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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think it's unusual at 8 not to be able to ride a bike?

79 replies

OhisHOME · 19/03/2015 20:57

Very adventurous, physically able 8 year old. Parents are well off so cost of bikes not a factor or is it quite normal to not learn?

OP posts:

Littlefish · 19/03/2015 21:19

Dd can ride a bike, but can't start or stop, so refuses to keep trying. She is very well coordinated and extremely fit. We don't have any pavements near us, only farm paths or roads without pavements so there's not really anywhere for her to practise either.

ThatBloodyWoman · 19/03/2015 21:20

My eldest can't but my youngest can.
Seems some get it,some don't or won't.

AlPacinosHooHaa · 19/03/2015 21:20

Ours has no scooter either (yet) ( deprived) but there a tons of things she can do. But I do think scooters have taken over classic bike riding thing.

5Foot5 · 19/03/2015 21:22

We are fairly outdoors-y but DD was about 8 before she could do it. She had tried before but it just didn't seem to click. No dyspraxia she just couldn't quite hack it. Eventually with a holiday at Center Parcs coming up she had another go and finally got there. Mind you she was still a bit unstable for a while and once had to crash in to the bins to stop.

Thinking back I must have been at least 7 before I managed it even though I had a bike from the age of about 4

tobecalm · 19/03/2015 21:23

I'm glad to see this! DS (8) has been riding a bike for years and loves it, DS(7) is not bothered whatsoever, either with stabilisers or without. My family are put out about this and offer help to get him riding (from 200 miles away!) and I keep telling them that until he wants to do it, it's pointless putting him on the bike and pushing him around! I give him opportunities to go on it and he'd rather scoot! I think he'll do it when he's ready!

Hulababy · 19/03/2015 21:24

I teach 7 year olds - lots who can't yet ride a bike without some form of stabilisers.

Clueing4looks · 19/03/2015 21:25

My dd(11) and ds(10) both can't ride bikes. We have bikes, scooters and a pedal go kart but only the go kart gets used. They generally play in the woods or fields. I think it depends on the child.

Arsenic · 19/03/2015 21:25

Definitely does not dyspraxia

Opopanax · 19/03/2015 21:27

I was well over 9 before I learnt. Not dyspraxic, just a bit unsporty. I was perfectly physically able and I expect anyone who had seen me dancing or doing gymnastics would have thought I should be able to ride a bike but I couldn't (and I was a bit scared of it for no very good reason). Am no more than averagely physically rubbish now! DD can't, at 8. I'm not bothered. She will learn in her own good time and she has plenty of opportunities to give it a go. I also couldn't swim until I was 13 or so.

isthatmorelego · 19/03/2015 21:29

Ds2 has hyper mobility problems but not announced cant swim or ride bike not got hope but not the end of the world I'm 43 can't do either so follows me .

MrsPnut · 19/03/2015 21:36

Dd1 took ages to ride a bike and didn't have swimming lessons until she was 8 but both of those she picked up really quickly.
Dd2 was riding a bike by the time she was 5 and has had swimming lessons from 3 so she is used as an example during her school lessons.

There is a child in dd2's class who came to the sustrans run bike club with a brand new bike with stabilisers that he couldn't ride and he started the school swimming lessons having never been in a pool before - I'm afraid I do judge his parents.

MsIngaFewmarbles · 19/03/2015 21:36

One of my DDs (11) can't ride a bike. We've tri and tried and she seems keen but she just can't seem to get the hang of it. She just can't keep straight and falls off sideways after 5 or so metres

pointythings · 19/03/2015 21:43

My two can't, and they're 12 and 14. I wouldn't cycle here either - I'm from Holland originally and I can't believe how dangerous life is here for cyclists. No segregated cycle lanes, no separate traffic control for cyclists and above all no cycling culture - no thanks!

To cap it all, we have two large American air bases round our way, full of Americans in huuuuuge cars who are not used to bendy roads where people drive fast. Recipe for disaster for cyclists - and lots of other people too.

My DDs can swim like fish. Far more important.

Mhw02 · 19/03/2015 21:44

I didn't get the stabilisers off my bike till I was nine, and even then was very shaky. My mum taught the cycling proficiency at school and made me practise a lot in the run up (it was P7 we did it, so I'd have been eleven), as she wanted to avoid the humiliation of her own daughter failing. By some miracle I did actually pass, but I'm still not great on a bike at the age of 30!

Opopanax · 19/03/2015 21:48

I too have concentrated on swimming for my DD, pointy, and fortunately she's doing way better than I was at her age and can swim a width very competently and a length with a rest halfway. I couldn't do that until I was about 14 and yes, far more important! I don't think she's ever going to be a sportswoman or really enjoy riding a bike but I hope by the time she is a teenager she will be a competent swimmer.

JsOtherHalf · 19/03/2015 22:29

DS is 8 and can't ride a bike. He can swim 400m though.

I try not to get too worked up over bike riding, it'll happen at some point.

blankgaze · 19/03/2015 22:44

Try them on a Pedal Exerciser to make sure they can co-ordinate their leg movements. www.independentliving.com/images/MED252.jpg

expatinscotland · 19/03/2015 22:46

I last rode one when I was about 9. That was 35 years ago and it hasn't affected my life at all.

womaninthewildsofwales · 19/03/2015 22:50

Dss was 10 when I forced/coaxed him into it after a horrifically expensive PGL school trip where he was the only child that couldn't ride a bike and so missed out on some of the activities. He has pronounced aspergers and frankly only wants to play computer games and be an antisocial zombie: it took a few weeks and an appointment at the car dent place (he used the back of my car instead of brakes) but he got it easily- I'd say not a problem until they are left behind by peers. Usually there is a cycling proficiency course run in the later stages of primary school... Or has that stopped now?

rockdakazbah · 19/03/2015 22:52

I couldn't ride a bike until I was 10. I don't think my DM could ride a bike and so never thought to teach me. We also lived at the top of a huge hill until I was about 9 so I did not have anywhere safe to practise. It was only when we moved to a different area where the roads were relatively flat that I learned and that was only because the neighbourhood children taught me.

Once I tried, I picked it up fairly quickly but have not ridden my bike since my school days. Scooters are much more fun IMO and I'm not surprised children prefer to ride them.

BikeRunSki · 19/03/2015 22:55

I help run Skoda bike skills group (part of local bike club) and we have a few riders who've started as bin-riders at about 8 or older.

MrsCosmopilite · 19/03/2015 23:02

I'm over 40 and can't swim. I have a friend on the cusp of 40 who can't ride a bike.

She doesn't like riding bikes, I don't like swimming. Maybe the 8 year old isn't interested in learning?

ToBeeOrNot · 19/03/2015 23:04

I used to work as an outdoor instructor (think PGL type place) and one of the activities we did was BMX. Without fail all the 10 year olds were riding bikes after an hour even if they'd never ridden before. Plenty had never tried and that was at 10 so I wouldn't think it really unusual at 8.

morethanpotatoprints · 19/03/2015 23:04

I can, dh can't ds 1 can, ds2 can't, dd can.
Not so strange that somebody can't.

SistersOfPercy · 19/03/2015 23:08

I was eleven and didn't learn because I was a bubble wrapped only child.

Imagine my mother's face when I went sailing past nans front window with no hands on the handlebars on my friends bike. I learned to ride it on the quiet and didn't know mum was watching

Fortunately my Dad saw sense and bought me a lovely purple chopper not long after.

It was unusual in the 80s I think as everyone had bikes and traveled, not so much now though.

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