My 4.5 year old Mini Mumbler has always struggled with confidence on his balance bike and ‘big boy’bike. Whenever I talked to him about taking his stabilisers off he was adamant he couldn’t do it and he is also one very stubborn little boy, so when I saw all the Mumbler recommendations for the Magic Hour with Dave at ‘I Want to Ride my Bike’ I thought it was definitely help I could do with. I have to admit when I read the detail and it said he would have him riding his bike within an hour and didn’t fail I thought he might be about to meet his match!
‘I Want to Ride my Bike’ is run by Dave Burns. Dave is based in Harrogate but he does visit schools within North Leeds and it only took us 20 minutes to get there to see him. It was really easy to arrange with Dave and immediately I could understand that this wasn’t some kind of gimmick. I booked Mini Mumbler in for a Sunday afternoon and a few days before the session I got a reminder email and some details on what to bring (his bike, helmet and a hoodie).
The session was at a primary school in Harrogate. It was easy to find with the satnav and Dave’s van was there in the car park when we arrived. Immediately Dave put Mini Mumbler at ease, he spoke to him and tried to create a connection with him. I have to admit he didn’t get much response as I think Mini Mumbler was thinking “how on earth is he going to get me to ride my bike !” I suspect Dave was also thinking this was going to be a tough one!
To get an idea of how confident Mini Mumbler was on the bike Dave started him on a small balance bike and got him to ride it balancing down the playground. (This has a slight downhill slope which helped in the balancing.) We repeated this quite a few times trying slightly different things each time so Mini Mumbler could gain confidence. Normally Mini Mumbler would have given up after a couple of times of having to run back up the slope to come down again but Dave was great in inventing games and reasons for running back up and he must have done it 10 times without complaining. This really gave Mini Mumbler some confidence and he was really excited when Dave said it was time to get on a bigger bike.
The next bike was still a balance bike (no brakes) but it did have pedals and was to get Mini Mumbler used to the feel of a proper bike. Within a few minutes of balancing well on this bike and getting used to it, Dave thought he was ready for a go at a proper bike with working pedals. Two minutes later Mini Mumbler was riding this bike without any help. We had gone from a little boy really unconfident on a bike to a little boy who could ride a bike – all within 30 minutes. I couldn’t believe it. Once he could ride it a little there was then lots of practise to continue to grow the confidence and help on steering. He was giving lots of tips like getting Mini Mumbler to count out loud as he was riding to take his mind off the steering. Throughout all of this Dave was explaining to Mini Mumbler what he was doing and why it was important in a language he could understand.
Once Dave had got Mini Mumbler riding lots he then showed me how to help set him off and what to look out for and it was my turn to practise this. This was really important as in a few days time he explained he will need some support to get him going again before his memory kicks in. While I was doing this practising Dave took Mini Mumbler’s bike and said he would check it all over. He pumped up the tyres, oiled the chain and set the brakes so they were easier to use for small hands. He then gave advice on many other things to help with bikes such as the right type of helmet, the best way to get on and off the bike and much more.
The last part was then to get Mini Mumbler riding his own bike which after all the other practise came very easily. Dave explained this was really important as he would have a wobble when he next came to try again and it would show he could do it on his own bike. The session was then finished with lots of high fives and a certificate showing that he could ride his bike.
I have to say that I couldn’t believe that in less than hour Mini Mumbler had come on so much and could ride a bike. He felt that he was such a big boy now. I can’t recommend Dave highly enough. If your child is struggling with bikes or lacking confidence then he really knows how to get them started and gave me the confidence as to how I can take this forward.
For more details on I Want to Ride a Bike sessions click here.
