rachel120

My daughter never learned how to ride a bike. Now that she's older, she wants to learn. I bought her a bike for Christmas. She's tried it twice.

I've dug up YouTube videos and we watched them and she still insists that I must be hands on and teach her how. My husband says I need to actually teach her, not just tell her to watch YouTube.

However, the only memory I have from learning how to ride a bike was my aunt holding onto the seat and when she let go I fell. That's it. A couple of times when I've been riding I've tried analyzing what I'm doing so I can tell her. And while I was analyzing myself the only two things I could figure out is the bike felt like it was an extension of my body and I don't have a clue how I'm staying on it and making it go forward. That's really helpful for teaching...not.

Any advice I could give her?

DPV

I once taught my mum, who never learnt how to ride. Quite something to see your 50 year old mother cycling for the first time ever!

My suggestion is to go to a grassy area, take the pedals off and get them to use the bike like a strider. Concentrate on having them coast with feet off the ground further and further. The sense of security of being able to plant both feet, and not having to worry about pedalling, keeps the brain on getting overloaded so it can focus on learning to balance

Once the balance is there, put the pedals on and give it a go!

practical

Get her on some easy, quiet bike paths. Also, if she has any friends who ride bikes, get her to ride with them.

dabac

+1

Only two things to add:
- during strider training, set the saddle low for easy, flat-footed ground reach.
- when the pedals go on, remember to raise the saddle to good ride height.

FBinNY 

+1, but not quite.

Doing it on grass makes it unnecessarily harder. Find a level parking lot that's empty, ie. an office building closed on Sunday. Lower the seat so she can plant both feet and scoot along comfortable that there's no chance of falling.

Once the steer to balance coordination is learned, and she's comfortable and confident, raise the seat to where she can toe-down on the pavement and add the pedals. 5 more minutes and she'll be ready for a quiet MUP, riding around a lake or pond to gain full confidence.

rachel120

She wants to learn on grass, so she won't get hurt when she falls. I told her she was crazy. First unseen hole or jump that the grass hides, she's going down hard. First soft patch of dirt that the grass hides that grabs the front tire, she's going down hard. And how does one learn to balance on a rough, bumpy surface that grass hides? I told her the flat asphalt parking lot was a lot safer to learn and a lot safer to fall on.

Nimbuslove

maybe its just me, but it sounds like she just wants to spend more time with you, that's maybe why she is insisting you teach her. also its more fun to ride with a friend or daughter than alone imho