T-Wheel Wean

William has been getting a lot of run time on his bicycle since we've been in Japan. At home, the only convenient place for him to ride was the street, so we weren't very comfortable letting him ride much. Here, we have the walking path that he can ride back and forth on with light supervision. He's learned to slow down when encountering people and he does not attempt crossing a street without a parent there to say "Go!" There are also the parks on the walking path that we take him to and the play grounds on base. He's gotten quite adept at riding the bike and can go quite quickly considering the small wheels that he has (though, I'm sure that is offset by all the flame decals...)

But, it is time to start weaning him from the training wheels. I wasn't looking forward to running after him to just have him fall on to the pavement. But, friends have told us of a method that is a bit more skin friendly. Take the pedals off as well as the training wheels. Let them push themselves around with their feet and they can practice balancing as they support themselves with their feet. Eventually, they can balance just fine, rolling along with their feet up, and the next step is to add the pedals back to the equation.

I finally convinced William that this is a desired step in life, so we set off to take the wheels and pedals off. He didn't care much for it to begin with. We decided that ten minutes of "practice" (without training wheels or pedals) would be followed with twenty minutes of normal bicycling (with pedals and training wheels) which would be followed with ten more minutes of "practice". So, the wrenches got quite a work-out as we took the wheels and pedals off, then back on, back off, then once more back on...

For the second round of riding without the training wheels, he was starting to enjoy it and was actually drifting 10 or so feet with his feet off the ground. We have a ways to go still, but he's starting to learn to ride without the training wheels and the only blood drawn, so far, has been from my knuckle from all the wrench turning! :)