Is riding a bike an important life skill?

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DD7 has a bike she rides with stabilisers. We don't get it out very often because it's locked in the shed at the bottom of the garden which is more hassle compared to the scooter which is in the hallway. And you have to walk quite far from our house before the ground is suitable to ride on and its cumbersome to carry or push if she decides she doesn't want to ride anymore.

She's getting too big for the bike so she'll need a new one soon. But I'm wondering whether there's any point? She's not that enthusiastic about riding her bike and me and DH don't have bikes so we'll never be going on family bike rides. If she had a new bike it would be so that we can teach her to ride without stabilisers. The school says it's a life skill and they like all children to learn to ride without stabilisers by year 5. I'm wondering whether it's actually important? Me and DH don't ride bikes and that's never been a problem. In the last few years my cousin and my MIL have both nearly died in bike accidents, both had a bleed on the brain despite wearing a helmet. I think cyclists are very vulnerable on roads. So tbh I wouldn't encourage DD to do her commute by bike in future anyway. Is there something I'm missing here which makes it a vital life skill?

I have a couple of friends who can't ride bikes and they wish they could. I'd persevere. Obviously it won't be any of your business if she chooses to commute by bike as an adult - way more people are injured / die in cars every day than on bikes. Even if not used regularly, it's a shame not to be able to use a rental bike on holiday for example.

Swimming, riding a bike and driving are all basic life skills. Best time to learn riding a bike is as a child - it'd be very hard to learn to ride one as an adult.

Dependent on the area it can be useful age 10-17 for getting to school, visiting friends, independence. For certain universities it is helpful too. Certainly cheaper than running a car, and more practical these days now there are electric bikes.

I'd say a helpful life skill, but not essential.

I think it can be useful but not sure if it's an essential skill. Does your child's school do the Bike ability training in Year 5 or 6. When my ds was younger all the class did it and we had to buy him a new bike so that he wasn't the only one left out. It was a small class in a village school and everyone did it. He probably only rode it half a dozen times afterwards as was never really interested. However as an adult he has hired a bike on holiday.

I think you can send them to lessons to help them learn if they are struggling. We have some near us and they're at a charity type hub and very inexpensive. Just one session. I am trying to get my 8yo to go but he is just not interested in learning. He has a bike (which is now getting too small without really ever having been used fgs 😩) but he says he hates bikes and doesn't want to ride one.

So basically, I hope it isn't a key life skill as he is not interested in learning it.

He does swim lessons, music lessons (learning an instrument), drama classes, I am trying to sign him up for rock climbing qualifications...it is just this he won't do 🤷‍♀️

In UK, no.
In my native country, yes.

My DDs' school did a bike-ability mini-course when they were in yr6. By they'd been riding for years but we live in a lovely village with lots of good places to ride. Both DH and I learned as children so we could offer tips and encouragement.
I agree with PPs that it's a useful life skill like swimming and driving.
If you need to move up to a bigger size of bike, check out the charity options (Jack'sPlace) online for less expensive used bikes of all sizes.

I think cycling, like swimming, is an important life skill and is best learnt as a child. I would get her a bigger, second hand bike and cycling lessons. If neither of you cycle, I don't see how you can teach her how to ride a bike without stabilisers. My two rarely cycle, but they can. Neither were keen, but they learnt with an instructor aged 7 or 8 and both did their cycling proficiency at primary school. You could even all get bikes and learn together as a family.

Hmm. I would say so yes. If only so they can join in with the Y6 residentials without feeling completely useless. It's harder to learn the older you get. My two were both riding without stabilisers by age 4.

It’s useful and fun, even if not essential.

Not encouraging her to learn because you can’t be bothered to open the shed is fairly poor.

I don’t think it’s essential, no. Mine can’t, they both have ASD and cannot coordinate the feet to pedal and balance at the same time. I don’t think it’s going to hamper them particularly!

It’s a good skill if you can do it, but in my 48 years on earth I haven’t even sat on a bike since I was 10, and I have no intention of starting again now.

I was resistant to learning to bike as a child, and my parents gave up eventually. I think they waited until I was too old and so I was scared of falling and embarrassed about the stabilisers. It hasn’t massively held me back in life, but it was occasionally an issue over the years when I couldn’t do things at school or with friends, which was a embarrassing. I tried to learn as an adult and even took a class but ended up injuring myself badly so I’ve just decided it’s never going to happen, and that’s fine. Since becoming a parent I have come to view it as a life skill that my parents really should have persisted in teaching me even though I was difficult about it to them. I don’t hate them for it or anything but I do feel like they failed me a little bit in this one way.

Yes, it is. One day as an adult, she’ll want to know how, even if it’s to not feel like the odd one out on a date or a girls holiday. That said, I don’t ever remember going cycling as a family with my parents (they taught me how to ride a bike but we never went on any family biking adventures). As an adult, I’ve done lots of cycling. 60-100 mile events, I’ve done a 500 mile cycling holiday. She may want to do it even if not a big part of her childhood.

I’d get her a new bike and let her have a go. My youngest taught himself just whizzing around in the garden. One day he just got on and off he went. We never had to teach him anything. There are bike skills courses you could sign her up for if you want someone else to do it. Around our way, ours do sessions at school too.

They do Bikeability in year 5, yes. They did Bikeability in Year 1 as well and apparently that was balance bikes. Is year 5 proper bikes and do they need to provide one? I never thought of this. I also never thought of them doing cycling on residentials, I thought the logistics of hiring that many bikes would be too annoying and they wouldn't do it. But I've always considered one of the biggest reasons swimming is important is so they can join in with water activities on residentials!
We were just going to teach her how to ride ourselves because technically we do know how to ride bikes and did so as children. Just neither of us has cycled since teens and I'm pretty sure I've forgotten how. I tried to get on a friend's bike out of curiosity a few years ago and had no idea what to do!

Tricky, because it might be...but you won't know for sure until DC is older.

Personally I'd persevere, because you might be cutting your child off from a leisure activity they might later enjoy/a cheap method of commuting. She might grow up and never need or want to ride a bike, but equally she might - and then it would suck if she couldn't!

It might not be a vital life skill for everyone, especially if your family doesn’t cycle, but learning to ride can still be useful for confidence, balance, and independence. Many children enjoy it as a form of play and exercise rather than transport, and it can help with coordination too. That said, if she isn’t very interested and you don’t have easy places to ride, it’s understandable to question buying a new bike just for the sake of it, kids can still grow up perfectly fine without cycling being a big part of their lives.

My kids all learnt to ride a bike without stabilisers by age 4/5, but no, I don’t think it’s an essential life skill. None of my kids have rode a bike since they were about 11. I have only rode a bike twice since I was that age.

It took me forever to learn to ride a bike as a child, and I wouldn’t have blamed my parents if they’d given up on it. But as I’ve never been able to pass a driving test (owing I think partly to the same mental wiring that initially made cycling tricky), I’m massively reliant on my bike as an adult and would be totally stuck without it. So it can be unpredictably important! I’m so sorry about your cousin and MiL though - that’s terrifying and not surprising it’s coloured your thinking. Thank goodness they’re ok. I lost a close relative in a very similar accident, but don’t have much choice but to carry on cycling.

Yes it is. It’s not difficult. It would be embarrassing as an adult presented on holiday with an option for a nice cycle and having to say you can’t. Remove that chance of embarrassment.

I think riding a bike and swimming are life skills for some, not so much for others but I think it’s good to be able to decently as when it comes up it’s usually a ‘let’s all go on a bike ride’ on holidays with people who won’t really take no for an answer😅 ds is possibly dyspraxic and finds it hard but learned well enough to be able to handle this scenario but hates it as do we but that’s because going out on a bike ride around here is so dangerous!!!

I think if you can teach her it would be great. A few times I’ve lived places where cycling everywhere was very handy.

My advice would be to take the pedals and the stabilisers off, and get her used to pushing herself along. Once she can do that and zoom for a bit with holding her feet in the air, she’ll be ready to ride.

I think it's a good skill to have, even if they just go for holiday bike hire days with friends when they're older.

Youngest dc wasn't keen but learned finally aged 7.5.

But don't talk to me about swimming- years of lessons, they could do 50m, but now claim they 'can't swim' aaagh.

No I don’t think it is, I do however think swimming is vitally important.
ds is autistic and struggled with both, we’ve persevered with swimming but sacked in the cycling.

I never learnt to ride a bike and there's been a few times I've regretted it (not helped by DH being a keen cyclist), but it doesn't impact me day to day. I don't think I'd feel comfortable commuting by bike even if I could ride one, but it would be nice to join every one else when they go cycling on holiday. Also, I can drive, enjoy walking and live somewhere with very good public transport, so have plenty of options even without cycling.

Why should anyone feel embarrassed? I can ride a bike but I’d never class cycling as ‘nice’. I don’t enjoy it. People who can’t ride a bike are unlikely to class cycling as nice either. It’s not something anyone should feel embarrassed about.

And yes it is difficult for some people to learn to ride a bike.