It's just like riding a bike....

Who remembers learning how to ride a bike? It's one of those gigantic steps in childhood, a step towards your freedom and independance. I remember hurtling down the street we lived on with my Dad and brother running after me, in vain, before I smashed into the wall at the end! I don't remember if I was injured, but if I was it certainly never put me off. I have loved cycling riding my bike ever since!

Laila kind of surprised us this last week by suddenly showing us she was ready to go it alone on her bike! Only last week she was still really wobbly and seemed to have trouble controlling her bike.

Over the last 3 days she has mastered it all, and now there's no stopping her. You can watch the video here to see how she did it.

We started her off with the more modern method of the Balance Bike, something which is only just gaining popularity and recognition here in France. When we left Bath, England 2 years ago, the odd ones out were the children without balance bikes they were so popular! And with good reason. They really do teach children how to balance and control a bicycle, the pedalling is less important and so is the last skill to be learned. We bought Laila her first balance bike when she was 2 years and 3 months old.

It was a small purple one, on sale, we didn't really research it to see if it was a good one. It was a Wee-ride which is a good brand, but having a tall child made it become quickly redundant as it couldn't be adjusted very high. So when she was 3.5 we bought a bigger one, in blue, her favourite colour and this time thinking we could pass it onto Max.

Most children at this age in France get a new bike with pedals and training wheels. We liked to be different, but Laila wasn't very happy about it! She still rode it though and did really well, once even mastering the skate park on her balance bike!

For her 4th birthday we decided she was ready to start learning on a real bike. So we chose it with her, another blue one!

And we opted for the parent handle bar at the back to hold her, rather than the training wheels. Due to the bad weather this year we haven't been out on it as much as we'd have liked, and it tends to be a weekend activity as if Daddy's not home it's pretty difficult for me to hold Laila and Max at the same time on their respective bicycles!
However she did get some practice in, and we have a great cycle track for kids in Lannion near the Maison des Sports.



So will we do the same for Max? No question about it. But funnily enough up until this point in time he has always preferred to run instead of going on his bike. He does love his tricycle with the parent handle, and the doting parent pushing him, but he doesn't want to pedal it, and he kept refusing to go on the balance bike. Something has clicked in his little mind the last few days watching Laila, he's decided it looks quite fun. So my little man has decided he will try this balance bike thing and is doing pretty well too!!