Owen learns to ride a bike

For the last few months, we've been on the hunt for a bicycle for Owen. It's been a challenge because he's still on the smaller side and most of the standard 12 inch bikes don't fit him. Last weekend, our search ended. We stopped at a local bike shop for a helmet for Tucker and while we were there, Owen tried two of the small kid bikes. We didn't expect them to work out, but we were happily surprised to learn that both bikes fit him! We couldn't buy the one we liked best right away because it was purple and Owen simply told us that purple bikes are for girls. A few days later, we went back and bought the red one they pulled from their warehouse. We took the bike home Monday night, and he practiced pedaling with the back wheel up. Once he had that down, we took off the training wheels and started to count down the days until the weekend. We bought bike pads Friday night and chatted about his new bike all week. He was pretty excited, but the truth is, we were the super excited ones!

Saturday morning, after an early breakfast, we went out to the local school, and Owen learned how to ride a bike. We brought his orange balance bike because he wanted to start with that one. After awhile, he agreed to try the new one. He was a little nervous at first because he thought pedaling was hard, but within seconds he was going without Kris' help. He picked it up immediately. After a short but successful ride, he wanted to play on the playground. He took off all his pads and he and Tucker played for a long time on the slides and climbing gyms.

After awhile, he tried out his bike again. The second time around, something clicked, and he started to love it. He was making laps in no time and asking to ride down the small hill at the playground. From a balance perspective- he had it down perfectly. It really was absolutely natural for him. Pushing backwards on the pedals to brake and starting were a little harder, but by late morning he had made some progress with both areas. We were at the park for nearly three hours and after nap and a short snack, he couldn't wait to get out front and try it again.

The balance bike experiment worked exactly like we hoped it would. It's so cute to watch him on the bike. We need to practice a bit more with the pedal brakes and starting without help, but he'll have it down in no time. Soon, we'll be able to try out another family bike ride with Owen riding his bike instead of pushing/gliding on his balance bike! As I write this, Kris and Owen are outside - Owen couldn't wait to get outside today and try his new bike! WOO!

The first video below shows Owen's first try and the second video is a few tries later, after the playground break.

little Tucker on his bike!