Recently I had a unique request. A 27-year-old woman contacted me to learn how to ride a bike. When she was 9, her parents had tried to teach her to ride a bike, but she rode into a wall, was traumatized by the experience and hadn't been on a a bike since. She is now a mother to a 6-year old and wants to go on bike rides with her daughter, so she's now ready to conquer her fear.
My training as a League Cycling Instructor is more about teaching people how to ride safely, not how to ride period. But I was moved by her story so I told her I would try to help her.
Keyla showed up at BGI North on a cold, windy, cloudy day. I used one of BGI's rental bikes for this grand experiment, a Giant Suede DX. I lowered the seat and took the pedals off for her to ride to see if she could balance while pushing off with her feet. That worked and within 15 minutes she was riding with pedals and balancing on her own. She still has work to do on controlled stops and turns, but she's on her way to learning how to ride. The smile on her face when she rode the bike in a straight line for 50 feet for the first time was priceless. She kept saying "I can't believe I can ride a bike!"
Connie Szabo Schmucker
Advocacy Director
Bicycle Garage Indy
My training as a League Cycling Instructor is more about teaching people how to ride safely, not how to ride period. But I was moved by her story so I told her I would try to help her.
Keyla showed up at BGI North on a cold, windy, cloudy day. I used one of BGI's rental bikes for this grand experiment, a Giant Suede DX. I lowered the seat and took the pedals off for her to ride to see if she could balance while pushing off with her feet. That worked and within 15 minutes she was riding with pedals and balancing on her own. She still has work to do on controlled stops and turns, but she's on her way to learning how to ride. The smile on her face when she rode the bike in a straight line for 50 feet for the first time was priceless. She kept saying "I can't believe I can ride a bike!"
Connie Szabo Schmucker
Advocacy Director
Bicycle Garage Indy
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