TrekJapan

Actually that's not 100% accurate but it is the first time I put her on some slightly busier streets. Kept it confined to the military base I work on and she did pretty good.

Better than Dad did. She made a couple minor mistakes that of course I envisioned as certain death.

Obviously she can ride a bike but she's limited to the neighborhood and if she goes around the corner or something she stays on the sidewalk. This is the first time though that we did a point A to point B ride though. We went about 3 miles total.

She kept wanting to get on the sidewalk but I made her stay on the road in front of me and had her taking a little lane. Every road we were on had low speed limits. I'm not ready to take her out in town yet but she does need to be taught the fundamentals slowly.

She did great. Still made me nervous though.

John

RonH

That's great.

I'm a cycling instructor and can't tell you how many adults I've taught who have never ventured off the sidewalk, except on quiet neighborhood streets. None would ever consider letting their kids off the sidewalk, much less "take the lane".

atbman

Congrats. If they ride with dad, they grow up thinking that it's normal - and dad knows how they ride - when they're in sight, at any rate ;o).

And it's better that she's too cautious at the beginning than too confident.

sunflowerflyer

Perhaps we're fortunate to live in a rural area, and the only high speed traffic is on the one through highway and rural blacktops. Having a 10 year old daughter we ride our local rail trail whenever practical, as it provides the best safety. Unfortunately, it is a very slim minority of rural kids that have a trail within usable distance.

Our sidewalks are not in well enough repair to ride bikes on, therefore she has always ridden on low volume city streets. We have worked very hard teaching her proper riding etiquette, as it only takes one accident.

I didn't realize how well she was doing until some of her classmates joined us for a ride one day. I was sure one of them was going to have a car accident before we could get home.

Would not dream of taking her on the highway with broad shoulders that many local road bikes enjoy. However we have taken her on the medium speed rural blacktops when the trail was not available. We kept her very well guarded with one adult in front and back, and communicating the occasional vehicle position.

Trying to walk that fine line of keeping her safe, and preparing her to handle riding on her own someday. Ask in 10 years, I may (and may not) know how we did.

badmother

I ride alot (as in often, not wery far) with my son (now 13) and sometimes with him and his friends. There is a huge difference in how they do in traffic. I`we been scared some times with his friends.

Fiwe years ago we went biking in Copenhagen. The system there is so great that a child that is used to biking and used to listening to the parents can do it safely.

KZBrian

I have taken my 11 year old son out twice this year on local medium busy streets. He has done very well. It's amazing how much knowledge there is to communicate that can only come from a cyclist who has been riding with traffic.