Another Childhood Milestone Reached

Yesterday, for the first time ever, Cheyenne rode her bike without training wheels !

I'm so proud of her :)

We were beginning to wonder if she'd ever find the confidence.

She used to ride her bike a lot, and last year we decided she seemed ready for Operation Training Wheels Removal. So we did... and she wasn't. She flat out refused to pedal. Wouldn't even try. So we caved in and put them back on. Since then, she has not really been interested in riding her own bike, opting instead for trips on the Tag Along, behind Daddy's bike.

We frequently see little kids, 3 or 4 years of age, riding (without training wheels) beside their parents on the way to pick up their older brothers or sisters from school. "If they can do it, you can do it too", I'd say to Cheyenne. "No I can't. I'll fall off." Now, I have terrible balance and I know I was a lot older by the time I finally learnt to ride a bike, so I wasn't going to push her into it if she truly wasn't ready. Steve, however, felt that as she is already 7 it was high time the training wheels came off for good.

On Saturday he went out and bought a kick stand to suit her bike (along with a new inner tube for the back tyre) and removed the training wheels. Yesterday she had a few reluctant practice runs on the grassy footpath outside Nanny's, then after lunch we hit the local bike track. We figured it would be perfect as it is nice and flat and not particularly busy (it's more of a dead-ended scenic track rather than a commuter route).

After numerous minor stacks (mostly caused by her looking round to check that Steve was still holding the back of the seat, therefore throwing her off balance) she had mentally given up and was whinging that she just couldn't do it, but we weren't going to let her off that easily. We told her she had to ride all the way to the end before she got to turn back. At least she got to ride. Both Steve and I were running along either side of her! NOT my favourite thing to do in this heat!

The return leg was where her confidence kicked in. After one wobbly stop, Steve revealed to her that she'd just ridden about 30 metres all by herself, without him holding the seat, and she realised she could do it after all. After that, the few times she came off she picked the bike up and got straight back on without hesitating. She was even remembering to use her brakes to stop. By the time we got back to the car, she was still a bit wobbly, but the only time Steve was holding on to her was to help her start off. She'll get the hang of that with a bit more practice.

Now that she has the confidence in herself she'll be keen to practice, so next time I'll be taking the camera. I'm sure it won't be long before she's able to keep up with us and we can all go riding together.