Chris bought the kids new bikes this spring. They had all outgrown their old bikes since the previous summer. It was so bad some of them looked like they were riding little clown bicycles! The bikes all have gears, which the old ones didn’t, so we can hopefully go on longer bike rides as a family. But before that could happen, a certain someone needed to learn how to ride her new bike.
Alexandra had been using one of those bikes with no pedals for a while, and she was really good at holding up both feet in the air and balancing for long periods of time. I knew she was completely capable of riding a real bike, but she had some issues. Her new bike was heavier than the old one, so even though she could theoretically ride it just fine, she had trouble holding it up when she stopped. It kept tipping over, taking her with it. Also, the whole climbing-on-the-bike-while-trying-hold-it-still move was seemingly impossible, again because of the sheer weight of the bike.
But every time I could convince her to try it, she rode for long stretches without me touching her at all. It was just the starting and stopping that was throwing her for a big loop. So big that she finally completely gave up and refused to try at all. When Oma came to visit, I told Alexandra that she had helped all the other kids learn how to ride their bikes, maybe she could help her. It had been a long enough break, that she was willing to let Oma try.
It took about 5 minutes and Alexandra was a true blue bike rider!
The other kids rode their bikes over to the fountain to cool off, but Alexandra wasn’t quite confident enough to do that yet.
We are so proud of her, and happy that she can now go out and ride bikes just like the big kids. Bodensee here we come! Woohoo! 🙂