Freedom Rides on Two Wheels


Nearly three years ago I began my first attempt at teaching Aaron how to ride his bike. While only three years old, he demonstrated good balance and had a mild desire to learn. That attempt failed, however, and I think his interest completely fizzled out. He hasn't mentioned any desire to ride a bike since.

Fast forward to the present, and a couple of things helped rekindle his interest. First, packs of similarly-aged kids would congregate on our front porch and ask for Aaron to come out and join their bike riding posse (somewhat akin to this Simpsons clip). While he couldn't ride like them, he still enjoyed the camaraderie while riding his scooter, even though he was always bringing up the rear.

Second, we read a book (Yikes! Bikes!) that talked about learning to ride a bike because the narrator was embarrassed for not being able to.

Fast Forward to last Friday, and I challenged Aaron to let me give him lessons for riding (I fail to remember my motivation for challenging him). He agreed, and we set a time to practice on Saturday afternoon. After five minutes of practicing steering and pedaling, I gave him a push and ran behind him as he rode the length of our street on his own. I was quite surprised, but I think Aaron was even more pleased. We practiced some more, focusing on starting, stopping, and safety, until rain and dinner forced us inside for the remainder of the evening.

I told Aaron that we could practice some more together on Sunday after church. So as soon as we returned home that afternoon, Aaron changed his clothes, put on his helmet, opened up the garage, and patiently waited for me to join him. We rode several loops around nearby streets, and he seemed pretty comfortable. He has since spent hours each day this week outside riding his bike (solo and with friends), and you can easily discern how much he enjoys this new freedom. I think the lone setback is that his bike is too small for him, so we need to find a gently used 20" bike (I don't think I'll ever be able to buy anything new again).
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