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I’m feeling all warm and happy this morning.   My eldest daughter learnt to ride her bike yesterday and it feels like a big step towards independence.  I know lots of kids learn to ride their bike at 4 or 5 but she found both scooting and learning to ride a bike at this age hard so I have to admit that we had become reluctant to take the bikes out.  Yesterday seemed like the right time.  We had a fairly free weekend and so we got the bikes out of the shed and gave them a quick service.  We got to Dulwich Park and unloaded the car and the kids put their helmets on.  Logistically quite tricky to take 3 non riders out on their bikes but we each looked after child one while one of them waited for help.  It was obvious that 5yo’s bike needed a bit more attention so hubby and her went to Recumbent Bike hire for a bit of help.  That left me with 8yo and Little T.   Bean and I went up and down the same stretch of tarmac a few times with me holding the seat of her bike and she felt quite stable.  I gave her loads of encouragement and asked if she would like to show daddy that she can ride her bike by the time they came back  from the bike hire place.   She seemed confident and soon I was able just to run beside her as she took her first ride on her own.   I was so proud of her and picked her up for a big hug.  We tried again just as her dad and 5yo were returning.  Big smiles all round except from Little T who was not impressed with all the attention going to his big sister.   We all went to the cafe for hot chocolate and a warm up. I still can’t believe that she’s done it.  One down, two to go!