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The great outdoors

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Original poster

My daughter can't ride a bike

14 replies

Meggymoomoo · 23/06/2020 16:42

She's 9. She's no interest. All her friends can ride bikes and did go out on them last summer. Any tips to help her become interested

OP posts:
ineedaholidaynow · 23/06/2020 16:43

Has she tried to ride one? Is it that she can't or just doesn't want to?

Mumdiva99 · 23/06/2020 16:48

My daughter hates riding. Although she can.....but that's because we enjoy it and have really encouraged her. Partly because I want her to love it and partly selfishly because it means we can do family rides. Generally she hates all exercise and would rather stay home .....

So I guess I'm asking what incentive is there for your daughter to learn? Do you ride regularly? If not she just might not see the point.

HathorX · 23/06/2020 16:49

Is there a possibility she may be able to ride to school alone in future? That is a lot of temptation for my DD- the idea she can ride her bike alone, she's desperate to be independent!

loopy42 · 23/06/2020 16:51

My 10 year old DD has only just learnt to ride a bike whilst we have been in lockdown.

She never had an interest in it and refused to even try previously, she only wanted to learn so she could go out in bike rides with her friends who can all ride.

I'm 32 and have never learnt to ride a bike I was into roller skates as a kid and never felt the need to ride a bike.

She will learn if she wants to trying to force it will probably make her even less inclined to learn

verybritishproblems · 23/06/2020 16:52

Is it that she can’t or won’t. I found it really hard to learn as I have dyspraxia and so I gave up as a child and told my parents I thought it was boring when in fact I couldn’t do it. I was later diagnosed with dyspraxia and relearnt as an adult but still avoid bikes if I can as never feel stable enough Blush

Theforest · 23/06/2020 16:54

My DS 9 cant either. We have tried with him before but he wasnt interested enough to learn. Preferred his scooter. We are going to buy him a new bike over the summer and try to get him out with his brother.

MrsAvocet · 23/06/2020 17:21

I'm a coach at a kids' cycling club and have coached hundreds of kids over the years. I know the technicalities of how to teach a child to ride, I'm very competent at explaining things and pretty good at getting nervous children over their fears. But teaching a child who is genuinely not interested is really hard. Thinking back over my experiences, the children where I have "failed" have almost all been those where the parents have brought them because they feel they must learn but the child themselves doesn't like it and has no interest. Especially older children who are scared of hurting themselves or looking silly - the tiny ones tend to just get on with it a bit more.
On the whole, I find the most successful slightly older learners are really motivated because they feel they are missing out on something, usually because they can't join in with their friends. Seeing the others having fun and wanting to join in is a strong motivator. Obviously that's difficult at the moment, but as things open up a bit more that might change. Things that definitely make it harder for a child to learn is if the parents are too pushy or too critical or if they've experienced other children teasing them. Rather than encouraging them to try, that tends to lead to avoidance in my experience. Spending time with enthusiastic friends might help, but if she is worried about what others think of her she might be better off practising alone - its really personal. Clubs are gradually starting to open up again now, so taking her somewhere where others are enjoying themselves might get her interested. Some children respond better to having someone different helping them - possibly a forerunner of the situation lots of us face when trying to teach our teenagers to drive!!Grin
There's no magic answer though I'm sorry. Or if there is, I haven't found it. I love cycling and would like every child to enjoy it too, but it just isn't for everyone and some will never want to, no matter how hard you try to make it fun. Definitely don't try to force the issue if she genuinely isn't interested. That will most likely lead to a negative experience and put her off trying if she changes her mind in the future.

MrsAvocet · 23/06/2020 17:32

Sorry, forgot to say, there are lots of types of bikes and different styles of cycling too so there might be something different to try that appeals to her. My youngest started off with a BMX bike - no gears, lots of fun - but he has moved on to different styles. See what's available in your area. But most importantly try to figure out what's stopping her doing it and see if there's anything if you can do to address that. But accept that there might not be. We are a big cycling family but I have one child who isn't interested and happily does their own thing.

Original poster
Meggymoomoo · 23/06/2020 17:33

Thanks for the advice some really good points I will take into consideration. Her sister is 11 and she could ride a bike from 8. I'm probably comparing and shouldn't be doing that either. She does struggle with physical things and swimming lessons weren't going well before lockdown. Even though she loved going. My nephew's have dyspraxia. I wonder if she may have it too.

OP posts:
ineedaholidaynow · 23/06/2020 18:42

DS struggled, I think he may have dyspraxia traits. When he first tried to ride a bike he could only pedal backwards!

We ended up outsourcing teaching him as we failed miserably and thought a cycling coach was the way forward. He still took time to learn and was probably the same age as your DD. He didn't show an interest in learning for a number of years but the incentives that changed his mind were the cycling badge for Cubs and Bikeability course at school

verybritishproblems · 25/06/2020 23:50

DS struggled, I think he may have dyspraxia traits. When he first tried to ride a bike he could only pedal backwards!

That was me! Grin

WithASpider · 26/06/2020 00:24

Dd2 rode at 11, DS has just learnt at 10, Dd1 was about 6!

DS was terrified when we tried to teach him, but happily let his older sister help.

Will she try if her friends are around?

Fatted · 26/06/2020 00:26

I'm 40 years old and cannot ride a bike. I have never had any interest in riding a bike. She may just not like it or may not want to do it.

bottlenose301 · 28/06/2020 00:06

Some can take a while or just not be interested.

My 11 year old DD wasn't interested in biking for years. We tried to teach her for years and she just couldn't grasp it and in turn lacked interest. I even got her on one of those free council courses but it didn't work.

The in literally one week her school did a mini biking course with some instructors and like that, she could suddenly ride! I don't know what they did that we didn't but literally overnight she was riding and enjoying it.

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