balancing act

Here are the boys zipping across our front yard on their bikes. Looks like a pretty typical kids-on-bikes photo -- until you look a little closer and realize that these bikes have no pedals on them. Several months ago we became aware of the method of teaching bike-riding that involves using a "balance bike", also known as a "running bike". Basically you let the kids learn to pedal on a tricycle, allow them to develop balance on a balance bike, then when they have both pieces mastered, toss the pedals back on the bike and voila! Bike riders! No training wheels, no fuss. It almost seemed too obvious, and too good to be true for parents like us with kids with balance issues who seemed doomed to spend eternity in training wheels. So we ripped off those pedals and the kids are going to town (or, um, pasture....) on those bikes.

J entering the front yard -- we figure it's the safest place to ride. There's a soft surface to land on for the bevy on inevitable falls, there's less obstacles to work your way around (like feed pans and piles of horse manure), and there's an ever-so-slight slope to it, just enough to pick up a very small head of steam for coasting.

And he's off and coasting!! He almost immediately began picking up his feet and coasting down the hill. He's VERY proud about this accomplishment, and the fact that the bike sports zero training wheels. He doesn't really seem to mind that it also sports zero pedals.

Zoo Boy is a bit more cautious about the experience. In fact, I really haven't seen him attempt to coast yet, he's got enough trouble maneuvering the bike around the yard WITH his feet. Which is surprising, since at the end of last year's biking season, he was the one we thought we'd be ditching the training wheels with first.

To give Zoo Boy a bit more experience and confidence, we did purchase him an actual Balance Bike (a nice wooden model, on the lower side of prices -- seems these things go for anywhere from $50 - $500!! -- this one is a small bike, so was at the bottom end of that range) to use in the house. Certainly more of an investment than the tag-sale bike we bought for $12 this weekend (which lost it's pedals the moment it got home!). But since he can use it in the house and get balance work in small spurts throughout the day, we chalked it up to therapy equipment, and I don't regret it for a minute.

Meanwhile, the pedals sit on a shelf waiting for the right time to reemerge. Although, honestly, Zoo Boy's outgrown his bike anyway, and will be inheriting J's other bike (which still has pedals), and since the one J's coasting on now is a bit small for him, we're planning on upgrading him anyway (so if you see me cruising slowly past tag sales this summer, you'll know why!). So my guess is that these models may just retire as balance bikes. Maybe we can then pass them on to some other parent looking for a less traumatic way to teach their kids to ride!