Pre Pedal Stage

ROAD SAFETY & CYCLE TRAINING
Pre Pedal Training banning stabilisers forever and gaining physical literacy!

The Precursor to Bikeability is the initial stage of learning to ride a bike in the first instance ..

And even if you think your child is not ready yet, take a look at the Children's Traffic Club to teach 3 - 4 uear olds about how to stay safe when they are out walking, playing, travelling in cars or on buses. (DBDA are now in partnership with RSoPA).

The PRE-PEDAL stage is the stage when whomever it is wanting to learn, finds their centre of gravity on their own. Forget stabilisers, they only encourage a false sense of security. Age is irrelevant, it is their level of understanding and ability that counts ... my eldest complete novice to date is 60 years young, my youngest only 5! Incredibly though, it took my 60 year old just a half an hour to learn to ride from scratch but the youngest over 4 hours because she was so used to stabilisers and simply did not believe she could do it without them.

Cost - from £12.50 per child for a group of 2 - 4 and £10 per child for groups numbering 5 – 12

Individual Tuition is available for complete beginners from £20 per hour for 1:1 tuition and from £35 for two hours OR from £12.50pp for 2 students for one hour & from £20pp for two hours although by then, they should almost be ready to progress to a proper little bike.

Pre Pedal skills include:-

       Get on and off the bike without help
       Starting off and scoot along without help
       Stopping without help
       Ride along without help for roughly one minute or more with both feet off the ground
       Make the bike go where they want, being able to turn to come back
       Manoeuvre safely to avoid objects such as cones
       Look all around, including behind, without wobbling
       Signal right and left without wobbling

Go ahead - give your child a head start ..

Healthy children develop essential motor skills early in life. *Istvan Bayli is acknowledged worldwide as the expert in long term athlete development and the periodisation of training plans. an expert in athlete development recommends fundamental training rather than discipline specific begins as early as possible. Coaches and Paediatricians all agree that learning balance, coordination with exercise in all shapes and forms, aids a child’s growth and development.

Teaching children balance using bikes with their pedals removed or by getting them a balance bike, will your child develop their balance and coordination as well as increasing their confidence. Trikes and bikes with stabilisers do NOT. Traditional bicycles place too much of the focus on learning to pedal -- skimping on developing your child’s motor skills. And tricycles are heavy, clunky and difficult for kids to control.

Although there are bikes without pedals made by companies such as Concept (Pedal Pals) which has a rear brake as does Ridgeback Zooom 2010. Strider Balance Bikes are another make but you could also just buy a bike that is small enough for your little one to be able to sit on the saddle whilst also having their feet firmly on the ground but big enough for them to grow into when they are ready to try pedalling .. just take the pedals off initially!

*Dr. Istvan Balyi is the resident sport scientist of the National Coaching Institute since 1994. He has worked with several National Teams as high performance advisor, planning and periodization for Major Games. He is a world renowned coaching educator and his series on long-term athlete development and periodisation are being published in Australia, Canada, in the United States and in the United Kingdom. He is presently high performance advisor for the Canadian Sport Centres Victoria and Vancouver, UK Athletics and the The Lawn tennis Association.