercises often include jumping like a frog, hopping like a rabbit, or bouncing like a kangaroo.
Before we move at all, we talk about where we look when we're on a bike... We are always looking ahead of us to see where we are going... It can be far more interesting to watch the front wheel of the bike or their friend in the park beside them.
We then learn about the correct way to get on the bike (standing on the left hand side, and lifting the right leg over the rear of the bike), and slowly build the confidence to walk while seated, called striding.
The movement can feel a bit daunting at first but it's something to be celebrated. This is quite a brave move for many budding cyclists, as the movement progresses, it gets faster and takes a lot of concentration. Gradually introducing the steering movements.... We introduce the braking element quite early on (rear brake only to begin with), This can be difficult to introduce as the speed picks up - so it's better to get confident with that before going for hilly areas. This all promotes the sense of control and confidence as they explore their familiar territory on their balance bike.
Lesson 2 guides the cyclist to practice lifting their feet off the ground briefly while "gliding". Emphasising the importance of keeping a straight line of vision and using gentle movements to steer. We reinforce the knowledge that the balcance comes from their body, that they don't need training wheels or pedals to achieve that.
From here we work on cornering, steering and braking before having a conversation about introducing pedals. This process requires patience, and kindness. The balance bike may be enough for a while for some, they may not want to use pedals at all, or feel that that is a step too far, for now. It can be a huge leap of faith, especially if there has been any negative experiences previously.
We encourage the adult to remain calm if there is a refusal to try the pedals, and encourage the use of the balance bike, with correct braking and the helmet as the skills on the balance bike is an achievement in itself.
When introducing the pedals, the very first move will be to affirm the correct foot position on the pedal (place the pedals on the ground, and push down onto them with the ball of your foot to demonstrate, don't use your heel or toes).
Once this has been established, then we work on putting one pedal onto the bike, and talking about getting "pedal ready".
This can be the most frustrating part of all, as your right foot is on the pedal, your left foot remains on the ground, but must be enough of a distance away that you can maintain your balance. This is probably the trickiest part for so many. This takes repeated efforts and loads of encouragement. Once they have comfortably gotten the pushing off part, the braking to stop also needs to be reinforced. These are valuable lessons going forward.
After continuing with those basic movements, once the student has managed to push off successfully, we repeat the process with the opposite pedal/foot. Even though you might write with your right hand, you might prefer to get the left leg to push off on a bike. The best way is to find this out at this point, so we remove the right pedal, and introduce the left pedal.
After some more practicing, we add back on the right pedal and begin to figure out the dominant foot. This is where we practice pushing off, lifting the second foot onto the second pedal, and then while they are cycling you continue to physically support them. There will be wobbles. You might prefer to hold the centre of their handlebars, or the back of their jumper or their shoulders. That can be worked out as you go along. Each student is different.
We don't release our support until we are confident that there is complete control from the cyclist, and we continue to encourage them to control their speed, and keep alert for the back brake to come into action if required.
If and when we let go ... the training can't stop here.
Please continue to work with the student. There will be a lot of falls and scrapes if we don't work with them to control their speed, how to use the brakes to gently slow, control the bike, and how/when to freewheel correctly. These lessons will work for the long term enjoyment of cycling.
All too often we have seen a cyclist take off and with a bit too much gusto, go into a bend too quickly, only to put them back a few steps on their cycling lessons. It's better to build slowly, and then start by playing some games.
We like the idea of every person learning to cycle and encourage everyone to give it a go. It has been our pleasure to work with hundreds of students in the past few years to develop their bike skills, and we look forward to encouraging hundreds more in the years to come.
Our warm up exercises often include jumping like a frog, hopping like a rabbit, or bouncing like a kangaroo.
Before we move at all, we talk about where we look when we're on a bike... We are always looking ahead of us to see where we are going... It can be far more interesting to watch the front wheel of the bike or their friend in the park beside them.
We then learn about the correct way to get on the bike (standing on the left hand side, and lifting the right leg over the rear of the bike), and slowly build the confidence to walk while seated, called striding.
The movement can feel a bit daunting at first but it's something to be celebrated. This is quite a brave move for many budding cyclists, as the movement progresses, it gets faster and takes a lot of concentration. Gradually introducing the steering movements.... We introduce the braking element quite early on (rear brake only to begin with), This can be difficult to introduce as the speed picks up - so it's better to get confident with that before going for hilly areas. This all promotes the sense of control and confidence as they explore their familiar territory on their balance bike.
Lesson 2 guides the cyclist to practice lifting their feet off the ground briefly while "gliding". Emphasising the importance of keeping a straight line of vision and using gentle movements to steer. We reinforce the knowledge that the balcance comes from their body, that they don't need training wheels or pedals to achieve that.
From here we work on cornering, steering and braking before having a conversation about introducing pedals. This process requires patience, and kindness. The balance bike may be enough for a while for some, they may not want to use pedals at all, or feel that that is a step too far, for now. It can be a huge leap of faith, especially if there has been any negative experiences previously.
We encourage the adult to remain calm if there is a refusal to try the pedals, and encourage the use of the balance bike, with correct braking and the helmet as the skills on the balance bike is an achievement in itself.
When introducing the pedals, the very first move will be to affirm the correct foot position on the pedal (place the pedals on the ground, and push down onto them with the ball of your foot to demonstrate, don't use your heel or toes).
Once this has been established, then we work on putting one pedal onto the bike, and talking about getting "pedal ready".
This can be the most frustrating part of all, as your right foot is on the pedal, your left foot remains on the ground, but must be enough of a distance away that you can maintain your balance. This is probably the trickiest part for so many. This takes repeated efforts and loads of encouragement. Once they have comfortably gotten the pushing off part, the braking to stop also needs to be reinforced. These are valuable lessons going forward.
After continuing with those basic movements, once the student has managed to push off successfully, we repeat the process with the opposite pedal/foot. Even though you might write with your right hand, you might prefer to get the left leg to push off on a bike. The best way is to find this out at this point, so we remove the right pedal, and introduce the left pedal.
After some more practicing, we add back on the right pedal and begin to figure out the dominant foot. This is where we practice pushing off, lifting the second foot onto the second pedal, and then while they are cycling you continue to physically support them. There will be wobbles. You might prefer to hold the centre of their handlebars, or the back of their jumper or their shoulders. That can be worked out as you go along. Each student is different.
We don't release our support until we are confident that there is complete control from the cyclist, and we continue to encourage them to control their speed, and keep alert for the back brake to come into action if required.
If and when we let go ... the training can't stop here.
Please continue to work with the student. There will be a lot of falls and scrapes if we don't work with them to control their speed, how to use the brakes to gently slow, control the bike, and how/when to freewheel correctly. These lessons will work for the long term enjoyment of cycling.
All too often we have seen a cyclist take off and with a bit too much gusto, go into a bend too quickly, only to put them back a few steps on their cycling lessons. It's better to build slowly, and then start by playing some games.
We like the idea of every person learning to cycle and encourage everyone to give it a go. It has been our pleasure to work with hundreds of students in the past few years to develop their bike skills, and we look forward to encouraging hundreds more in the years to come.
Ray Showing how to stride on a balance bike
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Learning to walk your bike correctly - by bringing a bean bag for a walk...
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