Learning to ride a bike, essential skill?

[PinotAndPlaydough]

My children are 7 & 5, neither can rise a bike. In the past we simply could not afford to buy them. We also live in a first floor flat and have nowhere to store bikes. They would have to learn on the pavement as the nearest parks that would be suitable for learning are a bus ride away (I can’t drive) and I don’t think I could safely carry two bikes plus manage the kids all the way to the bus stop and on the bus.

Once we could afford bikes we got second hand one for them, eldest has some sen which makes learning harder and when we last tried to teacher her the bike ended being literally picked up thrown and thrown in the road (by her not me!).
They would now need new bikes as theirs are a bit small now and weren’t the best quality to begin with.
We could afford to buy new but it would mean sacrifices else where (days out during the holidays). Im so torn on this, I loved going out on my bike when I was a kid but my situation and opportunities to ride were very different. I really want them to learn but don’t know if the money and the general hassle of it all is worth it when they’ll have so little opportunity to actually use them.

So what would you do? Get the bikes or just leave it?

Of course it isn't an essential skill!

I can't ride a bike and know loads of people who can't/don't. It's so bloody dangerous.

Absolutely. Life skill. I really think op is putting up barriers where there aren't any. In fact any cheap second hand bike will do.

We have a local WhatsApp group for our town. Many people ask for things for free and they are given: last week a bike.

It just takes calm persistence or your part.

Ds2 struggled more than

I think it's great for kids to be able to bike, ours have been riding since 4+5, they are now 5+6 and we go on proper bike rides. In your situation though i can't see how you can have bikes?

We have been very unlucky with the second hand bikes we’ve had. They haven’t been great and I suspect have made learning harder.
I think I am more worried about when they are older especially teens. If they end up being the only ones in a group of friends who can’t ride I don’t want them being left out.
I think I need to do some more research before I buy and I’ll definitely look at second hand.

I’m also certainly not putting up barriers where there aren’t any. The reasons for not getting bikes at the moment are real practical problems, I’m not making up the fact that we don’t have anywhere other than the road to learn and no storage in our small two bed first floor flat!

I’m baffled as to why so many people think it’s an essential life skill! You can easily sail through life without ever getting on a bike. It’s a ‘nice to do’ thing but hardly essential. My two learned and then then their bikes have sat unused for years. And we live in a village where theoretically it would be helpful to ride a bike, but they’re just not interested. Don’t worry about it. It sounds like circumstances aren’t right and your dcs will survive just fine.

My ds is autistic & suffers from dyspraxia, he has never been able to ride a bike, he has a scooter instead.

I'm guessing it's regional to an extent

I think it’s a great skill to have but not essential.

My ten year olds found it really tricky and only just cracked it this year. They’re little brother managed it first go.

I never rode a bike past the age of 11 despite begging my mum and dad for a new one to do the cycling proficiency . DH rode his all about town as a teen.

Could you go to a forest park, trail etc where you could hire bikes occasionally?

Buy cheap secondhand bikes and teach them now while they are young. I never learned how to ride a bike. My parents tried to teach me but I just couldn't get it. I wish we had all persevered when I was a child. I've had a go now I'm an adult but I just keep seeing how I could hurt myself if it went wrong and how would I go to work if I was injured! I can just about balance but can't go very far. When the time comes to teach our DD I'll have to learn too otherwise I'll miss out on family bike rides. DH is big into cycling and I don't want DD to be like me.

I’m can’t ride a bike and I’m still alive in my late 30s so not essential!!

It’s not essential ffs

It depends where you live as to whether it’s an essential skill.

I lived in the arse end of nowhere with no public transport, so as a kid, if I wanted to go anywhere I had to cycle. My city mates had abundant cheap public transport and so did not.

If you are planning living in somewhere like York or Cambridge then it’s also a handy skill.

You don’t necessarily need to buy a bike though, lots of places are setting up bike libraries, so you just borrow a bike when you need one. We donated our old kids bikes to a local one, after I got pissed off with timewasters on FB selling sites.

bikelibraries.yorkshire.com/

My dd found it really hard to learn as I didn't teach her when she was really young (we had no garden) and then she just became too frightened to learn.

She eventually learned age 11 as they did cycling at school and she was too embarrassed to say she couldn't join in. After that she cycled everywhere and it has given her so much independence- she never needs me for lifts. So for her it has been life changing.

I can ride a bike but I've never owned one or needed one. DH has never ridden one in his life. He's 56.

I haven't ridden a bike since I was a child and I'm in my 40s now. My kids have tried in the past with mixed success but I don't think it's a life skill like swimming

I learned to ride a bike at the age of 24 I love going for bike rides but I'm not sure I would count it as an essential skill as I managed just fine for 24 years.

I love riding bikes, and have ridden fir pleasure, commuting, holiday and exercise over the last 30+ years. I wouldn’t have ever said that this was ever essential though.

I'd say it's pretty essential. I find it funny how on here driving is a life skill but cycling isn't. My dp (and a few other family members) cycles to work and owning a bike is far more accessible than owning a car.

We buy second hand, we have a couple of local charities that take second hand bikes in and make sure they are in good condition and then sell them on again. We reserved a new one for dd2 last week and it's going to be less than £20.

Ok, it's pretty essential for you then but not for others. Depends on your circumstances and lifestyle

All those who think riding a bike is essential, could you explain why you think that? I'm stuggling to see what I missed out on over the last 30 years although I do remember the pain of falling off constantly while trying to learn!

Was pretty essential for me getting to secondary school and then getting around to tutorials and activities at uni, then starting out in work until we could afford to run a car.

Come to that it's essential now to get in my working hours and get to school in time for kids. Can't park a car at or even near work but there is a cycle shed.

Yes.
We live on a main road. My dd is 3.5 and can ride her bike now. We went straight from a balance bike to bike with pedals and no stabilisers. She’s just about there but still at the stage we’re she stops to turn it around rather than turning in a circle. We bought a used Halfords aluminium bike (it’s light enough I can carry it) and the weight of the bike makes all the difference. It’s an essential skill to learn balance and coordination as well as having a healthy role in an active lifestyle. A lot of people use them to commute and where we live it’s essential to get around as we are more rural
Gat a bike rack put on the wall

It's not essential, of course not. In MN land everyone lives in a place where you can store them, ride them, have money to buy them and all the safety kit that goes with them . . .

I haven't ridden one in 40 years and am plodding along just fine.