Every Winter I wonder if my kids will be as “stoked” to ride come Spring as they were the previous Fall. We are lucky enough to be able to ride all year round but the relentless rain and damp/cold days in the Pacific Northwest definitely cramp the desire to get on the bike. My kids seem less inclined to make the call and my wife and I are less inclined to suggest a bike ride when Winter sets in. Spring does return and the stoke comes back. The days creep longer, the sun (that yellow thing in sky) gets higher and rain fades…It’s time.
Even with the nicer weather its sometimes difficult to align multiple kids to get outside and turn the cranks. What we have learned along the way is that external motivators are sometimes necessary.
Make it a Fun Adventure
Even if biking is your main motivation as a parent in a given outing, kids sometimes need other carrots to reach the end goal of pedaling around the block. A trip to the park, a visit to the nearby forest to look for worms, a trip to the candy store, a chocolate dip at Dairy Queen…biking becomes the tool to do other things. And once the kids find the utility and freedom in bikes, its with them forever. I find with kids struggling to learn or those with a bit of a phobia of cycling, these external motivators work very well. They are thinking about the something else all together and learning to ride a bike with confidence and skill just happens.
Take them to a Bike Skills Park not a Skate Park
The growing number of municipal bike skills parks is awesome. Most cater to kids with woops, pumptracks and friendly trails in a nice controlled environment. Skate parks are a whole other stress. With scooter kids, skaters and BMXers at all skill levels fighting for lines and turns, it is chaotic environment. Young kids in a busy skate park is a recipe for disaster. Bike Parks on the other hand are less busy, have one-way beginner lines and are only accessed by bikes. After taking my niece and nephew to our local bike park for their first time, they consistently would show up to Sunday dinners with bikes on the back of the car.
Get them on Good Bikes Right Away
From experience with friends kids and neighbourhood kids, starting them on heavy, bad geometry bikes is a problem. Some kids even refuse to try a good bike when the opportunity presents itself (face palm). They adapt bad habits (training wheels, coaster breaks etc) and kids being kids…they are stubborn at times and refuse to listen to reason. We wrote a whole blog post on how to pick the right first pedal bike.
Spring is coming so get prepared to get out and enjoy! Look up your nearest local municipal bike park, donate to the organization who maintains it and pull the trigger on any equipment you need ASAP as bikes will be in short supply again for 2021.
Awesome article.
I think the other thing that is hugely motivating is just seeing mom and dad go ride. And seeing other kids riding. My 3 year old is always super stoked when we take him to a race or bike event and he sees all the other people riding bikes.
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