Wednesday, August 26, 2009

I feel like I'm always training someone

Last night was a different sort of training session. Rugby got a night off. My husband and I took our twins to the park and they both began learning how to ride their bicycles without training wheels. Ah, another milestone.

We took them to the park because my husband read in one of his cycling magazines that the easiest way to learn 'em was to lower the bike seats so they could get their feet on the ground instantly, take them to a small hill and let them roll down the hill with their feet up and practice keeping their balance while the bike is moving. Then if they got wobbly all they had to do was put their feet down to stop. As they kept doing it, they got better and better and we kept working towards starting the ride with their feet on the pedals and then having them keep pedaling into the grass field after they went down the hill.

At the end of an hour, they were sweaty and exhausted but had their feet on the pedals and managed to go a while without dumping the bikes. It was awesome! They earned their ice pops from the ice cream truck afterward!

5 comments:

Jean said...

Cool! I learned to ride on a little hill myself, on my cousin's bike. I don't remember if my feet could reach the ground, but it wasn't a really big bike, so maybe they could.

Your boys should be truly proud of themselves for working so hard to learn something new. And it's pretty clear Mom and Dad are darn proud too. Congratulations to the whole family!!

Once Upon an Equine said...

Wonderful! Congratulations to the twins on their big accomplishment. Learning to ride a bike is one of my strongest childhood memories. It's a big deal!

SolitaireMare said...

Something I just thought of - maybe the riding lessons have also been a help for the boys becasue their balance was very good. They didn't wipe out to much before they were staying straight and cruising down the hill.

English Rider said...

Not just balance but the concept of looking where you are going and steering.
Hurray for their achievement.

Barb said...

They are lucky to have someone take the time to help them.