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I genuinely can't recall learning to ride a bike, it has just been something I have always known how to do isn't it? So why at the grand old age of "almost" 8 years old, can my eldest daughter not ride a bike? I was having this conversation with another mum in the playground last week and we were both talking about how our children have never learnt to ride. My daughter has had a bike of course but never quite confident enough to take the stabilisers off.

It has made me wonder why she has never learnt, like I did as a child? Riding a bike should be as much part of your childhood as building a den or playing tig, so where in the last 8 years did I go wrong? Should I have persevered more or should she have tried a little harder? On reflection I think I have spent so much time filling our weekends with play dates and day's out, that somewhere along the line, we have forgotten the simple stuff.

My youngest daughter is definately an adventurer and will, at the grand old age of 19 months, happily hide in a den made of blankets. She is a boistrous little character (which her angelic look belies) and I want to encourage her to enjoy the simple pleasure of riding down a hill with the wind in your face, without a care in the world (but a safety helmet on her head!!). So when is the right time to learn?

After some deliberation, I then made a conscious decision to get them both Strider Balance Bikes from Learning Early. Having looked at what bikes are best, I love the philosophy behind the Strider bikes, in that children learn balance safely. Using a balance bike is now regarded to be the safest way to learn how to ride a bicycle, as stabilisers just teach the child to rock from one side to the other AND the child still needs parents assistance up curbs etc. This totally echos our experience. After the delivery of the little ones bike (suitable from 1 years old!!), I soon ordered the Super Strider for my eldest (designed for children aged 6+)

The Learning Early experience has been a pleasure before the girls have even sat on their bicycles, as they offer a very personal service and an amazing one hour delivery slot! In this present economic climate, it is genuinely refreshing to find a Company who care about the customer, and not just about the sale.

The Lilypad blog has always been about our journey as a family, so I have my fingers crossed that the next journey will be the one where we can all ride with the wind in our face, adrenalin in our veins ....... and not a stabiliser in sight!