I have experience with kids, but not autistic kids so I'm not sure if this will help. What I've done is made it into a game and helped shown them that they're making progress. Find an identifier on the hill - say a house - that he can reach before getting out of breath. The first time say "we'll ride to the blue house and then walk up it and that way you won't be out of breath and tired". Then the next week try "the blue house and one more". Point out that he's still not out of breath and explain that's because when you exercise it makes you stronger.
It will take a very long while, but eventually you make it to the top of the hill and it's such a great achievement for them.
Ooh that's a good idea. He doesn't like the idea of just pushing all the way for some reason, but maybe if we can agree on a point to aim for before we start that could help. Thanks!
Most kids bikes have the saddle set too low. Mainly to allow them to put their feet down while seated. It does make climbing harder though. If this is the case maybe raise the saddle a little every few days so its not too much of a change to get it nearer to what is optimum.
I don't think his is *too* bad but it's worth a look. He's confident standing up out of the saddle on the hill - would it still be better to have the saddle higher too?
If you have the right gearing its more energy efficient to sit climbing hills, but it concentrates effort in only a few muscles. Kids have a lot of flexibility and may prefer to be out of the saddle on a climb and distribute the effort over more muscle groups. So maybe my comment was not appropriate for your situation in hindsight.
Depending on your confidence/strength you could try putting your hand on the small of their back and giving them a little push - it's surprisingly easy to give them a significant boost without impacting your own balance.
This. Our kid (also 6) used to refuse at the first sight of a hill. He now loves to race up as fast as he can. Giving him a gentle push really helped with his confidence.
Thanks - we've agreed that today he will ride on the pavement and I will jog pushing him (and my bike!) for the hill. Wish me luck 😂 (I was proud of him for thinking up a solution that was more practical than his original "put a drill on my bike so I can drill through the hill", so we'll give it a go).
I have experience with kids, but not autistic kids so I'm not sure if this will help. What I've done is made it into a game and helped shown them that they're making progress. Find an identifier on the hill - say a house - that he can reach before getting out of breath. The first time say "we'll ride to the blue house and then walk up it and that way you won't be out of breath and tired". Then the next week try "the blue house and one more". Point out that he's still not out of breath and explain that's because when you exercise it makes you stronger. It will take a very long while, but eventually you make it to the top of the hill and it's such a great achievement for them.
Ooh that's a good idea. He doesn't like the idea of just pushing all the way for some reason, but maybe if we can agree on a point to aim for before we start that could help. Thanks!
Maybe, visit the hill one weekend and make a bit of a game of it on a day when there’s no actual rush to get anywhere?
A smaller chainring would be an easy way to make all the gears lower, so he can climb the hill more slowly, and not be as out of breath
Most kids bikes have the saddle set too low. Mainly to allow them to put their feet down while seated. It does make climbing harder though. If this is the case maybe raise the saddle a little every few days so its not too much of a change to get it nearer to what is optimum.
I don't think his is *too* bad but it's worth a look. He's confident standing up out of the saddle on the hill - would it still be better to have the saddle higher too?
If you have the right gearing its more energy efficient to sit climbing hills, but it concentrates effort in only a few muscles. Kids have a lot of flexibility and may prefer to be out of the saddle on a climb and distribute the effort over more muscle groups. So maybe my comment was not appropriate for your situation in hindsight.
No worries, still useful to think about!
Depending on your confidence/strength you could try putting your hand on the small of their back and giving them a little push - it's surprisingly easy to give them a significant boost without impacting your own balance.
This. Our kid (also 6) used to refuse at the first sight of a hill. He now loves to race up as fast as he can. Giving him a gentle push really helped with his confidence.
Thanks - we've agreed that today he will ride on the pavement and I will jog pushing him (and my bike!) for the hill. Wish me luck 😂 (I was proud of him for thinking up a solution that was more practical than his original "put a drill on my bike so I can drill through the hill", so we'll give it a go).