Yesterday, Gideon and I spent an hour in Inverleith Park together, while Jennie and Angus were at the supermarket. We took his bike and had a few sessions riding it interspersed with time on the swings.
That was only the second time we’ve been for a ride since his birthday when he got the bike; he was very keen to go, and talking all about riding his bike on the way there. When we got there though, he was a bit nervous about riding, and wanted to get straight off, saying “I think I’m a bit too tired now” after just a few seconds.
After a little gentle bargaining, we agreed on trying to ride to the huge puddle covering the whole path further along, then to have ten minutes on the swings before another ride. He was still nervous but I could tell he did really want to do it - he was straight back on the saddle and grinning the whole way.
I was trying to show him about pedalling forwards as he had been doing a half turn, then back-pedalling and going again. I hold him under his arms, so tapping on his side on the side of the foot he needed to pedal with worked well and he started to get the rhythm of it.
We tried again on the other path after the allocated ten minutes in the playground, and he was a little more confident; his pedalling was smoother, so I stopped pushing (but still held him) to help him understand that the pedalling was what made him go, and that he’s less stable when he’s going slowly. On the way back from the central crossing path to the park, I was able to hold him more loosely, and let go a little so that he was balancing himself for a few seconds at a time. He was definitely balancing by himself.
We went over again this afternoon, and he was straight on it - he rode most of the way there, and most of the time we were at the park as well. Pretty much from the start I was just running along side him and not holding him at all, just recovering the odd swerve and reminding him to look where he’s going. The problem is, he’s so fast now! It was more than a jog to keep up with him, so I was quite thankful for the little incline on the way back - that slowed him down at least!
Here he is showboating, from this afternoon…
I like to ride my bicycle… from Josh Heald on Vimeo.
It was loads of fun, and now I’m all in planning mode for cycling adventures on the paths around where we live and on holiday in Islay…