How to Ride a Two-Wheeled Bike

With these simple instructions you won't need to huff and puff behind your child while holding their seat. Your child can learn to use their body to balance and learn the important skills of riding a two wheeled bike safely and securely.

Things You'll Need

• Razor or other two wheeled scooter (optional)
• Helmet
• Two Wheeled Bike (No Training Wheels)

Instructions

1. 

   LEARN TO BALANCE: Until your child can really balance well, teaching them to ride a bike probably isn't the best idea. Learning to ride a bike is mostly about learning to balance. Once you've acquired that skill, riding a bike will be easy.

2. 

   HOW TO TEACH BALANCE: To learn to balance, use the small aluminum Razor scooters or other two wheeled scooter. Scooters are great teaching tools because they are smaller than a bike, but mimic the necessary handlebar and balancing skills required for tackling a larger bike later on. When you see your child balancing well on the scooter without putting their foot down frequently, or going for long periods of time balancing on one foot and keeping the scooter steady, than you'll know that they have most likely acquired the necessary balancing skills to ride a bike.

3. 

   GET THE BIKE READY: To get the two wheeled bike ready, take the training wheels off (or push them up and out of the way). Lower the seat to the lowest position to allow your child to easily rest their feet on the ground when sitting on the bike seat. Grab their helmet and get ready to go for a bike ride!

4. 

   LEARNING TO BALANCE ON A TWO WHEELED BIKE: The first thing you will need to do is teach your child that riding a two wheeled bike will be much the same as riding their scooter. Have them sit on the bike and push off with their legs, drawing their legs off the ground and trying to steer while sitting on the bike. It may take a few minutes, hours, or days to acquire the skill of just being able to hold the bike steady while moving and getting used to the different feel of the bike. Do not have them use their pedals during this time until they are easily able to push off and stay balanced while moving. Than introduce braking, either with the hand grips, or by pushing back on the pedal brake. Once they have learned this well you can begin to teach them to balance while pedaling. By this point and time, most kids are able to easily take off and begin pedaling on their own and stay balanced. Get the video camera ready because your child by this point and time will find that pedaling is easier than they thought and will learn it relatively quickly. Reinforce the fact that they stay balanced ONLY while the bike is moving. They will still need to learn braking techniques. Have them practice on straight roads or sidewalks first, than move onto curved roads, sidewalks, or driveways. Teach them what to do and which way to lean when turning. Once they are comfortable on the bike in turning and braking, adjust their seat to the proper position.

5. 

   EVERY CHILD IS DIFFERENT: Every child is going to learn differently and some will really have a hard time with transitioning from the scooter to the bike. Others will learn in a couple of hours how to ride a bike with this technique, others will struggle for weeks. The important thing is to not push your child, or encourage them to do more than they are ready for at the time. If it seems too overwhelming to them, stop for a few days than try again. The important thing is to not let them get too discouraged that they get turned off to getting back on the bike again. Congratulate and encourage them when you see them making progress. Soon you'll be enjoying family bike rides together.

Tips & Warnings

• Always use a helmet and other protective equipment when riding. And make sure you are setting a good example by wearing it too!