But we might have a bike rider yet! Two summers ago, Niko was on the cusp of really riding his bike. Then, after a long, cold winter, he regressed. A lot of it was mental-- last year, he repeatedly psyched himself out. He was convinced he would fall, and that the only way to ride a bike was by looking down at the front wheel and the pedals. And that's just a recipe for disaster! So, last fall, out of sheer frustration, I removed the pedals from his bike. It basically became a balance bike for a 6-year-old. I had him practice coasting down the hill in our backyard, just to get the feel for where his center of balance is when he's on a bike. It went alright, but then the winter came again, with no real opportunities to practice.
Fast forward to last week... It was spring break for both kids, and there were at least a few decently warm days (and several other cold, rainy ones I prefer not to discuss... ha!). Niko got the bike out, and was working on coasting down the hill. He was getting pretty good! And, for the past few days, he's been begging me to put his pedals back on.
Once I found them (it took awhile, ha!), I got them back on the bike this morning, while Maya was at preschool. And within minutes, I was watching Niko do this:
Now, obviously the hill helps him out. But this is MAJOR progress-- he's keeping himself balanced, looking forward, pedaling, and steering! We tried doing some starts down on the flat part of the yard, but the grass makes it really hard to pedal. So... I promised him I'd take him somewhere tomorrow where he can practice. He is SO proud of himself, and was out there doing this same exact thing pretty much all day, except for when he was at school or t-ball practice. I can't wait for the day when we can go on real bike rides together! We need to get Maya in on this, too!
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