For my daughter Ahana, the goal was clear- she would learn to cycle without stabilizers. She had seen other kids cycling and thought it was simple. First day was not good. She could not understand what to do. She was lifting both her legs off the ground and got disbalanced immediately. She had no control over the handlebar. In coaching terms, it was a reality check, a rude awakening. So the first day I let her to walk with the bicycle by only holding the handle bar. At least she could understand how to hold the cycle and maneuver it.

I had also observed that she was having difficulty in reaching the ground without stretching her legs. So I lowered the seat and the next day she could comfortably touch the ground while sitting on the bicycle. This removed the fear of falling. I asked her, how can she move forward? She had ridden a bicycle before with stabilizers, so she felt it was a “silly Baba (daddy)” question. “Of course by paddling”.  I would hold the bicycle and run while she paddles. After running a while, I would leave her and she would cycle for a few meters. She was not at all confident that she would be able to do it without me holding on to the bicycle. But, when I showed her a video on phone that she was actually doing it, her confidence suddenly grew massively. Subsequent days, she started getting better and better. By 4th day she was cycling on her own.

Within a week Ahana was confident and was cycling to glory. And I - I was pretty chuffed as well.