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What I did was make the training wheels uneven, so that they would balance on the back tire and then the training wheel would catch them if they went too far (not too uneven but enough that I could hear the bike riding for short periods without the noise of the training wheels.) then, we took the training wheels off, and because DD was too afraid of injury, we practiced in the grass. We did this a few times, then moved to the sidewalk. She picked it up really fast. DS, who learned a week before his 5th bday, went right to the sidewalk. In fact, after having the wheels unbalanced for a while, he let me hlep a handful of times then said leave him alone, he would do it himself. He pushed with one foot like a scooter til he was moving enough to pick up the foot and start pedalling and he practically taught himself. In fact, almost overnight. He spent ALL DAY and mastered it... to the point that he was flying so fast, that he was racing his sister that same week, their tires collided and he went FLYING! Thank GOD for his helmet because it saved his nose and upper face but he hit his mouth and knocked two teeth loose and ripped up his gums and cheeks. So... is it really so bad to keep those training wheels? JK!

awesome!

Ditto the yay!

I saw someone using one of these today, and thought I'd share. She said that her first dd had a horrible time learning to ride without training wheels, so she decided to swear off for the rest of her children, and they use this instead:

http://www.amazon.com/Balance-Buddy-31264002-Adjustable/dp/B000MISWIW

She also said that using scooters helped them gain a sense of balance (but also gets them used to putting their foot on the ground... )

We used the scooters also and then took the pedals off of the bicycle so the bike became a scooter. After that it was easy.

Ds10 only learned to swim at age 9, and it still working on the bike thing. The swimming came together when he was doing it almost every day, so I guess that is all we really need to do to get him riding better.

We held onto my dd's coat until she said it was okay to let go. It took about two weeks of that and she was off.

Finally my DS7 has learned. I thought the day would never come. When we got him a bike he sat there and READ the manual! I thought of that show w/the nerds Sheldon who is a genius but can't drive lol

My daughter didn't learn to ride a bike until 11 and neither did I. Somehow, around that time, the mechanics of it just clicked for both of us - and nobdoy could teach us - we just had to learn it for ourselves. None of her friends live in the neighborhood, so it wasn't really much of a social issue.

But she did always seem overly cautious with it and was very afraid of falling.

Hey guys,

My 5.5 yo son just learned a couple weeks ago. He started with training wheels this spring but was getting overly comfortable, relying on them.

Then we took the wheels off, pedals off, lowered the seat all the way so he could easily touch and he used it as a balance bike for 2 weeks. At first it was hard for him but he got to where he was gliding and turning really well.

Then put the pedals back on and he could ride on the 1st or 2nd try! Very comfortable on the bike after a couple more days.

Highly recommend this method and you don't have to buy a separate balance bike!!

DS8 still can't ride a bike. He won one last year in the school reading promotion, and there it sits, just like the one he had before. He really didn't show any interest all summer this year, he just runs around with the kids who ride bikes, chasing and being chased. He gets his balance from his mother.

I don't really worry about it. How often does the average physicist or math teacher or architect or whatever he's going to be actually ride a bike as an adult? Many people manage just fine without them.