Strider Bike Racing Attempt 2!

Last time we took Macy Strider racing she was a bit too young at just under 2 she couldn't really push her bike over the bumps, so I thought now she is a bit more confident on her bike and a bit stronger she will enjoy it more.

We were lucky with the weather as it was dry and sunny and quite warm for November!  Macy went out on the track for practice and was flying round, she was absolutely loving it and coped a lot better with the bumps.  Her first race she finished 2nd but didn't do so well in her other two heats.  There were some fathers there who were really shouting at their children but it really freaked Macy out as she thought they were shouting at her and that she had done something wrong, every time someone shouted she stopped!  And the worst was they would stand right at the finish so she didn't want to finish as it meant riding at these people who were really shouting!!  She was leading the one race but didn't want to finish because everyone was gathered there screaming at their children. 

It was a shame really as she loved riding her bike and she just wanted to go round again and again.  Next time perhaps she can switch off a bit more to the shouting and not let it bother her so much?  I would like her to do well as she was the only girl in her age group, would be nice to see her beating the boys and she could do it, but really I want her to enjoy it.  Here are some photos I took of her:

Strider Balance Bike

Macy has been pushing her little Bullyseye pony around for a while now her feet can reach the floor so we started looking at balance bikes.  I had never liked them as they always look a bit nasty but a friend at work bought her son one from Halfords and it looked like a proper bike which I much preferred.  She said he is progressing so much quicker than her daughter who always had a trike as she has never got the hang of balancing.  So that was it and we said that will be her Christmas present.

We had a good look online at what was about and because Macy is quite small, it did narrow our search down.  Quite a few are from ages 2 and up so there were only a few from 18 months up.  I don't like the wooden or plastic ones and we were really taken by the look of the Strider bikes.  After a bit more research we decided that was the way to go.

• Striders are under 3kg in weight against most others which are around 4kg, so easier to handle
• Handlebars are adjustable whereas most others aren't
• Seat and handlebars are adjustable with an easy clamp - no tools required, sport model
• Footrests for when the child is confident, they can put their feet up
• Lower saddle height than any others
• More benefits can be found here: Reasons to Buy a Strider

We decided to go for a yellow bike to look a bit different from the usual girly pink.  We also went for the Sport over the Classic mainly because of the smaller handlebar grips because of her little hands.  Also though because we liked the handlebar pad, the quick release clamps and the fact it came with the longer saddle post too.

We ordered a number, yellow wheel and grips, however a few days before Christmas we saw some photos of multicoloured Striders and decided we wanted to make it look a bit more girly and wanted to pimp it up in pink!  So after speaking to Strider (who have amazing customer service and super speedy delivery) they just said that's fine, just return the yellow bits when you can.  The pink wheels, handlebar grips and saddle arrived the day before Christmas Eve - we expected to have to wait until after Christmas but no, they were here.  The bike went together easily.

Macy unwrapped her bike excitedly.

And she was soon on it!  We held the handlerbars to start as she decided she could do it and it fell over which frightened her a bit but because it is so light, it didn't hurt her.  She was soon back on and flying up and down the lounge.

Today she has been on it this morning and is virtually doing it herself, we are walking behind and just being there to catch it so it doesn't frighten her but it isn't going to be long before she is off on her own as we aren't holding it.

I am amazed that literally after 10 minutes she is virtually balancing on her own and she isn't quite 18 months and also is small for her age.  The bike looks cool and I love being able to customise it so it looks a bit different.

Strider also do the Strider Championship, fun competitions for the children all round the country which looks like great fun for them.  I would really recommend Strider, the product is excellent and their customer service is fantastic :)