Cue the Yves Montand, my boys are riding bikes!
Last summer, my then 4.75-year-old boys had been riding their heavy 18 (or 19"?) bicycles with training wheels since this past spring. We'd long since abandoned the tiny 12 (or 13"?) bicycles with training wheels since graduating to the bigger bikes. But the mom from whom we'd purchased both sets of bikes (at different times) told me to go back to the smaller bikes when it came time to learning to ride without training wheels. "Remove the training wheels and the pedals then take them to a small, grassy hill and they'll learn to balance," she said.
I'd known for some time that my boys were ready to ride those 12' bikes. The only problem was that those tiny bikes lived at grandpa's home for short rides down his street and in his back yard. Grandpa didn't believe the boys were ready, always erring on the "older is better" side - for everything. I begged him to take off the training wheels. "Then we'll give it a try the next time we're over, " I explained. But every week when we visited, the training wheels remained on. Finally, I just removed the training wheels myself (but kept the pedals on), brought my boys to a local school and within minutes, my boys were pedaling and pedaling fast. This was three months ago. Most of our same-age friends also hit this milestone around the same time.
Three year's ago, while vacationing in Bend, Oregon, the Target there had wooden balance bikes (similar to the popular Skuut) on clearance for TWELVE DOLLARS. I don't know if it was some kind of reverse psychology, but I didn't go for it. My mom told me, "You have so much stuff for the boys already," and it was true, I'd been trying to downsize the number of toys. I walked away without the balance bikes. They usually run around about $100 so I really should have snapped up those bikes at Target. What was I thinking? They could have been up on their bikes years ago! But then again, why would I want that?
I remember when I first tried roller blading back in the 90's, I'd forced my feet into those sturdy boots and was keenly aware that the sidewalk had morphed into a landscape of uneven pavement and downhill paths. It was a bit like that the first two times my boys learned to ride without training wheels, it was a changing landscape. Suddenly, there were poles and trees and garbage cans everywhere (see photo of my son at left) and the boys were even road hazards to each other. As I watched helplessly while shouting, "Watch out!", they'd crash into each other, then ride out of control onto the grass. And those poles were like magnets, attracting my boys with such a force!
One of my boys is fearless, a total speed demon. He'd be a total skate/snowboard kid if I'd let him. The other boy is cautious, willing to give it a try, but often opting to go the slow and steady route. They are like chalk and cheese! At least I know that if ever we take the boys skiing, I will have a companion in the lodge.
It's been almost 3 months since my boys first learned to ride and they still love those tiny 13" inch bicycles. I love those bikes for their small size. I just plop them into the trunk and we're off. The larger bikes fit into my mini-van but I have to fold the seat downs first. We tried riding on the 18-19" bikes and my boys can pedal but have trouble stopping because their feet don't touch the ground.
<----- One of our good friends, Jack T., was visiting for the weekend. He's a big kid, although, like my boys, he is not quite five. We met for a play date at the park and I took one look at Jack T. and thought, "He's ready." So I let him give Cheese Boy's small bike a whirl and just as it was with my boys, he was riding on that thing within minutes! I think the key to his success was 1) the small bike and 2) his readiness. Probably we could have gotten our kids up on bikes earlier, but we just didn't think to do so.
It's amusing that all my boys want to do is either go to the park to ride bikes or stay home to build Star Wars Legos. We no longer feel the need to fill our time with so many activities and excursions. I think we were at the peak of that phase at age three. I love that my boys are enjoying doing something physical. Exercise makes my boys feel good about themselves. I love that it runs my boys ragged and sends them to bed earlier, tee hee.
Guess it's time that I bought a bike for myself. Seriously, it's been ages since I could keep up with my boys on foot. My boys pedal so far ahead at parks, that they pedal out of sight sometimes. I like to keep the bike riding within parks with circular trails, so that I can park my lazy butt on a bench and watch my kids lap me. Go ahead boys, my future Lance Armstrongs, tire yourselves out lap me.
Original post to Chalk and Cheese Chronicles.
