When Jerry Greek’s mother bought his 2-year-old daughter, Sage, a bike with training wheels for Christmas, he hid it.
While the gift from the toddler’s grandmother was well-intentioned, Mr. Greek, of Troy Hill, said the training wheels would undo months of progress Sage has made as she learns to ride a bike. Instead, she hobbles, stumbles and falls using a brand of no-pedal balance bikes for toddlers called Strider Bikes.
The bike is designed to teach children balance as they’re learning to walk. They propel it and stop it with their feet.
“We’re a cycling family, and just wanted to get her started early while she’s young and fearless,” Mr. Greek’s fiancee’ Allison Sage said.
The parents were excited to hear the 2015 Strider Championship Series for children was coming to Pittsburgh in June. The four-city racing series for children between 2 and 5 years old will be held at Station Square on June 6. This year’s series will include races for children with special needs as well.
“The biking community is so close-knit here, and we really want our daughter to be part of that,” Mr. Greek said.
Events manager for Strider Bikes Ted Huettl said the company reached out to its cycling community on social media to find out which cities had the largest interest in hosting this year’s races, and one of the cities from which he received an overwhelming response was Pittsburgh. The city has an active biking scene, he said, including several BMX tracks in the area.
Event organizers are anticipating hundreds of parents and children from the Pittsburgh area at the race.
“We have a lot of enthusiasts out there and it’s somewhere we haven’t been before,” Mr. Huettl said.
Races will also be held in Bradenton, Fla., Ventura, Calif., and Salt Lake City.
Brett Chadderdon, general manager at Iron City Bikes in Lawrenceville, has been carrying the no-pedal bikes in his store for at least three years and said they’re particularly popular for toddlers. The cost for a bike averages between $100 and $125, depending on the size, he said.
“It really teaches a kid how to ride a bike a lot better than training wheels,” he said. “We try to encourage parents who are serious about biking to get them for their kids instead.”
Mr. Greek bought Sage her Strider Bike on her first birthday at the suggestion of his fiancee’smother, who is also an avid cyclist. He and Ms. Sage often take her to the park near their home on Ley Street, or let her ride down their steep driveway to “work on her speed.” Mr. Greek himself has done an endurance race, ridden in several events with Pedal Pittsburgh and participated in Dirt Fest in Central Pennsylvania.
He said he’d like to see his daughter proficient on a bike without training wheels by age 3 or 4.
“She’s already got the most important lesson down: Whenever she falls, she knows to get back up and keep going.”
Clarece Polke: cpolke@post-gazette.com.
First Published: April 30, 2015, 8:22 p.m.