Look who's riding!

Matthew is "riding with pedals." This summer, he had become very frustrated by riding with training wheels. They don't work well on our gravel road, often embedding in the gravel, or preventing the regular wheels from touching the ground when he gets to a low spot or pothole. He cannot keep up with the older kids, and he feels left out when they fly out the back road without him.

Last month, my friend mentioned that she and her husband had removed the training wheels and pedals from their kids' bikes to create a homemade version of the balance bike. They were successful in increasing their boys' (ages 5 and 7) confidence enough that they have now learned to ride independently. So we talked it over with Matthew and decided to remove his training wheels, but not his pedals. At first, he was timid and didn't really believe he could ride without the training wheels. He tried on one day, then left the bike in the garage for most of July. No amount of encouragement could get him to try it again.

Until Saturday, when we went to a birthday party down the road, at which the kids were encouraged to bring their bikes. Since we were walking over, Matthew pushed himself along on his bike and discovered that he could push with his feet and balance and go much faster than on training wheels. Best of all, "Katie was right," he didn't get stuck in potholes. He was pleased and excited.

But it was a little hard on his calves. The pedals scraped them slightly, and he was talking about taking the pedals off, but as we walked along, I saw that he was balancing and coasting so well that he was very close to really riding. I told him so and encouraged him to give it a few more days of practice before we took them off.

After we got home from the party, he stayed outside and practiced balancing and coasting.

Sunday afternoon, he came running into the house yelling "Mommy!" at the top of his lungs. I ran out to the front hall expecting to see blood. Instead, I saw a triumphant Matthew who told me, " I am riding my bike. WITH PEDALS!!" He stayed outside for about 20 more minutes, then came in and said nonchalantly, "I haven't been doing much outside, Mommy: just riding my bike WITH PEDALS!"

Exultation!