Teaching Bike Riding

Bikes give kids a heady freedom that isn't matched until they learn to drive a car years later. But in teaching two-wheel skills, do be patient. Kids learn to ride when they're ready, not always when their parents are.

• Dress your learner in long pants and long sleeve shirts, because there will be falls.

• Look for some roads with a slight incline to help keep up momentum. Let your child coast, using the bike as a scooter. Or encourage your child to keep peddling; it helps provide balance.

• Choose between two popular theories of teaching children to ride, using training wheels or running along side and holding the seat, until your child learns to balance. Or combine the two; you'll find it helps to be in good shape.

• If you run along, hold the seat firmly, positioning yourself so your child can't see you. Then, when you let go, the child probably won't notice, and there will be no reason to panic.

• And when the skill is finally mastered, you can help your child remember the correct side of the street to ride on by putting a piece of electrical tape on the handle bar to be nearest the side of the road that he or she should be on.

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