I know this club is for women only, but I wanted to share one of the most sublime experiences; helping Gavin take his first pedal strokes without training wheels. For the last year, Carrie and I had agonized over whether or not we had made a bad decision letting the kids ride with training wheels at all. After several impromptu conversations with other competitive cyclists with children, the concensus seemed to be that never letting them have the crutch would have been the better path. (gasp!)
We're not expecting Gavin to race at a Tuesday night crit this summer, he's got a ways to go in refining his skills before he'll even make a turn unassisted. But, it's such an awesome feeling to know the exuberation he's experiencing. While we video-taped a few of his "rides" (nearly all ending in a crash of some sort), he'd slowly get up and decide whether or not he would cry. I'd quickly prompt him to check out his crash on the video camera. As soon as he'd watch his latest try, he'd jump up with new conviction, "I'm gonna try again."
1 comment:
u know, a neighbor showed me a fast way to help a kid learn and it worked great for my boys ...
Take a piece of rope, double it up, and put it around the seat tube. Then run behind them when they take off.
The rope will let you slow the fall, but not provide so much support that they don't have to learn to balance. For my boys, an empty street and a few runs on my part were all it took.
Post a Comment