Ready to Roll

Maura received a bicycle for her birthday last year but for various reasons it sat in our shed for most of a year unridden. Our street, though fairly quiet, is still too busy for bike riding lessons and last fall we had no way to transport the bicycle to a better location. New England winters are not good times to be out on a bicycle. Now that it’s nearly summer and fair weather is expected it is time Maura learned to ride her bike. Last weekend we took the time to give her some lessons.

Our first lesson was Saturday afternoon. Once I had figured out how to mount the bike rack to the trunk of the Toyota we strapped Maura’s Hannah Montana bicycle on to it and headed to Great Esker Park where I was sure we would find a good place for Maura to ride. While the park’s most notable feature is the esker of its name, a long, steep-sided hill, near the parking lot is one of flattest places in Weymouth. A smoothly paved path that circles the ball field there is an ideal place for a bike lesson.

On Saturday I started out holding the handlebars and seat of the bike while I walked alongside reminding Maura to pedal. Soon I was letting go to jog behind her for a little while before she fell over or ran off the path out of control. Every time she fell over Maura got back on the bike with a smile on her face ready to try again. She hadn’t yet mastered bike riding by the time we had to go home for supper but she made a lot of progress.

We were back on Sunday afternoon for another lesson. While she still lost control of the bike often she was clearly getting her balance. Now instead of jogging right behind her while she pedaled slowly and unsteadily for a few yards I was running to catch up while she rode halfway around the circuit before losing control. She had a great time despite a skinned knees and I’m confident that she’ll be riding like a pro before school’s out for the summer.

Maura’s cheerful persistence in trying to ride her bike is heartening to me. She’s learned one of the lessons I’ve tried to teach her—that it is worth working at something until you get it right if it is something worth doing at all. I know that it is a lesson she will forget from time to time. I know I do. Still the better she learns it now the better she will be at dealing with failure and frustration when she needs to learn a difficult skill or one that gives her less pleasure.