In a new regular column, Sara Robin, answers all you want to know about cycling. Today she advises on how to get a young child cycling with confidence
Q: My three-year-old is very active and would love to learn to cycle. What is the best way of getting her started?
A: My two children were both cycling by the time they were about four, so three is a great time to get started. The most vital thing about learning to cycle is getting your balance.
Steering, pedalling and braking come later.
Young children often have bikes with trainer wheels, the kind of little wheels that you bolt on to the back of a child’s bike. The problem with trainer wheels is that a child doesn’t learn to balance on two wheels and may even get used to pedalling along leaning at an odd angle!
A much better option is a balance bike, a very small bike with two wheels and no pedals. The child pushes themselves along with their feet and can quickly gain confidence at taking their feet off the ground and balancing on the bike.
As a child may only use the balance bike for a few months it is definitely worth seeing if you can get a second hand one for free or cheaply and then passing it on to other children.
Practising somewhere quite open like a park, rather than a crowded pavement is a good idea. You want your child to build up confidence and really enjoy cycling from the very beginning, it’s a wonderful way to travel!
If you already have a small cycle you can turn it into a balance bike by taking off the pedals and putting the saddle right down so the child can get her feet flat on the ground. That probably won’t work for a three year old as most children’s bikes may be too big.
Once a child is confident on a balance bike the next stage is a real bike.
The bike my children learnt on was a very simple one that had been used by a number of children before them.
Look for one that is single speed, as light as possible with quite wide tyres as that makes balancing easier.
Set the saddle so the child can get their feet on the ground easily. Starting on a grassy slope can be helpful as it is softer to fall over on and pedalling and steering may be easier.
A course to navigate around can help with learning how to steer the bike, and the feeling of pushing the bike along with the pedals can be great for the child’s confidence.
Gradually you will have a competent cyclist who will be ready for a lifetime of enjoying getting about under their own steam.
About Sara
Sara has been riding her bike in York and further afield since 1980. She initially got into cycling in Australia and worked as a mechanic in two bike shops in Sydney. When she moved to York Sara was a founder member of York Cycleworks which was set up as a workers coop in 1980 and she worked there in many roles until 2002. She rides one of her bikes most days and would love to encourage more people of all ages to ride bikes for getting around, shopping, commuting and leisure.
Do you have a question about cycling? Email maxine.gordon@thepress.co.uk and we will pass your question on to Sara
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