It's a right of passage that we all go through. The day the training wheels come off and you actually ride your bike without them. There is a sense of freedom that comes with it as you can go up and down the curbs without getting stuck and places that were off limits now become a new challenge.
Angela reached this milestone on the weekend. I think it may be a bit later than most but that probably has to do a bit with her parents being overprotective. Her sudden desire came from seeing other kids younger than her as well as her classmates talking about their Training wheel less nirvana. I'm glad they are off but I'm still concerned about her safety. She has some elbow and knee pads along with the mandatory helmet which I thinked helped her get the courage to finally do it. I've also suggested wiping out on grass if you can as it's softer. Avoid bushes as her aunt learned quickly when she first learned how to ride a bike. The wobbliness is still there but it will be gone in no time. I think this may encourage Brian to get his off as well. I'll let you know if that happens in a future post.
I think I was later than others as well. From what I remember I learned late in the year and then when the next bike riding season arrived I was afraid I had forgotten how to ride. Ofcourse this was the point where I got the old "Once you learn to ride a bike you never forget" speech. Most of my friends in those days were much older than me and trying to keep up was difficult. I don't think I ever got to the point where I could do what they did. Partially because I was younger and smaller but probably more because of the " I didn't like pain" syndrome, more commonly know as being a whimp. I think I'm still that way. I'll watch others do stuff before I take a go at it. It's done me well so far so I think I'll stick with it.
