Re: bike riding

[Guest guest]

We got one of the half bike things that attach to the back of the bike. The child can pedal and balnce but still the front rider is in control. We are going to use it this summer. Love life and be gentle,

Luke is now 8 and unable to ride a bike by himself, but he loves to go for rides and currently we put him in the pull-behind trailer, which he is quickly outgrowing. Any suggestions? I have seen these Buddy Bikes where the child sits in front of you and I'm wondering if anyone has experience with these? They seem rather pricey but we would consider one if it's worth it. I'm not sure at this point he would adequately hold onto one of those bike-looking things (don't know the name) that attach to the back of the parent's bike. I'm figuring somebody here has a practical suggestion!

Thanks a lot!

--mom to Luke (Ds) and Jake, age 8

[Guest guest]

We've got one of those companion bikes that attaches to the back but I'm not sure that'd be a good idea b/c you can't see him. I'd be hesitant to use it with my kids. Check out DSAF.org. They have a VERY VERY successful "Lose The Training Wheels" program where they teach kids with DS to ride 2-wheelers in 1 week. It's AMAZING to watch. Maybe they can give you pointers or get a program going in your area. Just a thought.

My guys are 5 and still aren't really pedaling a trike so... xo maggie

www.walkonthehappyside.blogspot.com

To: "Multiples-DS " <Multiples-DS >Sent: Fri, May 28, 2010 1:28:26 PMSubject: Re: bike riding

We got one of the half bike things that attach to the back of the bike. The child can pedal and balnce but still the front rider is in control. We are going to use it this summer. Love life and be gentle,

On May 28, 2010, at 10:19 AM, "" <ereed21gmail (DOT) com> wrote:

Luke is now 8 and unable to ride a bike by himself, but he loves to go for rides and currently we put him in the pull-behind trailer, which he is quickly outgrowing. Any suggestions? I have seen these Buddy Bikes where the child sits in front of you and I'm wondering if anyone has experience with these? They seem rather pricey but we would consider one if it's worth it. I'm not sure at this point he would adequately hold onto one of those bike-looking things (don't know the name) that attach to the back of the parent's bike. I'm figuring somebody here has a practical suggestion!Thanks a lot!--mom to Luke (Ds) and Jake, age 8

[Guest guest]

We just bought our son Nate (14) a 3-wheel tricycle which is adult size. We actually bought it from a 86-year-old woman. It's made by schwinn. Nate could never master a two-wheeler so he kept riding a bike with training wheels but he had outgrown that a while ago. He loved to go bike riding and this new bike was a great fit for him. They are easy to find on ebay and craigs list. good luck.

Carolyn Seagraves - mom to Nate - 14, Lily-7, (both DS) Dylan 17, and Annie 19 today!!! bike riding

Luke is now 8 and unable to ride a bike by himself, but he loves to go for rides and currently we put him in the pull-behind trailer, which he is quickly outgrowing. Any suggestions? I have seen these Buddy Bikes where the child sits in front of you and I'm wondering if anyone has experience with these? They seem rather pricey but we would consider one if it's worth it. I'm not sure at this point he would adequately hold onto one of those bike-looking things (don't know the name) that attach to the back of the parent's bike. I'm figuring somebody here has a practical suggestion!Thanks a lot!--mom to Luke (Ds) and Jake, age 8

[Guest guest]

Zack was about 8 when he finally took it seriously and wanted to ride like everyone else. We did alot of holding his bike as he rode without training wheels so he got the balance down. He has vision issues and does not have depth perception (only uses 1 eye). Dad rode next to him holding him upright till one day he just took off. He is very competitive and his triplet siblings were the best motivators. Now 4 years later he is a very strong biker. Good luck.

Irene

bike riding

Luke is now 8 and unable to ride a bike by himself, but he loves to go for rides and currently we put him in the pull-behind trailer, which he is quickly outgrowing. Any suggestions? I have seen these Buddy Bikes where the child sits in front of you and I'm wondering if anyone has experience with these? They seem rather pricey but we would consider one if it's worth it. I'm not sure at this point he would adequately hold onto one of those bike-looking things (don't know the name) that attach to the back of the parent's bike. I'm figuring somebody here has a practical suggestion!Thanks a lot!--mom to Luke (Ds) and Jake, age 8

[Guest guest]

HI

My sons Neil and did the lose the training wheels a couple of years ago. The guy did say to me he did not think they could ride a two wheeler because they were so nervous. Do you have face book and I could add you to mine and you can see the videos of Neil and riding two wheelers now. There is a ready rider bar on the back of their bikes and we had the handle bars modified so the boys did not have to lean over to hold on. It took a couple of summers but they are now riding two wheelers. I did get them each adult size trike bikes to get used to riding bikes first with out having to learn to balance and I think this may have helped. The lose the training wheels is a good program if it does come to your home town.

Take Care

Caroline Mavridis Mom to 16 year old Neil and identical twins with DS In BC

From: Margaret M Hagan

Sent: Friday, May 28, 2010 10:41 AM

To: Multiples-DS

Subject: Re: bike riding

We've got one of those companion bikes that attaches to the back but I'm not sure that'd be a good idea b/c you can't see him. I'd be hesitant to use it with my kids. Check out DSAF.org. They have a VERY VERY successful "Lose The Training Wheels" program where they teach kids with DS to ride 2-wheelers in 1 week. It's AMAZING to watch. Maybe they can give you pointers or get a program going in your area. Just a thought.

My guys are 5 and still aren't really pedaling a trike so... xo maggie

www.walkonthehappyside.blogspot.com

From: Verissimo <justelougmail>To: "Multiples-DS " <Multiples-DS >Sent: Fri, May 28, 2010 1:28:26 PMSubject: Re: bike riding

We got one of the half bike things that attach to the back of the bike. The child can pedal and balnce but still the front rider is in control. We are going to use it this summer. Love life and be gentle,

On May 28, 2010, at 10:19 AM, "" <ereed21gmail (DOT) com> wrote:

Luke is now 8 and unable to ride a bike by himself, but he loves to go for rides and currently we put him in the pull-behind trailer, which he is quickly outgrowing. Any suggestions? I have seen these Buddy Bikes where the child sits in front of you and I'm wondering if anyone has experience with these? They seem rather pricey but we would consider one if it's worth it. I'm not sure at this point he would adequately hold onto one of those bike-looking things (don't know the name) that attach to the back of the parent's bike. I'm figuring somebody here has a practical suggestion!Thanks a lot!--mom to Luke (Ds) and Jake, age 8

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[Guest guest]

Hi Everybody,

Thanks a lot for all the biking suggestions! For Luke, I think the Buddy Bike

concept would work the best right now. He is tiny for 8, and I'm doubtful that

he could reach the pedals right now, but he would grow into it and I think enjoy

it so much more because he would have a different perspective.

Caroline--I am on Facebook and it's under Lincoln . I will look

for you and would love to see your boys riding their bikes!

As for Lose the Training Wheels: I have heard it's very successful, but Luke has

difficulty pedaling on his own (I'm sure it's a motor planning issue), so I

don't think he's ready for that yet. We have one that comes about 45 minutes

from us each year, so I'm hoping someday we can enroll him in that program!

I appreciate all your suggestions--have a wonderful summer!

PS--anybody going to national conference in Orlando? I am and would love to

meet up with anybody attending!

>

> Luke is now 8 and unable to ride a bike by himself, but he loves to go for

rides and currently we put him in the pull-behind trailer, which he is quickly

outgrowing. Any suggestions? I have seen these Buddy Bikes where the child

sits in front of you and I'm wondering if anyone has experience with these?

They seem rather pricey but we would consider one if it's worth it. I'm not

sure at this point he would adequately hold onto one of those bike-looking

things (don't know the name) that attach to the back of the parent's bike. I'm

figuring somebody here has a practical suggestion!

>

> Thanks a lot!

> --mom to Luke (Ds) and Jake, age 8

>

[Guest guest]

My husband has been looking around for a bike for my three year old. Check out the link for this trike.

http://sz0144.ev.mail.comcast.net/service/home/~/Worksman%20Cycles%20-%20Youth%20Tricycles.htm?auth=co & loc=en_US & id=19780 & part=2Kathy---

Subject: bike ridingTo: Multiples-DS Date: Friday, May 28, 2010, 5:19 PM

Luke is now 8 and unable to ride a bike by himself, but he loves to go for rides and currently we put him in the pull-behind trailer, which he is quickly outgrowing. Any suggestions? I have seen these Buddy Bikes where the child sits in front of you and I'm wondering if anyone has experience with these? They seem rather pricey but we would consider one if it's worth it. I'm not sure at this point he would adequately hold onto one of those bike-looking things (don't know the name) that attach to the back of the parent's bike. I'm figuring somebody here has a practical suggestion!Thanks a lot!--mom to Luke (Ds) and Jake, age 8

[Guest guest]

Hi there from New Zealand. Our little boy Hamish has just learnt to ride

his 2 wheeler bike all by himself. He is very proud and so are we. The 2

Jan 2010 is firmly etched in my mind as the day Hamish first rode his bike!

What a celebration. (He was nearly 8years old). We had heard from friends

how their son was unable to ride a bike, and whilst he had a trike, as he

got bigger it wasn't 'cool' to be riding a trike.

We felt from quite early on, that it would be important for Hamish to learn

to ride a bike if he could, as it would give him the freedom and

independence like his twin brother. We concluded that he knew how to pedal

as he had those little plastic trikes when he was small and we had put

blocks on the pedals of a bigger trike so that he could reach them.

Balance was what he didn't have. We got him a 'smartbike' - which is a

light wooden bike without pedals. (NB you can get bikes now that you can

use without pedals and then attach pedals when they are ready. I think that

would be better as we had some issues with Hamish when we changed bikes and

he did not see them as the same thing!!) Anyway we spent a lot of time

with Hamish on the Smartbike so that he got the hang of striding out with

his legs and gliding on the little bike. He felt the same as the other kids

even though he did not have pedals- which was great. Then we took him to a

park with a gentle slope and played airoplanes. he would be at the top of

the runway and then we would get him to come down the hill with his legs out

to the side like an aeroplane. When he had mastered that on vairying slopes

we transferred him to a little bike with pedals and did the same thing. All

the while he was gaining balance. Then we got him to do tricks - sticking

his legs out, then putting them on the pedals and then out again. Finding

the pedals was hard, as he immediately looked down and lost his balance.

But once he mastered that we got him to put his feet on the pedals and

pedal. The next stage was to tie a strap around the back of the seat so

there was a length sticking out each side. My husband would take one end

and me the other and Hamish would pedal and we would support him with the

straps. As Hamish got the hang of it we would put less and less pressure on

the straps until it only needed one of us and then we let go all together.

A bit of a process - but worth every bit of time we spent. He rode his bike

in the school triathlon and was immensely proud! If we had put stabilizers

on his bike we would never have taken them off as he would not have learnt

how to balance.

Hope this helps

(Mum to Sam and Hamish - 8 year old twins!)