Like Learning to Ride A Bike…

Barrett has a bike. And boy, does he dig it.

Smart Mr. Santa brought Mr. B his bike for Christmas last year. And Barrett was elated. Except he shared, quite adamantly, that he had wanted one with pedals. But, alas…

At least 6 of our nephews have had the same brand. It’s a Strider bike {Strider…I don’t even know her…}. If you know about it, this post probably won’t excite you much. If you think a kid on a bike without pedals is as ridiculous as wearing sunglasses at night, well you’ve got another thing coming. These bikes are the bomb diggity.

The whole idea behind Strider is that children learn the balance piece of riding a bike long before introducing the multi-tasking of pedaling. It’s a crazy smart idea. And I’ve seen my nephews go straight from their Striders to big boy bikes without flaw. It’s pretty boss. Oh, and even cooler, the handlebars spin 360 degrees so if the child falls on the bike, the handlebars fall flat, rather than the child catching the bars in the belly. Santa chose red but the bike comes in a bevy of colors {blue, pink, orange, yellow, green…}.

I was hesitant at first. It made me nervous. But while the cat’s away, the mice did play. While I was away at a summer recruitment workshop, Adam took the boys to Zorinsky Lake in Omaha and that day, Barrett went from a {pre}bike owner to a StriderRider. And what’s more, he made a pre-bike believer out of me. He is wicked fast. Does an impeccable job {so far. crossing my fingers} of stopping at intersections and stop signs. And is really getting the hang of picking up his feet and riding freely.

So now, Jonah and I walk…and B strides…

Everywhere we go…

The boy in balance…

And man, can he go…so much that, on occasion, he works up a sweat…

And while we think nothing of it…strangers stop and inquire about the bike. Which is what makes it truly blog-worthy:).

It gets us out a lot more than just going on wagon walks. And we still stop to smell the roses. But are thoroughly enjoying taking things stride by stride.

**And just in case there was any question, Strider paid me exactly the same amount as everyone and everything else I write about on this blog. Nada. ZIP. Zilch. There are currently no sponsored posts on Baby on the Brehm. Strider included. It’s just that awesome of a bike. Santa got B’s through Amazon. And after researching other brands of balance bikes, I can tell you that these hold their value remarkably well.