Ode to the Balance Bike

Parents and grandparents of small-kids-who-don’t-know-how-to-ride-a-bike-yet, this post is for you. Here’s the punchline upfront: Buy that kid a balance bike!

We bought this balance bike when Miryam turned two. We’d heard and read about how it makes the transition to real bike riding pretty effortless. It was just the right size. I tried to help her learn to ride it a couple of times, but she wasn’t getting it, and I was getting frustrated, so it collected dust for a looooong time in various garages. We’ve moved twice between that birthday and this spring, when she finally took an interest in her three-years-old gift.

Miryam and Luke each have tricycles, so when it started warming up this year, they could both be found riding trikes in the driveway almost daily. They got so good at it that I actually let them ride them on our family walks a few times.

Soon enough, Miryam spotted and asked for the balance bike from the back of the garage. She must have practiced on days when Justin was outside with the big kids and I was inside hiding from seasonal allergies, because before I even knew what had happened, she was off! She was zipping around the driveway, feet up. She was walking the bike halfway up the hill on the driveway and coasting down, then coming to a controlled stop. She rode it on one of our walks, and Justin and I quickly decided she was too big (long five-year-old legs) for it.

So, we bought her a real bike. She rode it in the driveway for a while, with the training wheels to reacclimate herself to pedaling. The next morning, Justin took the training wheels off after only a few minutes in the church parking lot. I didn’t get to witness this in person, as I was at home with the other kids, but when Justin showed me the video of it later, it was a teary-eyed moment of “MY BABY IS GROWING UP” for me. I never learned how to ride a bike until I was 7 or 8 years old. My little miss is only 5, and I was am SO impressed with her. It took her a few more days of practice to master stopping gracefully and steering around pedestrians, but wow: she learned to ride a bike with no fear and no tears!

As soon as Miryam upgraded to her big bike, Luke wanted to ride the balance bike. He had the advantages of having watched Miryam on it for several weeks, and being exactly the right size to use it. He began zipping around the driveway just as fast as his little legs could push himself.

On family walks, Miryam was riding her big bike now, and Luke started riding the balance bike. Neighbors would stop to ask, “How old is he? That’s amazing he can ride that bike without training wheels.” I would point out that it also had no pedals, and then give an elevator-pitch-length version of this Ode. They were still impressed.

I always brought the baby carrier along on the walks, so that when Luke inevitably got worn out from riding, I could carry the baby, lay the bike across the stroller handles, and push Luke in the stroller. This arrangement worked well for a while—everyone was happy with their mode of transportation—until it started getting hotter. Pushing the balance bike is significantly more work than pedaling a real bike, so the number of breaks we had to take for Luke became a bit annoying. I caught him pushing off then holding his feet up to coast, as often as he could. I mentioned it to Justin.

Me: I think he may be ready for a real bike, too. It would help him keep up with us, and I think he would like it.
Justin: As soon as he decides to ride the balance bike down the driveway, I will look into a real bike for him.

The very next day, we drove to a nearby neighborhood for our morning walk, to give us a change of scenery. One of the interior roads slopes down, at a less-steep angle than that of our driveway, but as a bigger hill overall. Miryam on her bike, and Luke on his balance bike, each rode down that hill over and over. By the end of the day he was also taking our driveway pretty effortlessly.

All right, then.

We measured his height and ordered him an adorable little real bicycle.

Luke’s new bike arrived the day before the hardwood floor refinishing project. Justin took him for his first lesson in the morning. He started with training wheels, then daddy took those off. Apparently Luke wasn’t thrilled about that, because when they came home, Justin was frustrated and Luke was still mad about not having training wheels. Per Justin’s report, Luke had the balancing and pedaling down, but he refused to let Dad take his hand off the bike. The bike is almost too big for him—his feet just barely touch the ground when he’s on the seat—so it was probably a little scary. Plus, Justin had the wood flooring project hanging over his head, which probably made him a little less patient than usual.

I took the kids back to the church parking lot for more bike riding, and informed Luke that putting the training wheels back on was absolutely not an option. I didn’t have a wrench; in fact the training wheels were still in the garage at home. “But you are so good at the balance bike and you are growing so big! I know you can ride this new bike without the training wheels, too!”

I had instructed Miryam not to use any words related to fear. “Yes, Luke might be scared, but you don’t need to point that out. The only things you should say to Luke about his bike are how proud of him that you are and how he is doing a great job and trying hard.” She complied.

Luke and I had some frustrated back-and-forth, but before long, he was cruising, stopping with some control, and able to turn around at one end of the parking lot to come back to me. After another half hour, all he needed help with was starting again each time he stopped.

Cue Proud Mommy again. This little guy is only 3! I never would have imagined a 3-year-old riding a real bike without training wheels, but lo and behold, both Luke and Miryam regularly ride their big bikes the full 2.2 miles on our family walks now. Now I am the one who has trouble keeping up, pushing the baby in the stroller. Luke can even get himself started most of the time now, although he still needs a push now and then when going uphill. I think he’s doing fantastically for his age, though!

In summary, I am a huge advocate of balance bikes for toddlers and preschoolers. It gives them a fun way to get exercise, and it gives them a huge “I can do it!” confidence boost. It also takes up less space in the garage or the trunk of the car than a tricycle, although I do think the combo of balance-bike-and-tricycle was good for my kids to learn balancing and pedaling separately. Then they were able to put the two together quickly on the big bike. I am so darn proud of them both!