krobinson103

My daughter has made great leaps in the last few weeks. Dropped the training wheels, graduated to a geared bike, and rode her first 5km. But she is dead scared of anything that has possible obstacles or isn't totally flat. Working on the confidence now, but I think thats going to take longer than learning to actually ride. We did get a slightly uphill start and ride 100m more today though, so I hold out hope that she is losing the fear of going up and down.

BruceHankins

Still working on it also....

TrojanHorse

Ongoing...

I just got my 10 yr old son a road bike and he's not confident on steep downhills. (edit: he still has a hybrid and he feels pretty good on that)

It's a process, just stay positive and she'll get there.

delcrossv

The more you ride the better it gets. Probably the quickest way my kids developed confidence on their bikes was getting involved in junior citizen's racing. They have it down to wee ones on trikes- lots of fun and they get used to handling their bikes at speed and in crowded conditions.

cafzali

How old is she? Depending on age, that could be a lot to accomplish in a relatively short period of time. Our daughter's almost six and we just dropped the training wheels successfully last weekend. Haven't really gotten to hills yet, as she's concerned she won't be able to get up them and although she does great on flats, I want her to get a little more experience under her before we really worry about hills. Personally, I don't see that much of a need to pick up a ton of skills like climbing hills and longer distances at 5-6 years old, but obviously people differ and there would be different goals for older kids.

To me, young kids should enjoy biking for exercise, primarily, as that's the big struggle Americans are having right now. Too many kids are sedentary and it's hurting them and society overall down the road.

krobinson103

She is six.l, seven in July. Doing pretty well. Guess I just need to give hsr the opportunity to ride and let her develop
at her own pace.

Myosmith

You are correct in that you shouldn't compare your child's progress to that of others, especially in terms of time. Each child progresses at his/her own pace. Allow a lot of time for her to just develop the joy of riding and mix in some progressively more challenging experiences. You can make some skill building games with a piece of sidewalk chalk and an empty parking lot, driveway, etc. For example: set up an easy slalom course with markings on the ground. Once she can navigate the course easily, you can put something like weighted balloons on the marks (put a few ml of water in the balloon and then blow it up the rest of the way).

You can draw a large circle and have her ride up and try to come to a safe and complete stop in the circle. As her skills improve, you can draw smaller circles until she can stop on a dime.

Give her the chalk and let her come up with a few games for the both of you to try.

rumrunn6

don't rush it. my daughter still doesn't like starting off or turns in general ... she's 16