Tage has been a little slow to learn to ride a bike.  He’s a very cautious kid by nature, never one to leap headlong into anything, and it’s been hard for him just to let go and lift both feet off the ground.  We bought him a new bike last summer, hoping to encourage him to take the chance, but the even the lure of a shiny new set of wheels wasn’t enough to take the edge off his nerves.  Honestly, I haven’t worried about it too much, figuring that he’d get to it in his own time, and also firmly believing in the AAP’s assertions that kids shouldn’t be riding two-wheelers before the age of 5 or 6.  Still, he’s got to a point–he’ll be 7 in August–that it’s starting to be weird for him not to ride a bike, and in fact, one of his “assignments” for the summer from his teacher was to get out there on his bike and practice.

For the past couple of months I’d been seeing “strider bikes” here and there, and even though Tage’s a little older than the manufacturers’ target age, I thought it might be just the ticket for him.  I described the bikes to my mom several weeks ago, and she and Tony decided to give him one for his birthday.  Since a day or two after Onock arrived, we’d had this one stashed in our garage waiting for the big day, but Onock got to thinking that she might give it to him earlier, so that he’d have plenty of time to ride it before school started.  Not only that, but Petra was getting a new tricycle for her birthday, and we all thought that they would have fun riding together.

So, we brought out the new bike on Sunday, and Tage set to “training.”  He was fairly hesitant at first, but it didn’t take him too long to get the hang of it.  After the first hour, he was practically a fixture on that bike, logging hours and hours every day and growing more confident by the minute, it seemed.  By Wednesday evening he had made so much progress that he could ride his big bike, and though he’s still a little shaky on it, I know by the time school starts he’ll be riding it like an old pro.