Make 9 year old learn to ride a bike?

[SherbettAnna]

So DS is 9 now and hasn’t had a bike since he was about 4-5 (with training wheels) and he had a balance bike aged about 4.

We don’t live somewhere where he can just ‘ride his bike’ in the garden or outside the home. A bike wouldn’t fit in my little car so we would be limited to walking to a nice area he could ride to (I would walk him) once per week at the weekend. Wouldn’t be able to ride to school.

He isn’t bothered about a bike.
(He swims/ plays football x2 per week so it’s not like he’s not active).

I don’t know if I should spend money on a bike so he can learn to ride it eventually by practicing every weekend - only as I think he should be able to ride a bike.

YABU- Don’t get him a bike.

YANBU- he is 9 he should be able to ride a bike GO AND BUY ONE

All opinions welcome thank you.

I never understand this statement and see it a lot on here. There are loads of places and situations where cycling isn’t a viable option. No need to judge!

Exactly! There is no safe way to leave my village via bike, and a large part of the village is on a hill, so again not the best place for cycling. While DD can cycle, and has done Bikeability, it’s not a large part of our lives because we have to put the bikes on the car and drive before we can get somewhere suitable. Or have a scary ride out of the village.

I even wonder if some parents are reluctant to teach their kids to ride a bike because they know that there aren't safe cycling routes near them and are worried about their kids cycling unsupervised on roads when older. I know it's something I'd be very worried about.

If he's not motivated, would he like a couple of days off school? If his school offers bikeability, there might be a couple of days in Y5 / 6 when some / most / all of his friends and the rest of the class go and ride their bikes for a couple of days, and he doesn't.

For many people, even adults, it doesn't take that long to get the basics of cycling (balance, pedal, steer, brake) if taught well.

Cycling is a really good life skill to have. It's not essential, but it is enabling. e.g. my young teen can make whatever arrangements to visit friends and relatives in nearby towns and villages surrounding us that they want to, as they aren't dependent on us to drive them there and back. They've got their independence in a way they wouldn't otherwise be able to have. It's also heck of a lot cheaper and much less hassle for us parents than having to drive them around, and in a few years' time when they'll likely be looking for part time jobs, it massively increases their search radius.

I'm in my 70s, own my house, have savings, married, 4 children all doing well, good career , six figure salary when I retired. Not sure how I managed without the essential skill of riding a bike.

Well that tells us more about the importance of choosing nice friends than it does about riding a bike.

So you expect a group of kids to not do stuff because of one unable to ride a bike Dream on

And there are Loads where it IS a viable option and parents still transport their little darlings around

I learned as a child but haven’t been on one for 45 years.

But then I can’t drive or swim so I’m probably quite shocking to MN.

I work in a city and the issue is the cyclists and motorists loathe each other so the cyclists (including those food deliveries) tend to ride on the pavements

So while it’s safer for the cyclists, they don’t give any consideration to pedestrians, coming up from behind with no warning, missing people by a tiny amount etc. The teen lads like to ride in the middle of the pavement and expect you to move out of their way. (I generally stand my ground though and they have to stop)

No I expect them not to take the piss out of the one who can't do everything they do .

Did your brother and his mates also pick on the short kid, the one whose a bit over weight, the ginger one. You must be proud

There are far more younger people now who can’t ride a bike, it barely even seems the stigma it was when I was growing up. My son’s ex gf couldn’t ride one and I think I heard my other son’s gf say she couldn’t either.

I didn’t learn until I was an adult and it badly affected by confidence, but that was decades ago when kids didn’t have as many distractions to occupy themselves and it was very stigmatised. I very much think all children should learn to ride a bike, both mine did at age 5.

I know two middle aged women who can’t either. I did try and help one of them by lending mine and going to local park with them but she gave up.

Has not being able to ride a bike ever carried stigma? I can’t say I’ve ever experienced it.

How do you know the "child will definitely regret not learning to ride"? My DD is in her 30's and has never learned to ride a bike. She has no regrets whatsoever about it. She wasn't, and isn't, interested in learning.

How nasty. Has your brother improved his personality since reaching adulthood?

Didn’t realise this thread is a bit old but the question still stands.

I find it baffling, I view riding a bike as akin to swimming, an essential life skill that its best to master as early as possible. Both mine had balance bikes and moved to pedal bikes without stabilisers by age 4. The trend is very much for reducing reliance on cars so DH and I will try to cycle with the kids to their sports clubs/friends houses rather than drive.

Like others, some of these comments have come as a real surprise to me. I just assumed that learning to ride a bike was part of growing up. Like learning to tie shoe laces or to tell the time.

As a child I rode a bike with all my friends. We would disappear off for hours and only return for dinner!!

I didn't ride for years after around the age of 15. However, once I had my own children and taught them to ride lots of our days out involved a long bike ride and picnic.

Its actually quite sad that attitudes towards cycling seem to have changed so much.

Yes definitely. Back in the 60s/70s when all the kids in your class had bikes and you couldn’t ride one, it was mortifying. It doesn’t seem to be quite so much a stigma today but I can confirm it was very embarrassing. I resented my parents not teaching me. I learnt as an adult. Didn’t really do much apart from ride around the local park because I just wanted to prove I was actually capable. I felt really proud of myself when I finallydid it 😊

I was a kid in the early 60s and was never mortified. Nobody cared.

My brother was the ginger one.And no he wasn't picked on

And why would I be proud or not about something my brother did or did not do 45 years ago? That's a very strange comment

Well I expect they've grown up from being the group of 8 to 9 year olds. Dunno how brother would be now as he's dead. But yes he did outgrow it

As he's older it probably won't take him long to learn. Just get a second hand bike. My son was similar, not bothered, but once he learned, he realised he loved riding a bike. It also gave him a massive sense of accomplishment.

Always ‘baffling’ when people do things different…

I have got to late middle age without needing to drive or swim or ride a bike, without inconveniencing others. I have also never ridden on the pavement and got in people’s way 🤷‍♀️

Although someone on MN did claim skiing was an essential life skill - I thought that was really crazy 🤣

Actually I agree that swimming and cycling are on the same level of life skill - in that they are not remotely essential. They are useful perhaps for some people but that’s it.

Maybe they lived atop a mountain😂 What next, snowboarding and rollerblading!

Suppose it depends on where you live with theskkiing