Ava Rides Her Bike

Ever since we ride the Virginia Creeper bike trail, Ava has been on a mission to learn to ride her bike without training wheels. She had the want-to before we went on the trip, but that bike ride sealed the deal and she decided she really wanted to learn. Truth be told, Adam and I needed to spend a little more time with her on the bike, but we always put it off because we were afraid of her riding on the asphalt and falling and we all know that would be the end of Ava’s bike riding career.

One night, Dad had the notion, after hearing Jenny and Jason talk about Trevor’s ‘bike without pedals’ to just take Ava’s off, well we did that for just a couple of days (after many failed attempts and getting her to balance properly) and after she “scooted” around the neighborhood pretty well on her bike without wheels, we decided to put them back on. On June 29th, Dad brought the bike back and I’m telling you it was less than 100 yards and I was running to keep up with her- she was off!

She rode and rode and rode and rode her bike. Each time with a little more confidence and learning all the tricks. She turned around without any hesitation, and quickly learned how to start off on her own. Adam, Dad, and I took turns running with her, but we really didn’t need to- she was great.

We have still been working on stopping. She can stop without falling, but we want her to learn to really stop, where if she is in a situation she won’t panic and knows exactly what to do, she’s getting better but still has the tendency to put her feet down instead of hit the brakes (or pedal backwards in her case).

I have to say, I was about 1 lesson away from loosing my sanity (and subsequently, Ava loosing her bike!) but taking the pedals off worked! I also have to say I was dreading the entire learning how-to-ride-a-bike thing. I want to be apart of as many milestones as I can be in Ava’s life, but when I thought about this one, I would have been okay not having to do it- its kind of in the same category as potty-training to me! I still remember learning how to ride my bike for the first time without training wheels- vividly! But it turned out not to be so bad and hey! now she knows how and you know…it’s like learning how to ride a bike…you never forget!