A Little Ahead of Schedule: Part II

I've mentioned before that Grant has a little bike with no pedals called the Skuut. He got it for his third birthday, and although he cried when we gave it to him (because it had no pedals), within a week, he was scooting all of the place, balancing on two wheels.

Fast forward to this past March when we moved next door to 4-year-old Patrick. Grant and Patrick trade bikes and BigWheels all the time. Patrick has picked up riding the Skuut as well. Yesterday, I was outside and started up a conversation with Patrick's dad Matt, who was holding a wrench in his hand. He has just removed the training wheels from Patrick's two-wheeler.

A few minutes into the conversation, Matt yells out "Patrick!", and I immediately think something bad has happened. I turn around, and Patrick is riding his bike down the driveway. No help from his dad, he just got on and started riding.

So Grant decided he needed to try as well on Patrick's bike, and immediately had the same success. Then it was my turn with the wrench, and I removed the training wheels from Grant's two-wheeler, and now both boys are able to ride around the neighborhood with no trouble on two wheels.

So we have two four-year-olds who learn to ride a bike on the same day with basically no assistance. I wonder how long ago they could have done it if we'd tried to remove the training wheels sooner! I hope people considering buying a Skuut find this testimonial. I even saw a cheaper version (about $45 at Target vs. about $70 for the Skuut brand we bought). I will say the Skuut might have still been the better bargain, because once Grant broke the handlebar, and Skuut sent us a replacement free of charge.