Pedal Power

As the kids grow up, pedal power is an essential part of their development and independence. From tiny toys to balance bikes and then progression through stabilisers to ‘full’ bike is a great adventure. However, this adventure can have some ‘bumpy’ rides along the way. Some make for good Dad Files stories.

I’ll start with what is meant to be exciting and enjoyable - learning to ride. What a load of rubbish that is. I think it’s one of the most stressful times, especially on your back!!

The kids are pretty quick to whizz through the early years‘ toy bikes etc and then a full bike is wanted. You do your best to get the right size with a good set of stabilisers and help them on their way with the initial “push off”. After that, it’s a fairly calm case of watching them potter around, generally leaning very heavily to one side. You know that particular stabiliser will take the brunt of the pounding over the next few weeks or months. It can be hilarious to watch as they sway from one stabiliser to the other, a little reminiscent of those Weebles that were available when I was a child.

The tough bit really starts when the stabilisers depart... Get ready for that!

I remember both of ours clearly. Our son was strangely disinterested in cycling for quite some time. As I’ve mentioned in other Dad Files stories, he’s an F1 fan and I think he felt like he was “cheating on” the F1 gods if he went near a bike. To such an extent that I remember towing him around Center Parcs on one of those ‘Tail-gator’ devices that attaches a child’s bike to an adult bike. I think he was eight... chaos! That Tail-gator took an absolute hammering from that particular visit and how the single central bolt survived astounds me.

I think it was at that point we decided, he had to learn to ride his bike. We had attempted a few times previously: outside the house, across the short route to the park, in the park, in the car park near the park. However, we had not succeeded with what initially appeared a simple task. Many tiny tots whizz past on their own small bikes, making my son feel even more angered by the ‘bike gods’. “I hate them” or “why would anyone enjoy this” or “do we have to practise now” he would say with a very glum looking face.

So, following that visit to Center Parcs we finally agreed we’d had enough and put all efforts into getting him ‘proficient’. I put his bike on the car bike rack and set off for the bigger park. In honesty, I can’t remember how long it took but I do remember the two days of back pain that followed. Crouched down and running alongside him like some strange low slinging wide-gated creature, waiting for the fall, for what seemed like hours... But eventually - job done! Great, that will solve a lot of problems and we will now be sorted for all trips.

I would say it was probably two months later he said “Dad, I still don’t like cycling, can I have this micro scooter” - typical!

As for our daughter, she was up and cycling a lot sooner. I think that generally comes with second children as they see their older sibling doing something and are eager to try it too. As with our son, we decided on the day and put the bike on the roof rack to go to the park. On this occasion, we chose a slightly different park. The weather was fine and we were all prepared. Jumping in the car we soon arrived at the park and drove slowly through the narrow gates. Suddenly, there was an almighty crash, crunch and a very unpleasant scraping sound. I stopped the car. My wife and I looked at each other and considered the situation for a short moment and then in unison said “the bike”! Now, no laughing please! We had inadvertently forgotten that the bike was on the roof cycle rack and the car park entrance had a height restriction barrier - about 2.1m to be precise!!!! With a 1.78m high car and a one metre bike on top - that doesn’t quite go. Whoops!

As I stepped out of the car, slightly embarrassed and with a number of locals shaking their heads and staring at me with faces similar to a disappointed teacher, I looked up. Unfortunately, on looking up, I saw the mangled metal bars previously neatly holding the bike in place and a somewhat ‘flatter’ bike than when positioned there 10 minutes ago, one pedal embedded into the car roof - now that’s a different type of pedal power... Once my son’s laughter had died down and I was able to gather my thoughts, I reversed! Following a few more extremely unpleasant scraping sounds, we were free. On removal of the bike, throwing it into the boot, we tried again, safely entering the car park on this second attempt.

All was not lost, with a bit of a twist of the handle bars and a tightening of the odd bolt here and there, we were back in business. Let’s ignore the 11cm gouge in the Volvo roof!!

Success! After a back breaking few minutes, our daughter was stable and whizzing around the park like Victoria Pendleton.

However, similar to our son, I don’t think she has ever really liked it that much. I think it seems like a bit too much ‘hard work’ for her. Why cycle when someone can drive you - or carry you if you get tired of walking. I actually think the real reason stems back to another day trip we had in which we cycled around a farmland park. This was a particularly muddy day and she had a newish bike that was still a little tricky to master. Unfortunately, as she cycled directly into a big muddy puddle, her wheels became clogged and she simply stopped. Like a scene from Star Wars when poor R2D2 gets zapped by the Jawas, she just keeled over to one side - straight into the mud!! Not a good look... Following a lengthy period of, the crying that makes the snot run down their faces, we got ourselves sorted and made a swift exit back home. Much like I expect a muddy pet needs a good wash on returning home, we had to use the garden hose!!! More crying and snot down face...

So sadly, pedal power is not a positive aid to travel in our house.

Guess what? Once we are out of lockdown, the ‘driving lessons’ start again - wish me luck!!