Walk beside the bike, brakes, get on and off
Ready when: Bike check and helmet (b1) done.
What you are learning
Walking the bike under control, using the brakes gently, and getting on and off safely with the brakes on. These are the first ways a child learns how a bike moves and stops.
Words on this card Saddle, Handlebars, Brake lever, Front brake, Slalom
- 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.
- Front brake
- The brake on the front wheel and the one on the back wheel. Use both together.
- Slalom
- Riding a zigzag path round a line of cones.
Set up
The bike with the saddle low (both feet flat); cones; a chalk line.
Weather: dry ground
Show it first for the one teaching
- Stand on the left of the bike with both hands on the handlebars and fingers over the brakes.
- Walk it in a straight line, then squeeze both brakes gently to stop.
- Brakes on, swing a leg over and sit down with both feet flat. Brakes on again before you get off.
Your part while they practise
Stand on the side opposite the child. Check which lever works which wheel on the child's bike (the front brake is usually the right-hand lever, but check).
Step by step
- Walk the bike in a straight line with fingers over the brakes.
- Stop with both brakes gently.
- Turn in a big circle.
- Put the brakes on before getting on and before getting off.
How much: 10 stops and 5 get-ons 10 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: Stop on the line
Walk the bike and stop it with both brakes exactly at the chalk line.
Who plays: the child against their own best, or two children taking turns.
How to play, turn by turn
- Turns
- Draw a chalk line 10 m from the start
- Walk the bike toward it at a steady pace
- Stop with both brakes so the front tyre touches the line
- 10 walks
- Fair play
- A younger child may stop within a foot's length for 2 points.
- Points
- 2 points for the front tyre on the line; 1 point for within a hand's width.
- Fouls
- No points
- Grabbing the brakes so the wheel skids or the bike jerks
- Stopping with one brake only
- Getting on without the brakes on
- Winning
- Beat your best score from 10 walks.
- 8 points for 1 star
- 13 points for 2 stars
- 18 points for 3 stars
Easier or harder
No turns.
Add a cone slalom at walking pace.
What you will see, and what to say
- the child snatches the brake
Squeeze, do not grab
Close the fingers slowly. - the bike leans too far
Walk a bigger circle
A wider turn keeps the bike upright.
Self-check
Walk, stop on a call and get on with the brakes on, 3 times in a row.
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 control, braking.
awiseathlete.com/sports/cycling/cycling-b2