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?

There's a reason for the expression 'it's like riding a bike', you won't have forgotten how. Buy a second hand one and teach her and sell it afterwards if she isn't interested. You may also be able to borrow one for a half-term if you post on a local FB group, I'd happily lend ours.
It is a bit of a life skill for children who don't have any underlying reason why they can't learn, yes.

I think it is a life skill. I randomly spent a year in the Netherlands on an exchange programme. There was only one girl who couldn’t ride a bike and she found getting around really tough.

Im 66 and can't ride a bike. Never considered it.

Three sons, one got straight on one at 4 and road off just as i had when a neighbour gave me a cast off bike at that age. The other two were absolute hell to teach but I persevered thinking it was a life skill like swimming, later realised they were probably dyspraxic which i didnt know anything about at the time, one was 7 and the other 10 when they finally managed it..........neither have ever ridden a bike again🤦

I can’t ride a bike, I never learned as a child. I’m now 48!
I wish I could and made sure DS learned.

I can’t ride a bike, I never learned as a child. I’m now 48!
I wish I could and made sure DS learned.

I cycle a lot to get around. I don't think growing up my parents would have predicted that but I am very glad they taught me to ride a bike. With that in mind I wouldn't rely on her not needing or wanting to commute by bike. I think it's better to teach her how to cycle safely now than for her to try to learn to cycle off the first time on a lime bike in a big city as a young adult.

Take the stabilisers off & practice on slight declines eg paths in parks that are a bit downhill, so she can freewheel for a bit & stability comes easier. As above has said, you'd be doing her a big favour by teaching her now - much easier to learn as a kid than when older

You and your partner are missing out, yes riding a bike is a brilliant life skill. When I had children I knew I wanted them to be able to ride a bike, swim and not be arseholes. I achieved all three and more. I would take my daughters bikes out in the car with us and they'd practise in the park.

Also, you could check local council for cycle confidence classes

I think it's a useful skill. As a student and young adult I couldn't afford a car and it was a vital form of transport for me as I lived in two small cities/large towns in succession that were cycIable from one side to the other. I used my bike for commuting, shopping and leisure trips.

I've recently returned to cycling in my 50s and love it. It's healthy, fun and cheap. I also don't think it has to be dangerous. I cycle to work on the National Cycle Network using a combination of off road paths and quiet roads. It's an incredibly positive experience.

My DC can all cycle including one with dyspraxia and none of them used stabilisers. They progressed from balance bikes as toddlers straight onto regular bikes.

I struggled to learn as a kid (hit everything in the empty car park) but it didn’t inhibit me - on a family holiday to centre parcs years later I picked it up fine but have never felt the need to get on a bike again. One DD learned and then never rode again. The other has never managed it. I was holding out for Bikeability to persuade her but they basically refused to do anything with her or the others in her class that couldn’t already ride.

Any bike that isn’t nailed down seems to get nicked around here too, so it’s not the kind of place you can cycle to the park to meet friends and dump your bike on the grass.

It's definitely important, I never learned how to ride a bike properly and often wish I had. My mother was mentally ill and our home life was extremely chaotic, my Grandad bought us bikes but she wouldn't let us take them out very often.

It’s definitely a life sill and far easier to learn as a child. You’d be doing her a disservice.

our local park has learn to cycle sessions that are very successful.

I'm an adult who can't ride a bike and really wish I could. It's much harder to learn as an adult. DS had 3 lessons after we tried repeatedly with him and now rides really well, he's also 7

There is deep joy to be had in riding a bike. Once you get back on a bike you will remember. You are doing the right thing. This is a gift for your child.

I have a friend who has learned as an adult and it's taken her ages - it's so easy for kids to learn. I would put the effort in to get her riding without stabilisers, then it's done, for life!!

It’s a really useful skill, particularly when travelling. My youngest was really resistant to learning. We started trying to teach her once every few months from the age of about 6, but she would refuse to even try. It just clicked one day when she was 9. I would persevere. Good luck!

I didn’t have a bike as a kid (poor) so I learned to ride on my db’s which was too big and difficult

I returned to cycling as a (poor) student and fell in love. I absolutely love taking my dc out for bike rides

The main reason is I live somewhere lovey now, and it’s safe and pleasurable.

It’s not like swimming, not a life skill. You can skip it.

Yes and no. She may not ever ride a bike when she’s an adult.

never learned, never needed to, never missed it. Got to add that I really wish that many of the dangerous idiots around here had never learned to ride a bike either. Quite a few years ago now, it used to be terrifying in september every year as it was the "thing" for kids to bike to school when they started secondary. They were either dangerous daredevils or wobbly as hell.

I can ride a bike. I have the same bike now from when I was about 13, and I’ve ridden it once in about 15 years. I don’t enjoying cycling as a sport or exercise or means of transport.

But when we go on holiday (DH and I road trip around the US a lot) we usually end up going on at least one bike ride on a bike path (eg along the beach path in Santa Monica, the lake front in Chicago, the town of Celebration in Florida). I’d actually be quite sad if I wasn’t able to do these bike rides as they’re some of my fondest holiday memories.

And this is from someone who rode a bike at Center Parcs in her 30s and literally went over the handlebars and fell off, so I’m not a big cycling advocate generally 😂 but I think it is a life skill.

Like swimming and driving, it’s a necessary life skill. Imagine being a (able bodied) teen or an adult that can’t ride a bike? Embarrassing.

I wouldn't say so. Not these days. The UK is so crowded, and the traffic is so awful, that riding a bike is now too risky. I live near the village where I grew up. There is a country lane that I used to fly down on my bike to visit my grandparents. God, I would NEVER allow a kid to do that these days. That country lane now has the kind of traffic you'd expect to find on a motorway.