Learning toRide

Dash, who is 4 3/4, rode his 2-wheeler for the first time this weekend. We pretty much brought the bike home, he got on it, and rode all by himself. Yes, we helped him with a little push, but once he got going he had no problem. Is he exceptionally coordinated? NO. I have to give the credit on this one to my husband and a nifty little bike he bought two summers ago for our son.

Mr. I has a knack for finding all the latest and greatest new gadgets and toys. He came across this bike made in Germany on the internet a couple of years ago. It's called a "like-a-bike" (www.likeabikeusa.com). Basically it's a 2-wheeler with no pedals. He convinced me it would be a great thing to get and I blindly nodded my head yes, thinking to myself, "whatever you say dear". But when it arrived and I saw how easily Dash, at the time not even 3, sped away on the pedaless 2 wheeler, riding in circles on our drive-way, I was convinced!

Everywhere we took that bike in the US we had people turning their heads asking us about it. What was great for me was that we could actually ride our bikes at normal speed with him. This is not something you can typically do with a 3 year old on a bike.

With the concept of balancing on 2 wheels out of the way it only left Dash with needing to learn how to pedal. I have to admit that this was a concern for me. I was worried he would be cheated by never riding a tricycle! That didn't seem to hold him back at all though. He got that down pretty quickly. Now he just needs to learn the concept of breaking! Thank goodness for Bike Helmets!