How did you learn to ride a bike?

I actually remember this. My dad did the classic hold on for a while and let go. By the time I noticed he let go I was pretty far away. And then I freaked out and fell over.

That taught me more about life than just how to ride a bike.

Training wheels and then the JohnPowell’s Dad’s Method. My dad taught me to swim the same way.

I learned by only having one training wheel on it, which was raised, so if i needed i could just lean it over to that specific side, otherwise when i was trying to ride it properly, i had it on two wheels, with the training wheel in the air about an inch or more.

i don’t understand the two training wheel deal, unless both are raised, otherwise people that let their kids ride around with them flat on the ground i don’t understand it, they might as well be riding a trike.

@jp, exactly the same experience when I was a kid and I still remember it vividly. I was fine till I realized my dad had let go and I fell into some bushes.

Trial and error. I was a determined little kid and learned without every using training wheels or having parents hold on. Every morning before school I went to the neighbor’s backyard (it was all pavement) with the bike my grandpa made me and tried and fell over until one time I didn’t fall over.
warning: this method results in lots of scrapes and bruises

I was with mom and dad in a open field I was 6

My mom taught me. She did the hold on and let go thing, too. As soon as she let go my bike began swaying, then I ran right into a bush with prickly thorns and red berries. I got some scratches and refused to let my mom help me ride my bike. My uncle taught me after that.

I first learned how to ride a unicycle.

My dad tried the hold and go thing, and at some point I had training wheels, but nothing ever worked. I ended up teaching myself in the backyard when no one was home. It was much easier for me when no one was watching.

@crunchaweezy, I have a unicycle, and I’m teaching myself that. I can get about halfway down my block, but then there’s a little hill where I always fall off.

Unicycles are probably a better way to learn. Fewer bruises; you always land on your feet.

im 18, and i still dont know how. i tried for a summer, and then just gave up, then the next summer the same thing. i went through many phases of determination then failure then despair and now i dont even try. it does feel bad when people say :its as easy as riding a bike”. i wish they said “its as easy as pie” more often.

First with training wheels, then when I felt brave enough to try without I tried, fell, tried, fell, tried, fell…...eventually got enough speed and distance to keep going. Acquired a good few scrapes and bruises in the process!

My parents put slightly raised training wheels on my bike and promised me if I fell down I wouldn’t scrape my knees as long as I was wearing jeans. Alas, I tipped over and skinned my knees through the jeans and refused to get back on it. Years later, when I was about eight or nine, I randomly found a screwdriver, took the training wheels off by myself, got on the bike and rode it. So… I really have no idea how I learned. I just kind of DID it one day.

My dad pushed me down the road and I went straight into the bushes. To this day shrubbery makes me nervous. (But I do like riding my bike.)

You could try one of these. I saw it in a bike shop the other day.

i did training wheels and the dad holding on thing. he also taught me to look down at the stem and try to keep it even. i remember something about thinking of it like a goose neck or something random like that.

@ mtl I’m really sad that you haven’t learned yet! have a good friend help you, i promise it will change your life : ) really. come back on here and tell me how much you love it once you learn!!!

i learned it by trying and trying
and my brother helped me.

Me, same as some others…dad held me, then pushed me forward and voila…I was riding. I still have a picture of that day, the smile on my face says it all…“FREEDOM AT LAST!”

With my kids, my older one is a fraidy cat, so we took him up to a local school that had a track, one of those more modern ones that’s made out of recycled tires or something, so it’s cushy. He was pretty comfortable riding up there since a fall wouldn’t hurt, and he learned how to go around by himself. He was 7 at the time…my younger one, who was 5, the second he saw his brother without training wheels, wanted his off too…and he learned. He, unlike the older one, couldn’t give a rat’s a** about his personal safety. :)