How to ride a bike

By Catalogs Editorial Staff

Teaching someone how to ride a bike is easy and rewarding

Riding a bike is a major milestone in a person’s life. No matter how old you are when you learn, you always remember the way you felt when you were able to take off on that bike on your own.

If you want to teach someone how to ride a bike, you may not know where to begin. But when you think about it, you will likely come up with the logical steps to riding and be able to teach in no time.

Safety First

The most important aspect of riding a bike is being safe about it. No matter what your age, you must wear a bike helmet. Some states even has laws regulating the use of helmets. If you fall off of your bike or have a crash, a helmet can protect you and possibly prevent serious injury or even death. Even if you are totally safe when you ride, you are still able to get into an accident because of the other bikers around you.

Make sure the helmet fits the head properly and that it is positioned on the head in the right way. The helmet should also sit level on your head, not tilted up or back. Additionally, elbow and knee pads are also a good idea, particularly when you are teaching a child who could easily fall off.

Balancing Basics

Riding a bike is all about having balance; therefore, teaching a person how to balance on the bike is essential. Take the training wheels off of the bike ? if there are any ? and lower the seat. Also, remove the pedals. The person learning should be able to sit on the bike with his or her feet flat on the ground. The seat should only be lowered enough so that the legs are straight, not bent. Encourage the rider to scoot around on the bike. Once that is mastered, the rider should lift his or her feet off the ground and try to stay upright. The rider should also practice turning corners.

Putting on the Pedals

When you feel the student is able to balance without any issues, go ahead and put the pedals back on. Have the person stand over the bike with one foot on the ground, while the pedal is in the two-o’clock position. Then have him or her move the pedal forward with his or her foot. This helps the student get familiar with pedaling the bike. Now the rider can sit on the bicycle seat and attempt to push the pedals in order to get the bike moving. You can set a cone or cracker about 15 feet in front and tell the student to hit the object. Doing so creates a goal that the rider will try to meet.

Safely Stopping

As you can probably imagine, teaching the rider how to stop is super important. Depending on the type of bike, the brakes might be operated by the feet or hands. Set up the cone or cracker again and tell the rider to stop before he or she gets there. Increase the distance each time and eventually, the student will get the hang of it.

Teaching someone how to ride a bike is a skill that will stay in that person’s mind forever. The student will also likely remember what a great teacher you were, so stay patient and encouraging.