Guide to get your tiny tots pedalling a bike

The moment when a parent lets go of their child’s bicycle and watches the little one ride off alone for the first time is right up there with their first smile and tottering steps.
But how do you reach the proud moment without too many grazes and tears?
One method is for parents to have their own bikes fitted with child seats so that even the youngest members can get used to the feeling of travelling on two wheels.
British mum Sharon Osei Tutu rode with her daughter Pearl on the back of her bike from when she was just seven months old, even on Abu Dhabi’s busiest downtown roads. Now 8, Pearl loves riding her own bike with her parents every Saturday around the Yas Gateway Park and Abu Dhabi’s Corniche.
“Pearl used to love riding with me so much, she would usually fall asleep,” says Sharon. “Having her on the bike with me from an early age helped build up her confidence to then ride out on her own.”
Most children first experience cycling on a bicycle fitted with ­stabilisers.
Julie Ralph is mum to Isabelle, 7, and Phoebe, 5. She decided the time was right to remove their stabilisers when each was 4, settling on Dubai’s Creek Park as the perfect place to teach them to ride unaided.
“It’s grassy, so if they fall off, they’re not going to hurt themselves and there are hills for them to build up momentum,” she says. “The hardest thing was getting them to push off from scratch. You have to persevere with it. Me and my husband had to really push Phoebe to get back on her bike when she fell off and was in tears. But three hours later, she had learnt it.”
Ella Wallace, now 8, also learnt to ride a bike with stabilisers before progressing onto a two-wheeler when she was 4. Nowadays, when mum Julie Wallace walks their havanese dog Millie around their Al Mushrif neighbourhood, Ella joins them on her bike.
“Ella’s much happier to be on a bike than she is to walk,” says Julie. “Sometimes she puts Millie in the basket in front of her bicycle, which attracts some funny looks. Millie loves it. She just sits there and puts her face into the wind.”
Another way to get kids riding a bicycle unaided is to first buy them a balance bike, which has no pedals.
Belgian Peter Pastijn, 41, is the co-owner of The Room in Abu Dhabi’s Zayed Sports City and a power specialist master ­instructor for their spinning ­programme.
“I recommend getting kids started as early as possible on balance bikes, that’s how I taught my four kids,” he says. “It’s then just a small step onto the pedal bike. And always use a good helmet.”
One of his spinning instructors is Caoimhe Lalor, 34, from Ireland, who is mum to Tadhg, 7 and Caoilshionn, 6. She bought her kids balance bikes as toddlers and they were both riding pedal bikes by the time they’d turned 3, without ever needing ­stabilisers.
“When I go for a run around Zayed cricket stadium in Khalifa City, they come with me on their bikes. With stabilisers, they would’ve been too slow to keep up,” she says.
Caoimhe now also takes her kids on 13-kilometre cycle rides round the Abu Dhabi Golf Club and on the newly extended Al Wathba ­Cycling Track on Al Ain road.
“They’re too fast for me to run with now, so I join them on my bike,” she says.
“When we moved house last October we chose to stay within our compound (at Sas Al Nakhl village), just because they can ride their bikes around here. If we send them to the shops they can go quickly. It gives them a real sense of independence.”
Now that they’re able riders, Julie Ralph takes Phoebe and Isabelle cycling at Nad Al Sheba cycle track near Meydan. It has a 750m kid’s “road” with street signs, speed bumps and roundabouts, as well as a playground and picnic area.
Stewart Howison, 40, co-founder of Dubai’s largest cycling group, Cycle Safe Dubai, helped design it.
He envisioned that parents could use the track to teach their kids the cycling proficiency course, to make them more road-aware.
“It’s a nice thing for parents to do with their children, but if they prefer, I can teach the kids,” says the cycling veteran. “The cycling-­proficiency course usually takes place on Friday afternoons and is aimed at any age. We’ve had mums who’ve never ridden, ­looking to get into cycling because their husbands ride regularly.”
Families can also use the 135km Dubai Cycling Course at Al Qudra, which has bike rental facilities and BMX tracks. “The track is used by several adult cycling groups on Friday and Saturday mornings and evenings, but lots of families are also coming now in the daytime,” says Damian Lowe, manager of the Trek bike store based there.
On Tuesday evenings from 6pm, the 5.5km Yas Marina Circuit track in Abu Dhabi opens for cyclists as well as runners. Cyclists must wear a helmet, and children should stick to the right-hand lane.
• For information on the cycling proficiency course, email Stewart Howison at [email protected]. FirstBIKE balance bikes can be bought for Dh795 from branches of Adventure HQ
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