How to teach a child to ride a bike

My son has gone to bed feeling very proud of himself tonight as he has managed to ride his bike today, for the first time. His face lit up when he first managed the feat, something I will never forget. Being a parent is truly magical.

Initially he was a bit too afraid of falling off his bike and it took quite a lot of reassurance before he started to believe that I would be there for him.

He was also quite wary of building up too much speed at the outset, I did however manage to convince him, after a few hours, that he would find it much easier to balance if he were to go faster.

I held onto his shoulders and the saddle for the first hour or so just so that he could get used to handling the bike and of course the balance. He found this rather boring as he was eager to ride all on his own.

Eventually I just held onto the saddle as he started to really gain in confidence, spurred on by encouraging words from yours truly of course. Progress was not particularly quick, however he had a superb never say die attitude and then finally came the moment. After about five or six attempts of me letting go of the saddle he finally managed to ride all by himself and then came that beeming smile - priceless!