Ellery's First Day Riding a Bike

Millie and I differ on several things in life; then again, I probably differ with most people on most things about life. One of those things we differ on is the school of thought when it comes to learning how to ride a bike. I STRONGLY disagree with the use of training wheels. I absolutely hate them and the idiot that invented the stupid things. Millie, on the other hand, believed they were a safe means to teach a child to ride a bike. Instead of butting heads over the trivial matter, Millie turned to the internet for other alternatives. She discovered a method to train which includes removing the pedals, allowing the child to learn to walk, then run, then coast on the bike, then putting the pedals back on and letting the child take the next, natural, step to actually ride the bike.

The idea looked logical and most likely effective, so we decided (together) to give it a shot.

We bought Ellery a small bike for her birthday (in April) and removed the pedals. The weather here in Utah was less than conducive to bike riding (rain, rain and snow) back in April and May, so the bike hung in the garage for most of the summer. We got it out once or twice and had to force her to get on it (she insisted on only riding her tricycle). One of the reasons she didn't want to ride the bike was because it was Dora, and not Disney's Cars. So we compromised with her and I got her a Cars helmet to ride with. We put her on the bike a few more times (without pedals) throughout the summer for a total of maybe a few hours or so.

Yesterday, Millie got the bike out again and decided to put the pedals back on. She did, and within a couple of hours Ellery was not only riding her bike, she learned how to start and stop all by herself!!! She thinks she's so big.