Learn To Ride Curriculum

I really enjoy teaching people about bicycling, soccer, and many other things, but of all the things I’ve taught, teaching Learn To Ride is consistently the most fun and rewarding – it is so joyful to see my fledgling students earn their wings and learn to fly!


How many of you have taught others to learn to ride? How long did it take?


Can you teach someone who does not know how to ride a 2 wheel bike how to ride in 1-4 hours from start to finish? Yes you can!


Just say NO to training wheels!!!! Learning to balance is the most critical element of learning to ride a two wheeler and research shows balance bikes work best. An easy and inexpensive way to create a balance bike for someone of any age is to take a regular bike and just remove the pedals.


Here are 2 well proven methods, one super easy but slower (weeks or months), the second precisely engineered and faster (typically 1-6 hours total) to teach someone to ride but best done with an experienced instructor. This latter technique was perfected by John Ciccarelli, founder and owner of Bicycle Solutions.


1) Easy but slow method – just let the student play on a balance bike (or a bike with the pedals removed and the seat lowered so their feet can touch the ground). This works great but can take a few months to get to pedaling.


2) Fast Method – Bicycle Solutions created a refined scientific step by step method that can get some riding in as little as an hour, most in 2-3 hours, and a few may take as long as 4-6 hours.  Here is the secret sauce for the fast method.



Tim's Learn to Ride Presentation from CalBike Summit 2022.


Before riding on roads it is important to be able to ride with one hand so you can use the other to signal and look behind you without swerving. Bicycle Solutions offers 3 levels of classes: