I love cycling. Many of my childhood memories were centred around cycling. I remembered the only bicycle I had as a child was a ‘Girl’s Bike’ – the ones without a center shaft, no gears, just 2 trusty brakes, a wire basket in front to act as a bumper and a ‘dynamo’ (of which kids these days would associate it with the washing detergent) to power the light…my bike was metallic blue and white in colour. I cycled for many reasons: to school, to tuition classes, to impress girls, to escape rabid dogs…to just, getaway and feel the rush of wind through the hair, brushing against the skin. Even as an Undergrad in Melbourne, I had a bicycle which I rode to classes and to work. Cycling was more than just a mode of transport, it brought me to places, people and experiences which collectively shaped who I am today.
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| My Babies & Me – The Bikes and the Princess! |
Which is why when Dana came along, high on my list was to teach her cycling. From the time she began walking, I dreamt of the day I can cycle with her and my wife as a family. However, while there are many fond memories about cycling, there are also traumatic ones, mostly of falls, injuries and abrasions. So my main concern, just as any parent has, when it was time to teach Dana how to cycle, was how to find the safest…easiest and fastest (typical Singaporean) way for her to master cycling.
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| Student for the Day – at 5 yrs old… |
Dana started with a typical ‘4-wheeler’ training bike which she has learnt to ride it skillfully before she turned 4. That was used to train her pedalling skills. However, when the wheels were removed, as expected, the anxiety and fear of falling came. To prepare her for it, we invested in a set of kiddy knee guards , elbow guards and helmet. I went one step further to teach her how to break her fall and, like a wise old sage, I would tell her how in order to succeed, she must learn to fall and get up…and fall she did. She wasn’t afraid of falling but I could see that, after a while, the experience of regular falling and not being to balance beyond 2 secs was slowly disheartening her. To make matters worse, there was only the weekends for me to coach her and the fickle Singapor weather makes it doubly tough to carry out regular training sessions.
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| Her Trusty Training Bike… |
During a chance encounter with Coach Kenneth of Singapore Bike School at a social event, he introduced to us the Balancing Bike method where with the use of a balancing bike, kids naturally activate their sense of balance without having to fuss with the pedal. His advice proved very effective. After having only 3 half-hour night rides with Dana on a loaned balancing bike, she was able to balance well over 10 secs on it.
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| A shot with the Coach before lesson commenced… |
When we met Kenneth next, we brought Dana and her trusty training bike along. By now, I had removed the 2 training wheels. Coach Kenneth wasted no time in building a bond with Dana by coming down to her eye level, talking softly and assuring her. He removed the pedals on her training bike and asked her to simulate balancing on a balancing bike. This is to create a sense of familiarity and build confidence. After a few minutes being pedal-less, the pedals went back on and again, with soft and assuring tone, and using two mini traffic cones, Coach Kenneth encouraged Dana to push and pedal from one cone to the next. Few more tries of that and, to our wonderful surprise, our girl was cycling! Slowly but surely, she was maneuvering her training bike, which few weeks ago, she would almost swore not to ride again. We were so proud and utterly impressed. No tears, no threats, pure coaching!
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| Getting acquainted with ‘Uncle’ Kenneth… |
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| Making Dana feel at ease by going down to her level… |
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| Taking effort to explain to Dana what is expected next… |
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| Giving her words of assurance… |
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| By faith, she balanced herself… |
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| Determined to balance a while longer with each try… |
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| Getting better at balancing without pedals in the way… |
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| Practising with the Figure ‘8’… |
Over the next half hour, as Dana continued to cycle, the distance between the cones got farther. Her sense of balance and control improved; her confidence soared. All this while, she would start and stop just to gain momentum and balance, Coach Kenneth would be patiently beside her or behind her to nudge her on. Mummy and daddy stood at the sidelines to cheer her on and snapped photos to remember this special milestone.
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| Putting the pedals back on… |
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| Guiding Dana on the proper way to do a pedal start… |
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| Monitoring if she did it right… |
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| A gentle push and a careful nudge… |
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| Unsteady and hesitant at first… |
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| Slowly getting the hang of the pedal start… |
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| And off she goes – gaining confidence with each pedal! |
Being the inteprid one that she is, Dana started to ask the Coach to guide her on ‘actual’ roads at the Shell Safety Park. Kenneth agreed and even gamely pretended with her to ‘fill’ petrol in her bike! For the next 30 minutes, Coach Kenneth orientated Dana to cycling on the ‘roads’ which she absolutely relished. Dana asked us to be her ‘pedestrians’ and we obliged seeing how she has taken to cycling.
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| First attempt on the ‘roads’! |
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| That smiles say ‘Mommy, Daddy! I think I got it!’ |
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| Some tips from the Coach before going onto the ‘roads’… |
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| Remember to observe traffic rules Dana… |
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| The sense of exhilaration cycling gives is….immeasurable! |
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Making it fun for the little riders…
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| The cycling continues! |
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| I DID IT! I can ride a bike! |
Never impatient and always assuring, Kenneth is an excellent coach who not only is well-versed in teaching his students (kids and adults) how to cycle but he also inspires them to love the sport. For this Daddy, the dream of being able to cycle with my family came true much earlier than expected, all thanks to Coach Kenneth and the Singapore Bike School.
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| Thumbs Up for Uncle Kenneth’s coaching! |
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| The iconic cones from SG Bike School… |
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| Looking forward to happy cycling trips ahead! |
You and your kids can learn how to ride a bike the ‘no-tears, no-stress’ way. Check out the class schedules and cycling FAQs at the Singapore Bike School Website today. You can also read the interview we had with Coach Kenneth over at this post.
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Disclaimer: Dana received a recreational cycling lesson from the Singapore Bike School for the purposes of this review. No monetary compensation was received and all opinions are ours.
Great post! I felt like I was there too!
The hubby’s been wanting to teach K to cycle for quite a while now. Looks like this is an excellent option to nudge her in the right direction!
Kenneth is a great teacher! I had him for my kids as well 🙂
Very inspiring, thanks for sharing.. will follow this path for XX 🙂
Hi, May I know where did u purchase the bicycle for Dana!
Hi Lyn and Yanti
if you need a coach for your kids, be sure to get Kenneth! They will enjoy the process under him.
Hi Rachael,
we bought her green bike from Bike Haus at Bukit Timah last year. We’re thinking of getting a bigger bike (14 or 16′) for Dana soon so we might be letting go of this (a 12′ wheeler). If you’re keen, let me know! 🙂