Growing up in a home where my Dad had a bicycle, and my 2 elder siblings also did, learning to ride wasn't such a difficult task for me. I didn't even wait until I got my own bike, I was already riding and practicing different styles using my elder siblings bike.
Regaining my skills here
Although their bikes were too high for my height, I used a technique where you'll squat beside the bike while crossing over one of your legs to meet the pedal on the other side of the bike and then placing your hand on the horizontal pole on the same level as the seat to gain enough balance. It's called Monkey style of riding 😅
I was so good at riding that at a very young age I could go anywhere and run different errands on bike. All thanks to my elder siblings who did a very good coaching.
Not long enough I relocated to another city to stay with a relative while I schooled. The family also had children who were almost same age as me, but they didn't have a bike.
I didn't ride any bike for a few years, except when we had opportunity to borrow from friends, which was so rare as most people will refuse you their bikes for fear that you might cause a damage to it.
Finally my uncle decided to buy a bike for us since he saw that we loved cycling so much that we could even rent from other children around the neighborhood and pay them money just to ride their bikes.
When our new bike arrived I was the most skilled among other children in the house when it came to cycling, but I had lost so much of my cycling skills, even the so much mastered monkey style which I was know for back then at home 😀
Bicycle image here
After a few moments of falling, and sometimes losing of balance, I finally regained my cycling skills and I could do much of long distance cycling once more. Although I was almost already too big for my monkey style, I still managed to put my legs in between to balance well on the two pedals.
One important Important thing I've learned from cycling over the years is that it's not about size or age. Even a very small child can do very amazing things that you as an adult would find very difficult to do. It's all about practice and consistency. I cycle for fun most of the time. It's one of the things I do that gives me that feel good emotion, as to say I have done something so fascinating.
Understanding that cycling is not just about jumping on a bike and pushing on the pedal while trying to maintain balance is one important thing that helped me while I mastered the act of cycling.
It's also about being calculative, developing the right mindset, being able to combine control of your hands, feet and your balance while focusing on the road and same time sensitive to what's happening around you. And then lastly doing away with fear.
I loved teaching other younger children and friends how to ride on bikes and how I perform some of my skills and stunts. I have also had very serious experiences on bikes that's why I prefer to do the riding if we are going to be two on the bike because I trust my riding skills.
While most people especially parents think that getting a bike for their kids will expose them to danger, I think it's fairly part of their developmental milestone, and apart from the happiness the child gets from measuring up with their mates, it helps the child to further develop many other faculties that may facilitate their success in other areas of life and other future endeavours.
Image here
I still cycle now for fun, excercise and fitness and I plan to do it more often than I use to. I think we all should because there's more to it.
Thank you for reading through this blog. I hope to share more of my cycling experience in the future.
Stevewealth