Take off the Training Wheels
Lose the Training Wheels is a Virginia-based program that teaches special need children to ride a bike. Children start using a specially adapted bike and can move on to using a conventional bike. You can read about their program here (with photos showing the adapted bikes) and see a schedule of camps that teach children to ride here. The January 9th Novato Advance describes the 4-day Learn to Ride Marin Bike Camp sponsored by Easter Seals Northern California. Here’s a description of the adapted bikes:
Instead of having a back wheel like most two-wheel bicycles, the bikes have a roller with weights and the occupational therapists shift the weight once the child demonstrates competence when riding.
When the child feels confident with one weight position the weights are shifted so that the child’s balance is thrown off. A child must then learn to correct his or her balance and try to continue riding.
If the child continues to progress through the weight changes during the camp, he or she will eventually reach the point where he or she can tackle a two-wheel bicycle.
My husband Jim decided to take off the training wheels when Charlie was 6 (it would not have happened, had it been up to me). They started in parking lots with Jim holding the seat and having to run really fast some times: I suspect that teaching Charlie to stop was the hardest part, perhaps even more than learning to balance on two wheels. I have been encouraging Jim to write up how he taught Charlie to ride a bike in more detail.
Today was warm for January day. At Jim’s saying they would go ride bikes, Charlie went to pull Jim’s bike out of the garage (the bike’s handlebars are almost as high as Charlie is tall). It took a few minutes for Charlie to pull himself up onto his new red and white bike, which is definitely bigger than the old yellow one. And then off they rode.
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POSTED IN: Bike
9 opinions for Take off the Training Wheels
Marla
Jan 13, 2008 at 11:41 pm
This is awesome. I am so sad they don’t have any camps near us. I am glad to hear that bike riding goes so well for Charlie. It is great fun and exercise. We were just walking with M as she was riding the other day. Her big struggle is still looking up and not at her feet. She also has “truning anxiety”. She has a larger bike that she has all ready out grown. We will not be able to fit training wheels on another size up, or so they told us at the store. I am praying this summer will be the year we can get her off the training wheels. M does not mind she still has training wheels on at age ten but she has been made fun of more than once when we are out riding. That is the hardest part for me.
Regan
Jan 14, 2008 at 2:57 am
Kristina,
Maybe Jim and my old man can collaborate (smile) because he did a great job getting Eleanor up and riding. From your description the process sounds similar. I don’t run fast enough to have pulled it off, and I give hubby major props for the weeks of steadfastly running after that bike.
We were both in agreement that training wheels had to go, and if memory serves, stopping was the toughest part (a major skid-out at elevated speed put the kibosh on the whole thing for a couple months and we practiced that separately before giving it a go again). It was a big achievement–she has to work so much harder on things that come easily to others that watching her glide and maneuver expertly on the bike paths, just like any other kid, continues to be one of those happy-making things for all of us.
(One of those reasons that I especially enjoy the stories of Charlie and his bike.)
Eleanor
Jan 14, 2008 at 11:58 am
Thanks for the link to the bike programs. I think I will sign my son up for one next summer, as there is one listed that is close by.
Lisa/Jedi
Jan 14, 2008 at 1:12 pm
Brendan also outgrew training wheels (or the largest bike they came on) before he was really ready to lose them (he was 7 at the time), but Charlie (dad) used the same techniques that Jim did & Brendan soon found his balance for riding. Because of motor planning difficulties, he wasn’t able to push-off on his own (find the pedal, kick it into place, lift up the other foot & find the other pedal, all while balancing & looking where you’re going…) for another year. He worked so hard & was so determined that the whole neighbourhood caught on & he often had a cheering section as he rode by. :)
Matt Kaufman
Jan 14, 2008 at 1:21 pm
My son learned how to go two-wheeling after a couple of years on training wheels. I used a “Ready Rider) http://www.readyrider.com - which helps both the adult and the child through the training process. It’s a handle that attaches to the base of the back wheel and extends up and back for the adult. You can walk/run alongside your child for long distances without crouching to grab the seat, making it easier for the kid to get used to. My son was ~very~ worried about two wheeling, but the handle made him feel better about it and I was gradually able to lighten pressure so that he learned how to bike on his own.
The video I link to shows my son’s first “real” bike ride - listen to him laugh with pleasure. The Ready Rider helped make that possible.
Matt Kaufman
Jan 14, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Whoops - here’s the link of my son’s first ride. One of those days I won’t forget.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=bcQaOyurlqc
Kristina Chew, PhD
Jan 14, 2008 at 5:18 pm
That was glorious to see! I’ll never forget the moment, too, when Jim told me he had taught Charlie to “squeeze brakes”!
codeman38
Jan 16, 2008 at 12:20 am
Anyone know if these guys, or anyone similar, accept a 25-year-old who still has trouble staying balanced on a bike? I’ve been trying to find something to help train myself to stay balanced on a bike, but all of them seem geared towards kids…
Kristina Chew, PhD
Jan 16, 2008 at 2:16 am
Not sure—-I would be glad to contact them.
By the way, I am an almost-40-year-old who can ride a bike but has a bit of trouble balancing, and definitely stopping (without falling).
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