Look Ma, no training wheels! Makenna learns to ride a bike...

Yesterday, Makenna learned to ride her bike without training wheels, after three short days of trying about 45 min per day. She was nowhere close before that. I went and bought her a 16inch bike, assembled it minus the petals for the first two days.

I read about a method the New York City Bike Club used: I watched a video on Youtube where the instructors removed the bike petals at first and lowered the bike seats, then had the kids walk the bike along and coast by lifting their legs. Quickly, the coasting time would get more and more as each kid found his or her balance.

So I tried this with Makenna and once she could coast for about 12 seconds, I had her try her bike with pedals, and she was up and pedaling like a natural in about 60 seconds! The method basically teaches the kids balance, which is the most important aspect of learning to ride a bike. Makenna learned without falling one single time!

Well, here's that video for those interested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO7HsWf8cbI