Sweet Home Alabama!

They finally figured it out!

Kara actually learned to ride before Cole did:

Kara sat on her bike a total of one time last year, and was immediately so freaked out by the ever so slight wobble, that she wanted nothing more to do with it.  Since Cole wouldn't ride his bike without his training wheels, we didn't push her because we still wouldn't be able to bike together.  Mark and I determined that this year everyone WOULD ride their bikes, come hell or high water.  Last summer we found out that a local gym offered bike clinics, but we weren't home for any of the remaining sessions.  We thought that someone else teaching them to ride might be the way to go, since they obviously learned how to swim last summer with a stranger.  We had a very hot spell in March, and started talking to the kids about how they would be going to Gymco to learn to ride their bikes.  Kara did NOT want to go and immediately said she'd learn at home.  And she did!  She was out and riding pretty well within a few minutes.  We did have a slight setback as she fell the second day out.  Kara got back on her bike the next day but didn't want to ride that stretch any more.

May edit - Kara is riding, but will only go at a decent pace under the ideal conditions - perfectly flat sidewalk, someone is immediately next to her...  When we take a family bike ride, someone goes on ahead with Cole and the other usually has one foot on the ground because we are going so slow.  We remember Cole tearing up the bike paths even when he had his training wheels, so we don't know exactly what's going on.  We are still considering a Gymco clinic for her because she might do better without the training wheels after all.  We'll see!  We're happy that she was willing to trust us to teach her.

And then there's Cole:

Notice the lean?  That's left over from his training wheel days when he always leaned to one side so one of his training wheels was always on the ground.  Very hard to correct!

Cole absolutely refused to get on his bike and try.  Even after Kara was riding, he ran around the house screaming how he wouldn't do it.  We told him all the things he'd be able to do once he could bike, referenced friends who could ride, neighbors who couldn't, how easy he would find it once he got going, etc.  Finally we just got in his face and told him to trust us and let us teach him and he didn't have a choice.  Normally we wouldn't bully him into doing something he was so set against, but we knew he just needed to get through that wall, like he had to for swimming.  It was ugly at first, but he was riding by himself for short distances with an hour.  At first day he only wanted to ride around the circle because he didn't trust himself on the hill.  Later that same day, he decided to tackle the hill / straightaway.  The next day he went out and taught himself how to get started on his own.

Meanwhile, before Cole rode at all, Mark found him the next size bike and ordered it.  We were hopeful that he would have need for it, but also wanted a good deal in case it never clicked with him.  So when the new bike came, he was super excited and helped Mark put it together and wanted to ride to his friends house right away.  It took longer than we planned to build it, so he didn't ride it until the next day.  Then we had a bit more drama because he didn't know how to get on and get started by himself (because it was bigger), but we soon got that figured out.  Then, a lot more drama came when Cole realized that he had to use hand brakes instead of his pedals.  He immediately freaked out (even though I was so close to him that I just leaned over and pressed his break) and ran into the house, saying that we could return it and he would never ride again.  I made him go back out and we just went around the circle slowly, with me shouting 'brake' ever few feet.  Once he figured that out, there was no stopping him!

On his bigger and better new bike!

May edit - Cole is doing awesome and having a blast (there's an 'I told you so' in there)!  He rides with Danny at our house (Danny uses Cole's old bike), rides to the school to play on the playground or go through the nature preserve, and has gone with me on two longer bike rides.  He's having so much fun and we're so proud he pushed past his fears!