My 8 year old wants to do a Tri in Aug.
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gshuldes posted 20 weeks ago.
Training wheels are overrated ... most parents leave them on way too long. Kids should have them on their bikes just long enough to get comfortable with being on the bike and the pedaling motion and how to handle the brakes, etc. It sounds like she was already over this hurdle on the old bike ... now she just needs to get a little comfortable on the new bike before she'll be ready to go on her own.
To get her used to the new bike you should be able to hold it up for her and run along with her while you hold the seat (it will help that you are short ... this part is hard for taller people). After she seems comfortable with pedaling/steering/braking you can start letting go of the seat for very brief periods. Before you know it, she'll be riding on her own.
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prendergi posted 20 weeks ago.
I think her biggest problem with the other bike (other than it being to small) is that the pedals were the brakes. She would always use her feet for the breaks but now she has them at her hands so her feet will be free to "catch" her. Not to mention even our guy and that LBS said it is much harder to learn how to ride on a smaller bike.
"The pain of discipline is far less than the pain of regret" - Sarah Bombell
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brittda posted 20 weeks ago.
Absolutely no clue (no kids) but good luck to her in her first race!
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Ironmom posted 20 weeks ago.
Do you still have the older (smaller) bike??
Here's an easy way to teach them to ride. Take the training wheels and pedals off of the smaller bike. Take her someplace slightly sloped, preferably with grass on either side, like a bike path through a park.Let her sit on the bike, get going, coast, and just put her feet down to stop. It's much easier to balance a small bike with no pedals to worry about than to try to master a taller bike and getting the pedals going.
Once she gets the feel of balancing, get out her newer bike with the pedals. Put the seat down so that she can reach the ground easily with both feet while seated. Let her get used to coasting, then pedaling, then stopping.
After she masters that, teach her how to use the hand brakes. After that, put her seat height up to a reasonable height and she should be good to go.
When my kids were younger, my son (then 7) taught my daughter (then 4) to ride in our garage on an old smaller bike, like this. He just had her coast across the garage.
Then we took her out to a parking lot and voila, she could ride! We didn't think she'd be ready, but he got her started just coasting in the garage.
Blue Skies, -Robin-
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tri-ac posted 20 weeks ago.
awesome that she wants to do a tri!
my little guy did a kids one just before he shed his training wheels last year
i'm hoping he wants to do another this year
+1 to ironmom's removing the pedals suggestion! having seen other kids do it this way, i now believe training wheels are a waste of time
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TonisTri posted 20 weeks ago.
At the age of 8, she will learn so fast! She may have learned how to ride before you even read this post! All the above are good suggestions. I would recommend teaching her in the back yard a bit, so if she falls, she hits the soft(er) ground and starts to get a feel for how to balance. then take her out on a quiet street and do the run along side holding the seat thing. All my kids learned this way with in a day or two. Once you start teaching her, go out for a practice every single day, or twice a day until she gets it and feels strong. Good luck!
That which does not kill me makes me faster...
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groovyjen posted 20 weeks ago.
That's awesome! Good luck! My daughter (5 1/2) is still working on the training wheels, but I bet she'd love to do a kids tri when she gets a bit older (she's been asking when she can do a triathlon with Mommy).
I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...
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gshuldes posted 20 weeks ago.
+1 to the LBS guy saying that the larger bike will be easier to learn on. The larger wheels create far more gyroscope effect ... which is what keeps the bike upright. The small wheels on tiny kids bikes make them much harder to keep upright.
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prendergi posted 20 weeks ago.
I don't know why but I never even thought about starting on the grass. We have a great slope right outside our door! Since she has the brakes on the handle bars so that is a perfect way to start off. We are still waiting for the bike to come in from the other store. We got rid of the other bike at the end of last season. I felt so bad...by the end of the summer it was SO obvious she need a bike but we KNEW she would be tall enough for an adult size bike by the next season. It's so depressing...she wears the said size running shoe as I and rides (roughly) the same size bike as I *sigh*.
"The pain of discipline is far less than the pain of regret" - Sarah Bombell
We took my 8 year old to the LBS yesterday because she did awesome on her report card and for all her hardwork she gets a new bike (she would probably have gotten one anyone since she grew out of her old one but shhhh...she doesn't know that). Anyway, like I said, she wants to do a kids tri. 50 yrd/2.3/0.5. The problems is...she grew out of the bike with training wheels before she learned how to ride w/o training wheels. Her new bike is a Specialized Myka HT. Yep, she is that tall that she gets a 15. When she outgrows that bike (which she will) it will be my bike. Yep, I am that short! Anyway, anyone got some good tips on how to teach a young lady to ride a mountain bike?
"The pain of discipline is far less than the pain of regret" - Sarah Bombell