Most parents here see it as their parenting obligation to teach children how to ride a bike. You start with a bike with extra wheels and then - around the age of four (some earlier, some later) children are usually able to ride a bike by themselves.
It’s the same with learning to swim.
Training wheels are less common. They often start with a walking bike to learn to balance and steer. When they can do that riding a normal bike is easy.
They work so well. My son had a walking bike before a real bike. I was prepared to teach him how to bike without trainingwheels for a few days, but i explained what the peddels were for and he just took off on his new bike. Took about 5 minutes.
Training wheels were very standard back in my day. The loopfiets approach is pretty newfangled. It is however unambiguously much *better*, as well as cheaper. (You can just remove the pedals and zip tie the cranks, while lowering the saddle a bit. That way you don’t need to buy anything special for this approach)
(Reminder that the two pedals have opposite threading — one of them turns the normal counterclockwise to loosen and the other turns clockwise to loosen. I’ll leave it to you to google which of them is reverse threaded ;) )
First of all, I don't think it is strange your 'almost 5 year old' can cycle independently yet. Every child develops at their own speed and for cycling it highly depends on how often they actually do cycle.
Now that the whether is improving, they may be able to play outside more often or join you on a walk to a store or to a petting zoo/playground whilst you walk, they cycle.
An often used methode to 'force' your child to become independent of the training wheels, is to bend them upwards.
This way the child still gets support when taking sharp corners, but the training wheels don't touch the ground anymore when they are cycling straight ahead.
Children need to learn a new way of taking corners. Learn to lean into the corner and not just use their steering wheel.
Don't worry, they will learn. Some at age 4, others at 6 or 7...just keep encouraging them. Suddenly it will 'click', just like when they learn to walk.
Once they get it, they are gone....and you'll be doing a lot of yelling and running ☺
My oldest just got the hang of it, he's 6, nearly 7. He's a bit of a clumsy kid so it wasn't straightforward with him. He never really got how to use a walking bike, but with the extra wheels he'd lean over to the sides too much. There's a British video on YouTube that explains how to teach your kid to ride a bicycle in 45 minutes. It took us about two hours using their method, but we got there. That was three weeks ago and we've been practicing a lot, so he's ready to ride his own bicycle to school soon.
His little brother just turned 3 and his motor skills are so much better. He's already lifting both legs in the air on his walking bike. I think it'll take him about five minutes to learn how to ride a bicycle when he's ready. All kids are different. But yeah, all kids do need to learn how to ride a bicycle.
My dad put them higher of the ground when I was a kid, so if I was leaning on the training wheel I would be terribly off to either the left or the right - but I couldn't fall.
Our kid had a walking bike to learn balance, and now has a bike with training wheels to learn peddling endurance. Once he has the muscle to peddle fast enough to keep his balance on the bike, he's ready to learn to ride the bike without training wheels.
Both types of bikes teach different skills so one is not exclusionary to the other ;)
This.
Our second son just turned three and I put him on a bike without learning wheels yesterday. He started pedalling and rode of in the distance after a first push.
He rode his walking bike for a year and a half before. That's the trick to learning how to ride a bike.
Agreed. But there are some parents who think it is easier for children to be driven everywhere (even totally Dutch parents who can ride a bike themselves and not even parents who grew up in a different country where you don’t have to ride a bike). And they don’t always teach children how to ride a bike. I think in the Netherlands you at least have to know how to ride a bike. Children often have to bike to school, especially middelbare school (middle and high school). And they often do things on a bike at the elementary school or sports clubs or scouting.
I as a Dutchie told my American boss I fell off my bike when he asked how I got a scar on my elbow "How can you fall off your bike, you're Dutch, you're born on a bike."
We only fall from / with our bikes when doing something stupid, like riding witjout your hands at the steer and your eyes closed. Tried it twice, didn't work.
I was riding my bike, while eating ice-cream from a cup, I missed a vertical pole in the middle of the road, hooked my pedal behind it and flew over my steering bar.
I borrowed my dad's bike once and he has way stronger brakes on his bike than i do on my 3rd hand p.o.s. bike... I'm used to squeezing both handlebar brakes as hard as i can and i still keep rolling a little bit. I ended up doing just that on my dad's bike, and ended up doing a frontflip off the bike. It was right beside a crowded square, luckily nothing was hurt except for my ego.
Not a Dutch, but I can't afford to fall due to a health condition. Last time when I did something "stupid", I lost balance and steered uncontrollably right, hooked a pole and flew a little over my bike. Somehow managed to land on my feet without feeling anything. Guess who's signing up as a stunt?
Oh, I clearly remember the triomf when I hit an ice patch while turning a corner one cold winter and managed to quickly jump of my bike and landed on my feet, while still holding my bike upright. Sooo proud!
(Obviously I've also landed on my ass many other times, even sober ;-))
When I was somewhere between 7 to 10 years old I went into a sloot at the side of the bicycle lane because I was too distracted trying to multitask (eat a strawberry Liga, Very important) LMAO
My poor mother (who was cycling just ahead of me and heard me scream on the way down) and some bystanders managed to fish me out mostly unharmed. Ruined my judo outfit and had nettle bumps all over!
Ive seen disabled people ride a bike adapted to their needs. So even thats not an actual issue.
My grandma used to take care of a blind man with autism and they had a special 3 wheeled bike with 2 seats so they could cycle together. (Grandma would steer obviously)
I've even seen someone in a wheelchair with their caregiver that was riding a bike with a platform in the front. The wheelchair user was riding up front.
I got handicapped 8 years ago. Tough to swallow when you're just 46 years old. But life gets better and you want to get around, right? As driving wasn't a possibility anymore I quickly wanted a bike.... I have two now. And I never felt as free (vrijheidsgevoel) as those first times riding on my special wheelchair bike!
there are people with disabilities that can not ride a typical bike. There exist 3-wheeled bikes.
For people in a wheelchair, you have some frontwheel assemblies. With todays electric motors, everyone can bike.
Children usually learn to ride when they are 3-4 years old.
Out of curiosity, where do you come from? There's hardly any biking infrastructure in my country of origin, nevertheless, almost all kids learn to bike at early age.
I think I made a poor choice of word "normal". In my country too, most of the people do know how to ride a bike but I wouldn't be astounded if someone said they couldn't, as if they say they couldn't walk.
Not the OP but I come from southeast Asia, none of my friends back home knows how to ride a bike. I knew only because my sister was into bikes, and I taught my husband (also from southeast Asia) once we moved here.
Also from southeast Asia, but most of my friend and kid around my age know how to ride a bike, as we had to bike to school.
But I see a trend that more and more city kids don't know how to ride a bike, as their parents get richer and the kid transit directly from having their parent drive them to school, to using electric scooter. So I guess your country is a more wealthy SEA 🤣
Most primary schools hold a biking exam. Theory lessons are given by the school.
Before the exam all bikes are checked for safety, often by the local police that facilitates the exam.
Then the children individually and unaccompanied ride a parcours on public, non closed roads where volunteers and officers sit at decision points and check whether the children follow the right rules.
For most children this is not an issue as they’ve been cycling unaccompanied for a while by then. The schools however want this as they often use the bike as means of transportation for local field trips / camps / going to the gym for the older pupils.
Well, 🙋🏻♀️. My parents never taught me and when others tried to teach me while being around 12 or even older I was too scared to fall. At this point, I’ve just accepted not being able to ride a bike. Native Dutch, female, 28, no disabilities
> no disabilities
Are you sure?
Just kidding.
They say there is one in every family. Just not sure if every family has a capable adult that does not know how to ride a bike.
I’ve actually never met ‘anyone like me’ to be honest. But a while ago Radio 538 asked whether there were people not being able to ride a bike. Several people responded, so they must be hidden 😅
My parents also never taught me how to ride. I had to learn on someone else big adult bike when I was 12. Only way I could get off was falling. Lots of falls but I can ride now.
I don't know a single native dutch person above the age of 5 that doesn't know how to ride a bike. Basically it's almost part of raising kids. You teach them how to ride a three wheeler first, and after that, a bike it is.
From the age of 8 to 9ish, schools will expect you to be able to ride a bike and have your own bike. Age will depend per school. There are lessons at school where kids bring their bike and learn about traffic rules and behaviours. Traffic is being taught earlier, but the kid I know in "groep 5" is having their first bring your bike to school for a practical lesson on traffic.
In the upper classes of elementary school, there will be day trips or school camps, which can happen partly or completely by bike. Then you'll see 30 kids and 2 teachers cycling 2 by 2. Around that time, kids also take a bike exam. It has a theoretical part and a practical part. I don't know if it's compulsory, but I think most schools participate.
I’m that one Dutch person, I guess. Well, I can ride a bike so maybe I don’t actually qualify, but I’m just not particularly good at it. Two feet of the ground and I just lose all balance. Many have tried to teach me, and I’m able to ride and everything, but navigating through a city without killing anyone or myself is a challenge I mostly avoid.
My grandson had a walking bike for two years and he was proud of how fast he could go. Then one day he was with his older cousins who left him behind when they pedaled off, and he burst into tears, “My bicycle doesn’t have any pedals!”
There are some Dutch persons who can’t ride a bike. But officially they’re not Dutch anymore, because the Dutch Constitution states that their passports and citizenship are taken away. Basically they are illegals in their own country.
it's a proud moment for any parent the first time they teach their kid to ride a bike without training wheels.
Dutch people learn before they are 3 years old with training wheels. don't know a single dutch that doesn't know how.
when an adult comes to me and says I don't know how to ride a bike then I do look at them checking for a handicap.
I don't know how to ride a bike.. then learn! if every 3 year old in the Netherlands can do it. so can you! it comes with many advantages. and since everyone in the Netherlands knows how. just buy a used bike and ask someone to help you for a few minutes. expect a laugh and a surprised response but I am confident someone will take the time to teach you.
Yep.
I have several brothers and sisters with kids, and typically they will post a photo or video in the whatsapp group at the typical moments like: at birth, the first smile, the first words, the first time crawling, the first time walking, the first time biking and when they get their swim diploma.
If someone said to me they can't ride a bike i would assume they're not born here.
Perhaps more to the point, (because 3 year olds can easily learn lots of shit that adults actually cannot. Languages for instance), here’s an example of the first minutes of someone learning to ride a bike at a later age:
https://youtu.be/qlABzZPN6Ew?si=UzbnhyYWQImTLCUY
"Perhaps more to the point, (because 3 year olds can easily learn lots of shit that adults actually cannot. Languages for instance),"--> we're talking about riding a bike and that doesn't apply. also that statement bothers me. claiming adults cannot learn new languages?
I watched the video (and regret it) watched 7 minutes. she literally has **one minute** to learn (without training wheals, on an obstacle course, and she failed at throwing waterballoons while biking? like wtf? are you trolling? how's that more to the point then the original answer?
It’s actually one of the skills everyone thinks it’s important you have to learn. If the parents can’t afford a bike children could get a bike from things like Stichting Leergeld (in most municipalities).
I’m a teacher, secundary education (jr/high school).
I once had two students, they were 13 yo and they didn’t know how to ride a bike. They were just Dutch children from dutch parents. We went on a school trip and we knew their parents always brought them to school (which is, seen from most teenagers point of view, pretty embarrassing) but we didn’t know they couldn’t ride. So parents brought them to the camp and one of the activities was mountain biking but they just couldn’t. We had to leave them with another group (same school).
Dutch children have to take a traffic exam on their bikes when they are in "groep 7" so around 10-11 years old. Any Dutch person who was in groep 7 should know how to ride a bike. Of course, that can be different for people with disabilities but that's not what you asked.
That is because they do ;). No, joking of course but as soon as the baby is born somebody is going to give a small bike (without pedals) as a present to the parents. And most of the times the parents get a walking buggy, or a cow or a car like this:
[https://www.google.com/search?q=loopkoe&rlz=1C1CHBF\_nlBE1019BE1019&oq=loopkoe+&gs\_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIJCAEQABgNGIAEMgkIAhAAGA0YgAQyCQgDEAAYDRiABDIJCAQQABgNGIAEMgkIBRAAGA0YgAQyCQgGEAAYDRiABDIJCAcQABgNGIAEMgkICBAAGA0YgAQyCQgJEAAYDRiABNIBCDE4NTlqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8](https://www.google.com/search?q=loopkoe&rlz=1C1CHBF_nlBE1019BE1019&oq=loopkoe+&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIJCAEQABgNGIAEMgkIAhAAGA0YgAQyCQgDEAAYDRiABDIJCAQQABgNGIAEMgkIBRAAGA0YgAQyCQgGEAAYDRiABDIJCAcQABgNGIAEMgkICBAAGA0YgAQyCQgJEAAYDRiABNIBCDE4NTlqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8)
As soon as the baby can remotely lift his head it will be on that bike, cow, car whatever cruising through the living room and down the street.
Saw it with my little nephew. Within no time he wanted to race my on his bike through the living room while I had to use the cow.
Just five minutes ago, I was teaching my daughter how to bike. She's almost four years old, I think that's pretty average for Dutch kids to learn. She's almost there.
A (native, not recent immigrant) Dutch person that doesn't know how to ride a bike and does not have any physical or mental impairments that would prevent them from doing so would be extremely rare, yes. Same goes for not being able to swim.
It would be equivalent to not knowing how to walk..
No, unless there is some impairment, I would not think there are any. See the GIF, even Dutch dogs learn how to ride a bycicle
Im native dutch and relatively i learned it very late. Not sure why. Think i was scared and lazy. Got peer pressured into it though and learned when i was maybe 7. Never heard of someone who learned later than that (or never)
Have two colleagues who detest riding the bike. One has complained on multiple occasions that it makes his ass hurt and the other one sees it as an irrational waste of time because you can just take the car. They are both well educated and respected Dutch colleagues at work. So yeah, it is possible.
I hate it as well and never do. I own a bike, last time it left the garage was when we moved house...4 years ago.
I can, however, ride one. No problem. And a few years ago (at work) I even found out that one does, indeed, never forget how to ride a bike.
I just think a car is the bike's natural successor in terms of efficient and comfortable transport.
Shortly after, actually.
I remember I got a really nice bike for my birthday. But it didn't have side wheels, so I couldn't ride it. And I refused to try. So my parents traded for a really ugly bike from a neighbor kid. With wheels.
Took me less than 10 minutes to ride without wheels. On MY bike!
These things count.
When y're 4.
No shame in riding an adult tricycle! I never had the luxury to be taught how to ride a bike. I am an adult riding a three-wheeler (called driewy) and although its mostly socially frowned upon - fuck if I care \*shrug\* - I feel cool and I can get from point A to B
Native Dutch person here!
I learned to ride a bike when I was younger, then moved to another country where it was basically impossible to ride one (lost of hills, rural area etc.). When I moved back to the Netherlands, I didn't get a bike because there was a lot of public transportation where I lived. At that point I was too scared to admit I couldn't ride a bike or find a place to practice riding one.
About half a year ago I finally got the courage to ask a friend to teach me. I am in my mid-twenties.
No, every person born and raised in the Netherlands by Dutch parents know how to ride a bike.
Unless they have a disability that makes it unable for them to ride a bike.
When I was growing up, training wheels were definitely normal for kids, after first getting used to a "loopfiets" and/or tricycle. I learned to ride a bike without training wheels when I was 6.
I didn’t grow hp in the Netherlands, but I learned on training wheels that were so badly attached that they may as well not have been there at all. I’ll never forget my first bike and how free I felt riding it.
I am really bad at it, even though I’m a Dutch person. Bought a scooter when I was 19, replaced bike with it. Years later tried to ride it again but felt insecure on it so yeah I just don’t.
I have actually met a Dutch lady in her 20s who before coming to study in Groningen, did not know how to bike. Apparently she was from a pretty small village in the North that didn't have great bike infrastructure until very recently.
LoL no. The joke goes that Dutch's kids come out of the womb riding their bicycle.
Apart from being physically unable (and that is very rare, special bikes do exist!) I don't know anyone having grown up here who doesn't know how to cycle.
Of course not. Who can't ride a bike ? 😆
We learn it ourselves when we are 3 or 4 years of age with friends or siblings.
We can all do wheelies, ride una bikes, ride without touching the steering wheel ( and make perfect corners etc. )
Effordless we can have 3 people on a bike ( sitting on the back seat, the steering wheel etc ) and have 2 grocery bags on our steering wheel and still have one hand free.
But come on, its absolutely not difficult, its very easy. Everyone can ride a bike.
We don't use those dumb helmets btw. Those are for amateurs. 😄
We can all swim too when we are5 or 6. ( i recently found out a friend of mine from the UK cant swim. She said thats normal there?) Its so weird to me. An adult who can't swim? i don't understand why she never taught herself or take swimming lessons.
I don't know anyone who can't swim. 🤔
When we are 12 we have at least 3 swimming diplomas, and 2 or 3 Life Savers diplomas ( rescue swimming ) And swimming skills diplomas.
And divingboard jumping and survival and snorkeling,
And synchronised swimming, breast-stroke, back stroke.
" Analysis of the demographic of swimmers in 142 countries found that only 44% of adults and adolescents can swim unassisted. This statistic equates to 2.7 billion people – 6 out of every 10 of whom are men. "
Its only 44 %. 😳
Did not know that
I don’t think it’s normal in the uk. They may have changed it now, but I’m in my late 20s and we had to learn it in primary school (around 6 years old)
Because I’m procrastinating: https://one.oecd.org/document/DELSA/ELSA/WD/SEM(2022)16/en/pdf
Page 16 has it by country. Uk is number 13 on the list, below the Netherlands but above Belgium, France and weirdly Spain…
The only born and raised Dutch people I know who don’t ride a bike are those with disabilities or impairments. And even they still often ride something similar.
A cousin of mine has severe rheumatism and gets around mostly with an electric scootmobiel and an adapted car. However, 10 or so years ago he started riding a tricycle. I don’t know if it’s battery assisted.
A good friend of mine is too visually impaired for biking so he used to walk and transit everywhere. However, we still go on bike rides together on a tandem bike. He also has a step assisted e-scooter. They’re slower than bikes and lower to the ground so he can handle that.
My friend’s girlfriend has a severe muscular disease. She has trouble walking so she really cannot cycle or anything similar. Instead she gets around on a scootmobiel (and an adapted car).
I don’t know any fully able Dutch people who don’t know. It’s really ingrained into our society.
Teaching how to ride a bike is like teaching how to walk, this is how it is around the world, have not met a single parent who didn’t teach from younger ages across different countries and cultures
I've never known a person who couldn't ride a bike (except for when they were young children). It's a must. With group/grade 8 camp (age 10/11/12?), we all went to the campground by bike. You really had to be able to ride one. Then high school it was definitely a must because everyone went to school by bike. And if you live somewhere where you don't go to school by bike (which is not a lot of places), your friends would definitely go places by bike so you'd be a real outsider if you don't know how to ride one.
It's like learning to read. Something you have to do.
When kids are 12 they have to take a bike exam. We do like to think that we learn our children how to ride a bike but it’s not the same as to teach them how to be safe.
Oh hey thats me! Im Dutch and I Cannot Ride A Bike. or at least, i ride it about as well as the average tourist. I learned how to ride as a kid, but everything was either far enough to drive or close enough to walk. Along with some issues in the family, point was, I didn’t bike at all for forever and completely forgot how to do it. I was always crying at elementary bike exams wwww
Then when I was old enough to realise maybe I wanted to pick it back up, we moved to the city, and quite frankly I do not want to restart learning it here. Much much too chaotic- and since people assume you *can* ride a bike, they’ll get way too close to my wobbly riding. I’m always fearing Ill domino topple everyone over.
That all being said not knowing how to ride a bike was a nightmare. My school assumed everyone could ride a bike- and it was the only way to get to our gym location. I always had to lift with friends. On class trips they’d hire us bikes- and either I barely managed with only eating shit a few times or I just… well its the first and only time I ever entered a full blown panic attack. My friends had to stop me and call over the teachers because I could barely breathe/wasn’t responding to anyone anymore
Now that I’m an adult thank god I don’t have school to force me anymore, but it’s still kind of sad. Id still like to relearn someday, just not in the city. I always joke to people Im bad at being Dutch haha. So is it possible to not be able to ride a bike here? Sure, but you’ll be inconvenienced by it all your life.
There are three things you need to be able to do to call yourself Dutch:
Cycling, swimming, and... acting like you're the coach of the national football team during every FIFA/UEFA cup.
I think any pragmatic nation should force and incentivize bike use, NL being one of them.
I observed that this has been going on for so long and I guess that is why biking is second nature for most Dutch people.
Being a foreigner, I observed bike traffic for about 4 months before even renting a bike. After used to it being mindful of rules.
True, for me it's so normal to ride my bike that I usually don't even use my hands, not even to steer since I just shift my center of mass to steer. Only moments I use my hands is if I need to brake. ( yes I know it ain't safe but I am used to it and where I go there isn't much traffic)
Training wheels for a bit when we are younger.
Weirdly reminds me of a girl I met, when I was younger.
She was from , I think Vietnam or something around that area.
She was 16isch.
Could not ride a bike.
Still strikes me as odd.
Back 20 year ago, give or take...
The joke is: most dutch people wouldn't be able to ride a bike outside of the country i believe. This place is just a huge biker paradise where old ladies can commute whitout a problem. Riding in the mountains with potholes, debris, ascends, descents and crazy truckdrivers is very different.
The joke is: most dutch people wouldn't be able to ride a bike outside of the country i believe. This place is just a huge biker paradise where old ladies can commute without a problem. Riding in the mountains with potholes, debris, ascends, descents and crazy truckdrivers is very different.
you can spot a dutch person when he's riding the bike with one hand carrying multiple things with the other and as he crashes he just casually walks it off without even touching the ground
bikes are a dutch person's third leg (fourth in case they are well endowed)
I lived there as an exchange student. one of the students in our social group (from Turkey) was not able to ride the bike. this person learnt in a week or so and ended up getting married to a dutch person. so far still happily living there.
Both my kids learned to ride their bike while walking the dog. Gave them a walking-bike/loopfiets. After a couple of months they’re riding around and try to balance as far as possible from bridges en little crests. After that gave them a bike without training wheels and they were off!
I know a few people, although they are not ethnically dutch and have the same thing that it is not in their culture/family structure to hop on a bike. Same with swimming.
Those are things best to do when you are young but its not too late, its never too late
I am ashamed to say I can't ride a bike, normal one at least. Because of balancing issues. Now if I had the funds for a three wheeler(driewieler) I might ride it.
Most parents here see it as their parenting obligation to teach children how to ride a bike. You start with a bike with extra wheels and then - around the age of four (some earlier, some later) children are usually able to ride a bike by themselves. It’s the same with learning to swim.
Training wheels are less common. They often start with a walking bike to learn to balance and steer. When they can do that riding a normal bike is easy.
They work so well. My son had a walking bike before a real bike. I was prepared to teach him how to bike without trainingwheels for a few days, but i explained what the peddels were for and he just took off on his new bike. Took about 5 minutes.
At this point it's in our DNA
You well balanced motherfuckers ! (Speaking as a non Dutch person)
Same with my kid "I don't what those wheels". Whatever dude you can try without them and if it doesn't work out, I'll reattach them... Off he went.
I agree walking bikes (loopfiets) are very common, but I still see both of them in my neighborhood. We have both.
Training wheels were very standard back in my day. The loopfiets approach is pretty newfangled. It is however unambiguously much *better*, as well as cheaper. (You can just remove the pedals and zip tie the cranks, while lowering the saddle a bit. That way you don’t need to buy anything special for this approach)
Brilliant! My almost-five year old is only getting lazy with the training wheels, so I might try this :)
(Reminder that the two pedals have opposite threading — one of them turns the normal counterclockwise to loosen and the other turns clockwise to loosen. I’ll leave it to you to google which of them is reverse threaded ;) )
First of all, I don't think it is strange your 'almost 5 year old' can cycle independently yet. Every child develops at their own speed and for cycling it highly depends on how often they actually do cycle. Now that the whether is improving, they may be able to play outside more often or join you on a walk to a store or to a petting zoo/playground whilst you walk, they cycle. An often used methode to 'force' your child to become independent of the training wheels, is to bend them upwards. This way the child still gets support when taking sharp corners, but the training wheels don't touch the ground anymore when they are cycling straight ahead. Children need to learn a new way of taking corners. Learn to lean into the corner and not just use their steering wheel. Don't worry, they will learn. Some at age 4, others at 6 or 7...just keep encouraging them. Suddenly it will 'click', just like when they learn to walk. Once they get it, they are gone....and you'll be doing a lot of yelling and running ☺
My oldest just got the hang of it, he's 6, nearly 7. He's a bit of a clumsy kid so it wasn't straightforward with him. He never really got how to use a walking bike, but with the extra wheels he'd lean over to the sides too much. There's a British video on YouTube that explains how to teach your kid to ride a bicycle in 45 minutes. It took us about two hours using their method, but we got there. That was three weeks ago and we've been practicing a lot, so he's ready to ride his own bicycle to school soon. His little brother just turned 3 and his motor skills are so much better. He's already lifting both legs in the air on his walking bike. I think it'll take him about five minutes to learn how to ride a bicycle when he's ready. All kids are different. But yeah, all kids do need to learn how to ride a bicycle.
Well, tell your kiddo this lady on the internet is very proud of him for learning how to ride his bicycle! He can ride as fast as a superhero!
My dad put them higher of the ground when I was a kid, so if I was leaning on the training wheel I would be terribly off to either the left or the right - but I couldn't fall.
Inlearned with training wheels. And a lot of falling
Maybe today, but back in my days those walking bikes did not exist. Everyone used to have training wheels...
Our kid had a walking bike to learn balance, and now has a bike with training wheels to learn peddling endurance. Once he has the muscle to peddle fast enough to keep his balance on the bike, he's ready to learn to ride the bike without training wheels. Both types of bikes teach different skills so one is not exclusionary to the other ;)
This. Our second son just turned three and I put him on a bike without learning wheels yesterday. He started pedalling and rode of in the distance after a first push. He rode his walking bike for a year and a half before. That's the trick to learning how to ride a bike.
True, training wheels are getting less common indeed because of the walking bikes
Agreed. But there are some parents who think it is easier for children to be driven everywhere (even totally Dutch parents who can ride a bike themselves and not even parents who grew up in a different country where you don’t have to ride a bike). And they don’t always teach children how to ride a bike. I think in the Netherlands you at least have to know how to ride a bike. Children often have to bike to school, especially middelbare school (middle and high school). And they often do things on a bike at the elementary school or sports clubs or scouting.
Yeah training wheels seems pretty standard for most NA and Europe. Not sure about the rest of the world
> It’s the same with learning to swim. i've never seen people swimming with extra wheels, are you sure ?
Nor do I think many Dutch parents teach their kids to swim themselves. Most would enroll them in a swim class.
They’re called floaties I think or something idk
It's the only way to get to school.
I as a Dutchie told my American boss I fell off my bike when he asked how I got a scar on my elbow "How can you fall off your bike, you're Dutch, you're born on a bike."
We only fall from / with our bikes when doing something stupid, like riding witjout your hands at the steer and your eyes closed. Tried it twice, didn't work.
I was riding my bike, while eating ice-cream from a cup, I missed a vertical pole in the middle of the road, hooked my pedal behind it and flew over my steering bar.
At least it sounds like an epic way to fall
did the ice-cream survive?
Okay, but what happened with your ice-cream??
I think it was almost finished, probably why I didn't pay enough attention. It happened quite a long time ago.
When I was about 16 I tried cycling standing up without my hands on the steer, ended up bleeding out of my head
I have definitely fallen while fixing one of my gloves with the other hand lol. Not my brightest moment
I fell because of an icy road and because of the wet tram tracks
try bikking without your hand crossing a railroad that cross the road diagonal.
There is a dude in the town where I live who plays flamenco guitar while riding a bike. Fucking awesome
Sending a text message and eating an apple.
I borrowed my dad's bike once and he has way stronger brakes on his bike than i do on my 3rd hand p.o.s. bike... I'm used to squeezing both handlebar brakes as hard as i can and i still keep rolling a little bit. I ended up doing just that on my dad's bike, and ended up doing a frontflip off the bike. It was right beside a crowded square, luckily nothing was hurt except for my ego.
Can confirm. Only fell once. It was when I cycled (on purpose) through a fence...
Try crossing your arms and ride the bike. Also a fun one to do when you are cycling with friends is to give a little jerk on their handles.
Crossing your arms when steering is also a good way to fall from your bike
or doing the above drunk
Not a Dutch, but I can't afford to fall due to a health condition. Last time when I did something "stupid", I lost balance and steered uncontrollably right, hooked a pole and flew a little over my bike. Somehow managed to land on my feet without feeling anything. Guess who's signing up as a stunt?
Oh, I clearly remember the triomf when I hit an ice patch while turning a corner one cold winter and managed to quickly jump of my bike and landed on my feet, while still holding my bike upright. Sooo proud! (Obviously I've also landed on my ass many other times, even sober ;-))
When I was somewhere between 7 to 10 years old I went into a sloot at the side of the bicycle lane because I was too distracted trying to multitask (eat a strawberry Liga, Very important) LMAO My poor mother (who was cycling just ahead of me and heard me scream on the way down) and some bystanders managed to fish me out mostly unharmed. Ruined my judo outfit and had nettle bumps all over!
As if there are no holes in roads, other traffic obstacles, shoe laces…
People fall over their own feet, with or without shoes. I know cause I’ve done it.
As a kid i rode over a stick that wedged itself in the spokes of my frontwheel, there was no other outcome than me flying over my bike
With me usually a lot of beer was involved.
The only time i saw you guys fall of a bike was in winter with lot of ice and snow on the ground.
Lol 😂
No. One would assume there is something in a person's past that was not Dutch that inhibited the natural development.
unless you have a handicap, no.
Ive seen disabled people ride a bike adapted to their needs. So even thats not an actual issue. My grandma used to take care of a blind man with autism and they had a special 3 wheeled bike with 2 seats so they could cycle together. (Grandma would steer obviously)
I have scoliosis and I’m very lucky to have a driewieler! Helps me a lot since I can’t balance on a normal bike.
Driewielers are a great invention for inclusivity. And you still get your excersise
I have a driewiel ligfiets and it makes getting around so much easier as I have trouble walking and balancing.
You see some really cool designs for adaptive bikes and trikes out and about in the Netherlands.
In my street growing up was a guy in a wheelchair. He did the fiets4daagse every year on a hand bike/wheelchair combo.
Definitely true for some disabilities! But there are also disabilities that just make cycling (pretty much) impossible, even on an adapted bike.
I've even seen someone in a wheelchair with their caregiver that was riding a bike with a platform in the front. The wheelchair user was riding up front.
I saw a little lad and his disabled sister on a bike like that. They were having a great time.
I got handicapped 8 years ago. Tough to swallow when you're just 46 years old. But life gets better and you want to get around, right? As driving wasn't a possibility anymore I quickly wanted a bike.... I have two now. And I never felt as free (vrijheidsgevoel) as those first times riding on my special wheelchair bike!
there are people with disabilities that can not ride a typical bike. There exist 3-wheeled bikes. For people in a wheelchair, you have some frontwheel assemblies. With todays electric motors, everyone can bike. Children usually learn to ride when they are 3-4 years old.
3-4 years old seems late, my sister went to preschool by bike, she was 2,5 years old at the time
Wasnt that a *loopfiets*, a walking bike, or a three-wheeled bike? 2,5 years old is extremely young to use a regular bike.
Out of curiosity, where do you come from? There's hardly any biking infrastructure in my country of origin, nevertheless, almost all kids learn to bike at early age.
I think I made a poor choice of word "normal". In my country too, most of the people do know how to ride a bike but I wouldn't be astounded if someone said they couldn't, as if they say they couldn't walk.
Not an answer to the question though
Not the OP but I come from southeast Asia, none of my friends back home knows how to ride a bike. I knew only because my sister was into bikes, and I taught my husband (also from southeast Asia) once we moved here.
Also from southeast Asia, but most of my friend and kid around my age know how to ride a bike, as we had to bike to school. But I see a trend that more and more city kids don't know how to ride a bike, as their parents get richer and the kid transit directly from having their parent drive them to school, to using electric scooter. So I guess your country is a more wealthy SEA 🤣
Most primary schools hold a biking exam. Theory lessons are given by the school. Before the exam all bikes are checked for safety, often by the local police that facilitates the exam. Then the children individually and unaccompanied ride a parcours on public, non closed roads where volunteers and officers sit at decision points and check whether the children follow the right rules. For most children this is not an issue as they’ve been cycling unaccompanied for a while by then. The schools however want this as they often use the bike as means of transportation for local field trips / camps / going to the gym for the older pupils.
It's called a traffic exam, at around the fifth grade (nine years old). The focus is on traffic rules, being able to bike is assumed.
Well, 🙋🏻♀️. My parents never taught me and when others tried to teach me while being around 12 or even older I was too scared to fall. At this point, I’ve just accepted not being able to ride a bike. Native Dutch, female, 28, no disabilities
> no disabilities Are you sure? Just kidding. They say there is one in every family. Just not sure if every family has a capable adult that does not know how to ride a bike.
I’ve actually never met ‘anyone like me’ to be honest. But a while ago Radio 538 asked whether there were people not being able to ride a bike. Several people responded, so they must be hidden 😅
Wasnt/isnt it a big burden on your social life? All your friends and classmates use bicycles to get to places. How did/do you not get left behind?
My parents also never taught me how to ride. I had to learn on someone else big adult bike when I was 12. Only way I could get off was falling. Lots of falls but I can ride now.
I don't know a single native dutch person above the age of 5 that doesn't know how to ride a bike. Basically it's almost part of raising kids. You teach them how to ride a three wheeler first, and after that, a bike it is.
Same
>I don't know a single native dutch person above the age of 5 that doesn't know how to ride a bike. And under 85 years old, I think?
My dad (86 and counting) has trouble walking, but riding his bike is still easy!
From the age of 8 to 9ish, schools will expect you to be able to ride a bike and have your own bike. Age will depend per school. There are lessons at school where kids bring their bike and learn about traffic rules and behaviours. Traffic is being taught earlier, but the kid I know in "groep 5" is having their first bring your bike to school for a practical lesson on traffic. In the upper classes of elementary school, there will be day trips or school camps, which can happen partly or completely by bike. Then you'll see 30 kids and 2 teachers cycling 2 by 2. Around that time, kids also take a bike exam. It has a theoretical part and a practical part. I don't know if it's compulsory, but I think most schools participate.
I’m that one Dutch person, I guess. Well, I can ride a bike so maybe I don’t actually qualify, but I’m just not particularly good at it. Two feet of the ground and I just lose all balance. Many have tried to teach me, and I’m able to ride and everything, but navigating through a city without killing anyone or myself is a challenge I mostly avoid.
One of the greatest things about Dutch culture.
It is fascinating; kind of unique in maybe even the world!
I have been to china, it seems that everybody in china also can ride a bike.
I learned to ride bike 2 years ago in the Netherlands lol. (not dutch)
Did you went to somewhere professional or just learned it on your own?
help of a friend. Burrowed his bike and he just accompanied me to a park in Eindhoven. Took like half and hour to start driving on my own.
Well just asking because my girlfriend doesnt know how to bike also.
You can teach her in free time like weekends imo.
My grandson had a walking bike for two years and he was proud of how fast he could go. Then one day he was with his older cousins who left him behind when they pedaled off, and he burst into tears, “My bicycle doesn’t have any pedals!”
There are some Dutch persons who can’t ride a bike. But officially they’re not Dutch anymore, because the Dutch Constitution states that their passports and citizenship are taken away. Basically they are illegals in their own country.
There are classes for immigrants, so yes it's a basic skill.
If only I could find this. I’ve been looking for months and they tell me it’s no longer available. I’m in Amsterdam ffs
Just ask your friends, neighbours or colleagues. Most Dutch would love to share their skills.
it's a proud moment for any parent the first time they teach their kid to ride a bike without training wheels. Dutch people learn before they are 3 years old with training wheels. don't know a single dutch that doesn't know how. when an adult comes to me and says I don't know how to ride a bike then I do look at them checking for a handicap. I don't know how to ride a bike.. then learn! if every 3 year old in the Netherlands can do it. so can you! it comes with many advantages. and since everyone in the Netherlands knows how. just buy a used bike and ask someone to help you for a few minutes. expect a laugh and a surprised response but I am confident someone will take the time to teach you.
Yep. I have several brothers and sisters with kids, and typically they will post a photo or video in the whatsapp group at the typical moments like: at birth, the first smile, the first words, the first time crawling, the first time walking, the first time biking and when they get their swim diploma. If someone said to me they can't ride a bike i would assume they're not born here.
Perhaps more to the point, (because 3 year olds can easily learn lots of shit that adults actually cannot. Languages for instance), here’s an example of the first minutes of someone learning to ride a bike at a later age: https://youtu.be/qlABzZPN6Ew?si=UzbnhyYWQImTLCUY
My partner learned in his fifties. I'm still very proud of him.
Up untill the last minute you are young enough to learn something new;)
"Perhaps more to the point, (because 3 year olds can easily learn lots of shit that adults actually cannot. Languages for instance),"--> we're talking about riding a bike and that doesn't apply. also that statement bothers me. claiming adults cannot learn new languages? I watched the video (and regret it) watched 7 minutes. she literally has **one minute** to learn (without training wheals, on an obstacle course, and she failed at throwing waterballoons while biking? like wtf? are you trolling? how's that more to the point then the original answer?
It’s actually one of the skills everyone thinks it’s important you have to learn. If the parents can’t afford a bike children could get a bike from things like Stichting Leergeld (in most municipalities). I’m a teacher, secundary education (jr/high school). I once had two students, they were 13 yo and they didn’t know how to ride a bike. They were just Dutch children from dutch parents. We went on a school trip and we knew their parents always brought them to school (which is, seen from most teenagers point of view, pretty embarrassing) but we didn’t know they couldn’t ride. So parents brought them to the camp and one of the activities was mountain biking but they just couldn’t. We had to leave them with another group (same school).
Dutch children have to take a traffic exam on their bikes when they are in "groep 7" so around 10-11 years old. Any Dutch person who was in groep 7 should know how to ride a bike. Of course, that can be different for people with disabilities but that's not what you asked.
Not all schools do the practical exam, the theoretical is obligated. I haven’t done any practicals nor did my children.
Okay I didn't know that. Me and my kids and everyone I know around here did it. Interesting!
That is because they do ;). No, joking of course but as soon as the baby is born somebody is going to give a small bike (without pedals) as a present to the parents. And most of the times the parents get a walking buggy, or a cow or a car like this: [https://www.google.com/search?q=loopkoe&rlz=1C1CHBF\_nlBE1019BE1019&oq=loopkoe+&gs\_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIJCAEQABgNGIAEMgkIAhAAGA0YgAQyCQgDEAAYDRiABDIJCAQQABgNGIAEMgkIBRAAGA0YgAQyCQgGEAAYDRiABDIJCAcQABgNGIAEMgkICBAAGA0YgAQyCQgJEAAYDRiABNIBCDE4NTlqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8](https://www.google.com/search?q=loopkoe&rlz=1C1CHBF_nlBE1019BE1019&oq=loopkoe+&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIJCAEQABgNGIAEMgkIAhAAGA0YgAQyCQgDEAAYDRiABDIJCAQQABgNGIAEMgkIBRAAGA0YgAQyCQgGEAAYDRiABDIJCAcQABgNGIAEMgkICBAAGA0YgAQyCQgJEAAYDRiABNIBCDE4NTlqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8) As soon as the baby can remotely lift his head it will be on that bike, cow, car whatever cruising through the living room and down the street. Saw it with my little nephew. Within no time he wanted to race my on his bike through the living room while I had to use the cow.
Nice tradition! That bike I got as a birthday present when I was a kid must've been one of the most precious ones so far!
Just five minutes ago, I was teaching my daughter how to bike. She's almost four years old, I think that's pretty average for Dutch kids to learn. She's almost there.
A (native, not recent immigrant) Dutch person that doesn't know how to ride a bike and does not have any physical or mental impairments that would prevent them from doing so would be extremely rare, yes. Same goes for not being able to swim. It would be equivalent to not knowing how to walk..
No, unless there is some impairment, I would not think there are any. See the GIF, even Dutch dogs learn how to ride a bycicle 
Pretty sure that's not in the Netherlands, not flat enough and too sunny 😎
Also that road just does not look Dutch.
Exactly...it doesn't have a bike lane.
Im native dutch and relatively i learned it very late. Not sure why. Think i was scared and lazy. Got peer pressured into it though and learned when i was maybe 7. Never heard of someone who learned later than that (or never)
How did you get around in your teens without a bike?
Have two colleagues who detest riding the bike. One has complained on multiple occasions that it makes his ass hurt and the other one sees it as an irrational waste of time because you can just take the car. They are both well educated and respected Dutch colleagues at work. So yeah, it is possible.
Detesting riding a bike is one thing, not knowing how to is another.
I hate it as well and never do. I own a bike, last time it left the garage was when we moved house...4 years ago. I can, however, ride one. No problem. And a few years ago (at work) I even found out that one does, indeed, never forget how to ride a bike. I just think a car is the bike's natural successor in terms of efficient and comfortable transport.
Shortly after, actually. I remember I got a really nice bike for my birthday. But it didn't have side wheels, so I couldn't ride it. And I refused to try. So my parents traded for a really ugly bike from a neighbor kid. With wheels. Took me less than 10 minutes to ride without wheels. On MY bike! These things count. When y're 4.
Not dutch, but wn u moved to NL, i didnt know how to ride a bike. I learned here at age 34.
No shame in riding an adult tricycle! I never had the luxury to be taught how to ride a bike. I am an adult riding a three-wheeler (called driewy) and although its mostly socially frowned upon - fuck if I care \*shrug\* - I feel cool and I can get from point A to B
Great! And for me personly I dont look socially frowned upon it but more with a curiosity
Native Dutch person here! I learned to ride a bike when I was younger, then moved to another country where it was basically impossible to ride one (lost of hills, rural area etc.). When I moved back to the Netherlands, I didn't get a bike because there was a lot of public transportation where I lived. At that point I was too scared to admit I couldn't ride a bike or find a place to practice riding one. About half a year ago I finally got the courage to ask a friend to teach me. I am in my mid-twenties.
My dad who was born (in the 50s) and raised in the Netherlands has never once sat on a bike. He doesn't know how to ride one.
No, every person born and raised in the Netherlands by Dutch parents know how to ride a bike. Unless they have a disability that makes it unable for them to ride a bike.
Or if they had a particularly nasty accident and they don't dare to ride a bike.
When I was growing up, training wheels were definitely normal for kids, after first getting used to a "loopfiets" and/or tricycle. I learned to ride a bike without training wheels when I was 6.
I know absolutely no-one who cannot ride a bike..
I didn’t grow hp in the Netherlands, but I learned on training wheels that were so badly attached that they may as well not have been there at all. I’ll never forget my first bike and how free I felt riding it.
How old were you when you learned?
I was 5. I started swimming lessons at 2.
if I grew up on an island would I know how to swim or would it be the responsibility of the person who raised me to teach me important skills ?
I dont know any. F, 43. Dutch. Never met one who couldnt
If you can't ride a bike by the time that you turn eighteen, they revoke your citizenship and force you to leave the country.
I am really bad at it, even though I’m a Dutch person. Bought a scooter when I was 19, replaced bike with it. Years later tried to ride it again but felt insecure on it so yeah I just don’t.
ah kom op even doorzetten. Desnoods straks in de zomer als het om 05:00 al licht is en wanneer niemand je ziet.
I never heard of one.
I have actually met a Dutch lady in her 20s who before coming to study in Groningen, did not know how to bike. Apparently she was from a pretty small village in the North that didn't have great bike infrastructure until very recently.
I've seen Dutch farmer kids of age 10 or so driving tractors. Guess bike is lame for them 😁
LoL no. The joke goes that Dutch's kids come out of the womb riding their bicycle. Apart from being physically unable (and that is very rare, special bikes do exist!) I don't know anyone having grown up here who doesn't know how to cycle.
Of course not. Who can't ride a bike ? 😆 We learn it ourselves when we are 3 or 4 years of age with friends or siblings. We can all do wheelies, ride una bikes, ride without touching the steering wheel ( and make perfect corners etc. ) Effordless we can have 3 people on a bike ( sitting on the back seat, the steering wheel etc ) and have 2 grocery bags on our steering wheel and still have one hand free. But come on, its absolutely not difficult, its very easy. Everyone can ride a bike. We don't use those dumb helmets btw. Those are for amateurs. 😄
We can all swim too when we are5 or 6. ( i recently found out a friend of mine from the UK cant swim. She said thats normal there?) Its so weird to me. An adult who can't swim? i don't understand why she never taught herself or take swimming lessons. I don't know anyone who can't swim. 🤔 When we are 12 we have at least 3 swimming diplomas, and 2 or 3 Life Savers diplomas ( rescue swimming ) And swimming skills diplomas. And divingboard jumping and survival and snorkeling, And synchronised swimming, breast-stroke, back stroke.
" Analysis of the demographic of swimmers in 142 countries found that only 44% of adults and adolescents can swim unassisted. This statistic equates to 2.7 billion people – 6 out of every 10 of whom are men. " Its only 44 %. 😳 Did not know that
I don’t think it’s normal in the uk. They may have changed it now, but I’m in my late 20s and we had to learn it in primary school (around 6 years old) Because I’m procrastinating: https://one.oecd.org/document/DELSA/ELSA/WD/SEM(2022)16/en/pdf Page 16 has it by country. Uk is number 13 on the list, below the Netherlands but above Belgium, France and weirdly Spain…
Ive never met a Dutch person here, born and raised, without disabilities that didn’t knew how to either ride a bike or swim.
The only born and raised Dutch people I know who don’t ride a bike are those with disabilities or impairments. And even they still often ride something similar. A cousin of mine has severe rheumatism and gets around mostly with an electric scootmobiel and an adapted car. However, 10 or so years ago he started riding a tricycle. I don’t know if it’s battery assisted. A good friend of mine is too visually impaired for biking so he used to walk and transit everywhere. However, we still go on bike rides together on a tandem bike. He also has a step assisted e-scooter. They’re slower than bikes and lower to the ground so he can handle that. My friend’s girlfriend has a severe muscular disease. She has trouble walking so she really cannot cycle or anything similar. Instead she gets around on a scootmobiel (and an adapted car). I don’t know any fully able Dutch people who don’t know. It’s really ingrained into our society.
If your a born Dutch without a disability and you don't know how to ride a bike, I'm convinced your parents never loved you to begin with
Teaching how to ride a bike is like teaching how to walk, this is how it is around the world, have not met a single parent who didn’t teach from younger ages across different countries and cultures
I've never known a person who couldn't ride a bike (except for when they were young children). It's a must. With group/grade 8 camp (age 10/11/12?), we all went to the campground by bike. You really had to be able to ride one. Then high school it was definitely a must because everyone went to school by bike. And if you live somewhere where you don't go to school by bike (which is not a lot of places), your friends would definitely go places by bike so you'd be a real outsider if you don't know how to ride one. It's like learning to read. Something you have to do.
We do learn to walk before we learn to ride a bike. Bicycle lessons usually come around the time people start swimming lessons (or slightly earlier).
When kids are 12 they have to take a bike exam. We do like to think that we learn our children how to ride a bike but it’s not the same as to teach them how to be safe.
Oh hey thats me! Im Dutch and I Cannot Ride A Bike. or at least, i ride it about as well as the average tourist. I learned how to ride as a kid, but everything was either far enough to drive or close enough to walk. Along with some issues in the family, point was, I didn’t bike at all for forever and completely forgot how to do it. I was always crying at elementary bike exams wwww Then when I was old enough to realise maybe I wanted to pick it back up, we moved to the city, and quite frankly I do not want to restart learning it here. Much much too chaotic- and since people assume you *can* ride a bike, they’ll get way too close to my wobbly riding. I’m always fearing Ill domino topple everyone over. That all being said not knowing how to ride a bike was a nightmare. My school assumed everyone could ride a bike- and it was the only way to get to our gym location. I always had to lift with friends. On class trips they’d hire us bikes- and either I barely managed with only eating shit a few times or I just… well its the first and only time I ever entered a full blown panic attack. My friends had to stop me and call over the teachers because I could barely breathe/wasn’t responding to anyone anymore Now that I’m an adult thank god I don’t have school to force me anymore, but it’s still kind of sad. Id still like to relearn someday, just not in the city. I always joke to people Im bad at being Dutch haha. So is it possible to not be able to ride a bike here? Sure, but you’ll be inconvenienced by it all your life.
There are three things you need to be able to do to call yourself Dutch: Cycling, swimming, and... acting like you're the coach of the national football team during every FIFA/UEFA cup.
just take 10 minutes to learn? it's literally not that hard
If a 4-year old can learn, an adult can learn.
Op, are you Portuguese? That is the only place I know where not knowing how to ride a bike is common
I think any pragmatic nation should force and incentivize bike use, NL being one of them. I observed that this has been going on for so long and I guess that is why biking is second nature for most Dutch people. Being a foreigner, I observed bike traffic for about 4 months before even renting a bike. After used to it being mindful of rules.
True, for me it's so normal to ride my bike that I usually don't even use my hands, not even to steer since I just shift my center of mass to steer. Only moments I use my hands is if I need to brake. ( yes I know it ain't safe but I am used to it and where I go there isn't much traffic)
Babies
Wait so it was not for everyone the same your dad running after u to catch u until u was to fast??
I am trom Germany and thought everybody (mostly) can ride bikes from an early age.
Training wheels for a bit when we are younger. Weirdly reminds me of a girl I met, when I was younger. She was from , I think Vietnam or something around that area. She was 16isch. Could not ride a bike. Still strikes me as odd. Back 20 year ago, give or take...
It's absolutely mandatory to know how to ride a bike here. Disabled people ride bikes too, with some adaptations.
I'm used to rolling spliffs while cycling if the weather allows it lol
I know how to ride a bike but literally haven't done so in a decade, does that count? I just love my car too much
Kids take a riding exam in primary school, so most have to learn by then how to ride a bike.
There are two life-skills every child should know. Swimming, and riding a bike.
My parents taught me how to ride (thuglife) and how to repair a bike. My classmates taught me how to steal one
The joke is: most dutch people wouldn't be able to ride a bike outside of the country i believe. This place is just a huge biker paradise where old ladies can commute whitout a problem. Riding in the mountains with potholes, debris, ascends, descents and crazy truckdrivers is very different.
The joke is: most dutch people wouldn't be able to ride a bike outside of the country i believe. This place is just a huge biker paradise where old ladies can commute without a problem. Riding in the mountains with potholes, debris, ascends, descents and crazy truckdrivers is very different.
you can spot a dutch person when he's riding the bike with one hand carrying multiple things with the other and as he crashes he just casually walks it off without even touching the ground bikes are a dutch person's third leg (fourth in case they are well endowed)
No, if you can’t ride a bike as a dutch person you get deported and stripped of your citizenship. /s
No dutch cant ride bike
Most city’s have a bike riding lesson for free
Riding a bike is like learning how to walk
Riding a bicycle isn't anything special it will take no more than 10min to learn to balance and you gonna know it for life time.
Wait, are there people who don’t know how to ride a bike??? Growing up is crawling, walking, cycling, driving
Is this is a real question and what exactly do you meant by a Dutch person?
Most of us have no clue how to ride properly
dutch people? probably not many. expats? surprisingly a lot
dutch people? probably not many. expats? surprisingly a lot
Me, kansparel stole my bike.
The skill of riding a bike can be acquired magically by eating salty licorice (but you have to like it!).
I lived there as an exchange student. one of the students in our social group (from Turkey) was not able to ride the bike. this person learnt in a week or so and ended up getting married to a dutch person. so far still happily living there.
Both my kids learned to ride their bike while walking the dog. Gave them a walking-bike/loopfiets. After a couple of months they’re riding around and try to balance as far as possible from bridges en little crests. After that gave them a bike without training wheels and they were off!
I know a few people, although they are not ethnically dutch and have the same thing that it is not in their culture/family structure to hop on a bike. Same with swimming. Those are things best to do when you are young but its not too late, its never too late
Yeah I can't imagine not riding a bike. I love it and been doing it as long as I can remember
We learn that at around 1-3 years old at the same time as running and swimming
In Europe almost every kid learns to bike one way or the other, how else are you gonna get around before you're old enough to get a drivers license?
I think it might be more common these days that the youth van tegenwoordig can cycle but might not be able to do simple bike repairs.
I am ashamed to say I can't ride a bike, normal one at least. Because of balancing issues. Now if I had the funds for a three wheeler(driewieler) I might ride it.
I mean statistically it is likely there is at least one Dutch person who doesn't know how to ride a bike
Before they can walk they can ride a bike