At the beginning of June, we took a family trip to Kingdom Trails. Before this trip, we’d tossed around the idea of getting a pedal bike for our oldest a few times, but he’s pretty small for his age and was happy on his balance bike, so we weren’t particularly anxious. On this trip, we did some longer rides with the boys, and realized that the kind of trails Charles was ready to ride would be faster and easier with pedals. [Who really wants to tripod up a hill, which is what you do on a balance bike?] So, we came home and, after a few nights of fevered kid-bike research on Two-Wheeled Tots, ordered him a bright orange Cleary Gecko. At that time, he was around 33lbs and had an inseam of 16 inches – but was a pretty aggressive rider, and does most of his riding on our gravel driveway or in the woods – which really limited us in terms of bikes that weren’t too heavy, would fit his inseam, and would still fit his riding style. These attempts are listed in chronological order but take place over the course of a month!Â
Attempt 1: The Bike is Heavy and Pedals are Hard Feeling warm and fuzzy from stories of elated parents who’ve made a painless switch from balance to two-wheeled pedal bike with no need for training wheels – and so freakin’ excited for him – I couldn’t wait even ten minutes after the box arrived to put together the Gecko. We adjusted the seat so that his feet were flat, and he excitedly put his feet on the pedals…… ………and fell over. Then he tried it again, and fell over. So I pushed him through the grass; he put one foot on a pedal, tried to push it, and gave up. He abandoned the bike in the grass and got back on his balance bike.
I pushed him too hard. He’ll never like riding. Why did we do this. What were we thinking. What about all the parents who told me their kids just hopped on their pedal bike and went? What’s wrong with our kid? Apparently, after 5 minutes with the new bike, I was showing about as much patience as he was.
After the kids scurried off to hit each other with sticks, I picked up his pedal bike to put it up against the wall of the garage. Then I picked up the balance bike, and realized that it was half the weight of the pedal bike. Then I remembered that, even as one of the lightest options in kids’ 12-inch-wheel bikes, the Gecko weighs in at 13 lbs, which is almost half my kid’s body weight. How would I feel trying to pedal a 60-lb bike???
I took the pedals off and called him back over. “Charles, this bike is really heavy. Would you like to try it without pedals on to see how it feels? I bet it will go SUPER FAST for you down the hill!”
Attempt 2: Dad & Cleary Customer Support Save the Day After I spent the whole first afternoon telling Charles that he could ride his new bike as a balance bike for a while just to get him on the darn seat, his dad decided to spend some time coaching him the next day, and got him on the bike with pedals. They talked through pedaling, they talked through using toes instead of heels, they talked through being brave and working hard, and then his dad gave him a push and I watched him get his feet up and pedal. For a few pedal strokes. He looked awkward on the bike and we kept adjusting the seat height and arguing about whether he should be toe- or flat-foot-on-the-ground. I finally called Cleary’s super helpful customer service line, was assured that he was NOT supposed to have full leg extension on his bike (this encourages him to stand to pedal — actually very useful, but so far from where we were that I couldn’t even imagine it at the time) and that he WOULD, in fact, someday pedal this bike and rip it on trails.
Attempt 3: Bike Date #1 with Friends Buoyed by the success of pedaling with Dad, and hopeful that he’d let me help him by giving him a boost, I arranged a biking playdate with a friend of his who was just getting comfortable on a balance bike. I didn’t want him to cop out of riding his new bike, so I deliberately “forgot” his old balance bike. Unfortunately, I actually forgot the wrench I needed to get the pedals off, so he tolerated my help and encouragement with pedaling for about 3 minutes and then stole his brother’s balance bike. I ended up pushing Little Bro on the new pedal bike and came home with a sore back. Womp.
Please let me interrupt my own narrative for a hot second here. It’s VERY IMPORTANT to me that I point out two things: one, that Charles had NO ISSUES balancing his new bike, even though it was heavy; two, that we were both ready to give up on the darn thing after THREE attempts at it. Have some faith and patience, Mommy and Charles!Â
Attempt 4: I Figure Out how to Explain Bikes Easily frustrated parents of easily frustrated children who are competent at riding a balance bike, take heart. After I watched Charles and his dad work for a good half hour on pushing off and getting his feet on the pedals, I realized we were missing a very important piece of information: how a pedal bike works. Charles was putting his feet on the pedals, but hadn’t quite figured out that this is what moved the wheels. I sat down with him, showed him that when he pushed on a pedal it moved the chain, watched the chain move the back wheel. VOILA. Understanding, and a lot more enthusiasm for riding the bike!
Attempt 5: Bike Date #2 with a Different Friend G has been riding his pedal bike for almost 6 months. He is one of those kids who transitioned immediately and without issue from balance to pedal bike, on his 4th birthday. G is also one of Charles’s best friends. The two of them have one of those dude friendships where they don’t say much but constantly invent new projects together. I wised up after our last playdate and threw a multi-tool and a wrench for his pedals into my purse. [Let me tell you, it makes me feel awesome to carry tools in my little handbag with blue flowers, while wearing makeup, in wedges. I feel like Super-Mom when my hand touches that cool metal and I know that, whatever the world throws at my kids and their bikes, I can fix it for them.] I was able to fix all the kids’ bikes for them, adjust everyone’s seats so that they could ride each other’s bikes… and then they decided that running around and riding scooters was more fun. And Charles still refused to ride his pedal bike with the pedals on. But the kids were happy!
Attempt 6: Family trip to Kingdom Trails on which Daddy refuses to take the pedals off Charles’s bike and Charles is frustrated that he can’t go fast but then he does go fast and then we all eat ice cream. Phew.Â
After the KT trip, Charles didn’t ask to ride his bike without pedals anymore, so I’ll end this chapter of our story here and pick up the story of learning how to use his bike in another post!