| Big Boy Bike Transition No Training Wheels |

We started our boys on the strider balance bike which our oldest Carter (5) has mastered. He has been watching other kids ride bikes with peddles and has been asking when he can get a "peddle bike"of his own.  We waited a bit since Carter is pretty small for his age and we were a little worried he wouldn't be big enough.  He kept asking so we knew after three month he was serious about learning.  

I did some research on the transition from balance bike to peddle bikes, then we went shopping. We ended up getting him a 16 inch Raleigh which was a little big but had them cut the seat stem down so he could touch the ground with both feel (just like his balance bike).  I had hopes for no training wheels but honestly didn't know how it would go.  Even the amazing guys at the bike shop told us to stay away from training wheels unless he still has a problem after a good week of trying.  So we got our bike (Carter picked the color) and we left with no training wheels and just a kickstand. 

Carter and his new big boy bike...

Luke was just hungry.

We ended up going to the park in our neighborhood where there was a large black top and got started.  We thought it would take a while for him to catch on since his new bike is much bigger and heavier than his balance bike.  In other words, we thought he would be falling a lot...hence the elbow and knee pads. Yet, he basically biked too fast for us to even walk along side him and was ready to go.  It was incredible, and now I am a believing in the easy balance bike transition that a lot of my mom friends have told me about.  

We had him practice starting and stopping with his hand breaks so he was super comfortable and then he was off. We went back to the park three days in a row to make sure he was super comfortable before we started letting him bike the sidewalks.  With living in the city, we wanted to make sure he knew how to stop at each corner and even at the alleys to make sure there were no cars coming. 

Just tonight, four days after buying the bike he biked to dinner and back home with no help and didn't even complain or want to ditch his bike.  I consider this a win!!

Here's a little video of the transition...(happened over 4 days)