How to teach a kid to ride a bike

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Today's Kansas City Star has a nice article about how to teach someone to ride a bicycle:

Step 2: Strike a balance

"You don't learn to balance by not balancing," Roth says. "That's the core of running alongside the bike - the person running is creating the balance." Buy a headset/pedal wrench from a bike shop or hardware store and remove the bike's pedals. Have the child sit on the bike, look forward (not down) and pick both feet off the ground an inch. "Let the bike fall to whatever side it's going to fall. It's only going to fall an inch." Continue doing this until the child is raising both feet about six inches off the ground. "Bring your bike too and make it into a contest - who can keep their bike up the longest? It gets the child used to balancing on two wheels and shows them they're in control." Once the child can keep the bike upright for three-five seconds, move to step 3.

Step 3: Walk the bike

"Have them walk the bike, walk the bike, walk the bike until they start complaining they're getting bored. OK, let's go a little bit faster, a little bit faster, to the point where their feet can't keep up anymore and they're going to glide. At this point they get the feel of balancing, being on a moving bike and being in control because their feet are always near the ground and they can stop any time they want." Have them glide across the entire lot and back. "Keep doing this until they're bored. Bored is good. Bored means enough already, I'm ready for the next thing."

Read the rest of the article on the KC Star web site or read MoBikeFed's collection of information about teaching kids to bicycle.