Hub Centre Steering

[dayglo jim]

Kids are remarkably resilient as they don't tense up in the same way an adult would (anticipating the pain) and bounce, then want to do it again.

She ain't got pedals

I told her to brake but she got really upset because she thought I was telling her she'd broken it (she was 2 at the time). So I tell her to pull her stop handle now.

When I got the pw50 for my eldest the chap selling it told me his son crashed it first time and wouldn't get back on. He was telling him to brake after he had pulled away, rather than brief him about braking before he set off, and the garden fence stopped him!

[The Spin Doctor]

When I got the pw50 for my eldest the chap selling it told me his son crashed it first time and wouldn't get back on. He was telling him to brake after he had pulled away, rather than brief him about braking before he set off, and the garden fence stopped him!

That was the 'trap' laid for us novice instructors on my instructor training course. The senior instructor picked one of us at random and said "show me how to ride this bike". The guy (not me - fortunately) did a really clear job of explaining how to start the bike, put it in gear and pull away... the instructor did it perfectly... then my colleague (Nigel, I think he was called) said "OK, you can stop now"...

..."But you didn't show me how!" the instructor shouted over his shoulder as he accelerated away across the car park and into a chain link fence.

Good lesson.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Balance bike, straight to bicycle, is the best route.

So baby dazzle (3) had her first go on a pedal bike last weekend. She's big for her age so she's outgrown the balance bike, thus we've got her straight onto a 16" wheel push bike with no stabilisers.

Took her literally 10 mins to get it. She could stay on straight away, but the pedalling took those ten mins. Went out with her today and she is fast enough I have to jog to keep up with her.

The thing which fascinated me though was that she is reluctant to grip the handlebars and instead rests the heals of her hands on them. I think its cause they're a tad fatter than her old bike.

But obviously that means she's countersteering She even got into a wobble but saved it and said "I moved my handles so I didn't fall off!". She'll be banging on a about taper braking and the relative merits of DRLs soon.

She also did a perfect demo of target fixation. "Don't ride into the lamppost" says I...."this lamppost?" was her reply followed by DONK!