should i cycle infront of or behind my 6 year old?

[united4ever]

So my son has started cycling and is doing well but only been on the pavements of busy roads and on the road itself on quiet suburban estates.

I have been cycling in front of him and looking back as much as possible. My instinct was that I could lead and any hazards that come our way I will approach first and can negotiate and call back to him to slow down/stop or whatever. I can also make myself visible and get eye contact with drivers/pedestrians .

However, maybe I should be behind him encouraging him and I could watch him a lot more than if I was infront....mind you if he does wobble or fall off he would surely be on the ground before I could get to him.

Should I keep leading the way?

 

[Profpointy]

I've no direct experience but I'd.be behind - you can keep an eye and supervise and by road positioning shield him from traffic. You need to be sure he'll obey if you shout "STOP" at junction / lights - but you'll see when you need to shout

 

[PeteXXX]

I'd be slightly behind and to the right a bit to keep passing vehicles a few feet further away from him.
If you are in front, you'll have no idea what's going on without constantly turning round to check.

 

[steve50]

ride at the side of him, you are his shield, his guide, if he gets a little wobble on you are there to stop him veering into traffic etc. If he is in front he has no guide if he is behind you cannot monitor him full time.

 

[w00hoo_kent]

Agreed on behind, mine learnt to ride at 6-ish but was a lot older when I started to ride again so I don't have direct experience, but sitting behind allows you to control traffic better, watch what they are doing more attentively and it's easy enough to stay close enough to shout if needed. You need to be happy they will do what you say, and turn/slow when you say so.

Of course it does mean you're the one drafting all the time :-)

 

[buggi]

Behind and offside of him to protect him. Don't take him out until he knows what "STOP!!" means. Minor roads first until you can trust him not to ride away from you in excitement. As an instructor this is where we place ourselves with both children and adults if we are on our own.

 

[PhilDawson8270]

Definitely sit behind him.

You can slipstream to save energy so you can drop him at the next hill

 

[raleighnut]

I'd be behind and slightly further 'out' to shield also.

mind you I'm on a trike still for now.

 

[summerdays]

Definitely behind him and slightly further out. I did it that way with my 6 year old on the way to school until he finished primary school. You can always move forward and cycle beside him at junctions and any point that you feel you need to guide him. I've seen people do the opposite and they haven't got the foggiest what their little one was upto and on one ride out of the city, I saw the adult had climbed the hill much faster and left the child to do the narrow windy hill on their own.

 

[Angry Blonde]

Definitely sit behind him.

You can slipstream to save energy so you can drop him at the next hill

Brilliant, i swear ive just spat a bottle of pop all over my wagon howling at this !

 

[Katherine]

Always behind.

I'm sure no one on here would do this, but...
I passed a dad with his kids going the other way on a cycle path. He was in front, a girl just behind him and a very small boy much further behind who was weaving about all over the place. I slowed down and kept as far left as possible but he still came straight at me. So I stopped to speak to him. He was riding with his eyes closed because he had something in his eye. I encouraged him to blink until he could see again but the dad hadn't realised! He was wearing eye protection but the kids weren't.

 

[united4ever]

Thanks all, I shall try a bit behind and offside to shield him next time.

 

[Herbie]

So my son has started cycling and is doing well but only been on the pavements of busy roads and on the road itself on quiet suburban estates.

I have been cycling in front of him and looking back as much as possible. My instinct was that I could lead and any hazards that come our way I will approach first and can negotiate and call back to him to slow down/stop or whatever. I can also make myself visible and get eye contact with drivers/pedestrians .

However, maybe I should be behind him encouraging him and I could watch him a lot more than if I was infront....mind you if he does wobble or fall off he would surely be on the ground before I could get to him.

Should I keep leading the way?

i always cycled behind my son when he started cycling .....i still do and hes 24 now I'm always playing catch up

 

[Citius]

Behind and offside of him to protect him. Don't take him out until he knows what "STOP!!" means. Minor roads first until you can trust him not to ride away from you in excitement. As an instructor this is where we place ourselves with both children and adults if we are on our own.

This ^^

Although my road position does change depending on where we are. At roundabouts, for instance, I will always move into the lead position so I can be certain that the traffic has seen us and is going to give way.

Otherwise, behind him and slightly to the offside..

 

[ianrauk]

Yup, Behind and just offside. It's how I have been teaching my 5yo.
We were doing roundabouts on Saturday.