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Cycling · Basic · b1

Bike check and helmet

At home 5 min 1 and a grown-up Yard or lane

Ready when: nothing, this is the first card.

Start a session

What you are learning

Checking the helmet and the bike before every ride. A helmet only protects if it sits level and the strap is snug, and a bike with soft tyres or weak brakes is not safe to ride.

Words on this card Saddle, Handlebars, Brake lever
Saddle
The seat of the bike.
Handlebars
What the hands hold to steer.
Brake lever
The levers on the handlebars that slow the wheels. Each lever works one wheel; check which is which.

Set up

The child's bike, a track pump, a helmet.

Weather: dry ground

The base setup for cycling

Show it first for the one teaching

  1. Put the helmet on level, two fingers' width above the eyebrows. Fasten the strap so only one finger fits under it. Shake your head: it stays put.
  2. Squeeze each tyre: it should feel firm.
  3. Squeeze each brake lever and push the bike: the wheel must not turn.
  4. Look at the chain, then twist the handlebars and the saddle: nothing moves that should not.

Your part while they practise

Do the check together and name the parts as you go: tyres, brakes, chain, handlebars, saddle.

Step by step

  1. Fasten and unfasten the helmet buckle three times.
  2. Check it sits level and stays put when the head is shaken.
  3. Tyres firm.
  4. Both brakes stop the wheels.
  5. Chain in place; handlebars straight and tight; saddle firm; the child can reach the brake levers.

How much: 1 full check before each ride 5 min a session 3 days a week

Say one thing Pick one line from "What you will see" for today and say only that.

The game: Spot the problem

You secretly set up one problem on a bike; the child does the full check and finds it.

Who plays: the child against you; then swap, and the child sets a problem for you.

How to play, turn by turn
Turns
  1. While the child looks away, set one safe problem: a loose helmet strap, a soft tyre, the saddle turned a little, a brake cable unhooked by you
  2. The child does the full check in order
  3. The child names the problem and how to fix it
  4. 5 rounds
Fair play
When the child sets problems for you, you must find them within 1 minute.
Points
2 points for finding the problem; 1 more point for saying how to fix it.
Fouls
No points that round
  • Skipping a step of the check
  • Riding off before the check is done
Winning
The most points after 5 rounds.
Stars
  1. 6 points for 1 star
  2. 10 points for 2 stars
  3. 15 points for 3 stars

Easier or harder

Easier

The parent does it while the child watches.

Harder

The child does the full check alone while the parent watches.

What you will see, and what to say

  • the helmet sits on the back of the head Level above the eyebrowsTwo fingers' gap above the brows.
  • the strap is loose Snug strap, fastened every timeOne finger under the strap, no more.

Self-check

5

The child fastens the helmet alone and names 5 checks.

Stop and get a coach when

The brakes or chain look damaged; ask a bike shop.

Fitness for this

Warm up first: how to warm up, at workonfitness.com. For strength and stretching, its exercise library shows each exercise step by step, with an easier version.

This card trains safety habit.

awiseathlete.com/sports/cycling/cycling-b1