I’m writing this post  feeling very proud first of all  but also with the wish of sharing with you an important lesson…

Before I share this valuable wisdom with you, let me ask you a question:

How old were you when you learned how to ride a bycicle without those stupid side wheels?

I do not know about you, but I was 7 years old!

(I actually checked on the Internet and the average age when a child learns to ride a bike is 8 years old)

I remember my dad running after me on a long dead end street in the Santa Anita Country Club in Guadalajara Mexico making sure I will get speed enough to mantain the balance.

Now, try to remember how you learned to ride a bike…most likely it was on a very similar way as how I did it.

Now, forward 33 years… this time was my time to teach my child how to ride a bike!

I think this is a time we as children will always remember, but it is also one of those moments you surely look forward as a parent.

Last weekend we bought my son Vincent his first bike with pedals and literally within 5 seconds of sitting on it, he was riding away as if he was an 8 year old kid. (He’s only 3).

Neither me or my wife had to run behind him to make sure he could ride nor he was wearing a protective helmet in fear that he will fall and break his head!

Sure I feel very proud!  But that is not the point…

As you probably know we live in Holland and my son Vincent is 1/2 Dutch.

The Netherlands is such a flat country, it is perfect for bike riding , thus Dutch people ride their bikes very regularly. Bikes here are  used more for transportation than leisure and of course learning how to ride a bike is a big priority for people in this country.

The prime minister goes to work on his bike, high executives in  big companies ride a bike to work. Most kids ride a bike to school,  it is not strange even to see a member of the Royal Family on his or her bike.

The average age at what kids learn how to bike in Holland is 5 years old (compared to 8 years old on the rest of the world).

Now, the question is:  How is it possible that kids learn to ride a bike in Holland being as little as 2 years old ?

Well, they do something VERY VERY VERY different than what they do in the rest of the world…

They do not add those stupid side wheels to their kid’s bikes!

Please have a look at this picture of my son Vincent at age 2 riding his first bike:

As you can see, the bike has no side wheels BUT it also has no pedals!!!

Little kids learn to gain balance very easily using these bikes, so when they start with a bike with pedals it is almost ’second nature’ for them  to do it. That’s why they have absolutely no problems learning how to ride a bike without those idiotic side wheels!

Now you might say: I’ve never seen those bikes anywhere!

Well, I’ve been telling everyone about them because they are amazing. They are called puky bikes and they are available all over the world.

The hardest part of learning how to ride a bike is the balance not the pedaling, having the side wheels you do not learn how to gain balance correct?

Now, the fact that kids bikes are still manufactured with side wheels and that they still sell all over the world is a clear sign of a tradition and an unquestioned conviction that is making parents train their kids in a very obsolete and idiotic way!

My point is: How many of this unquestioned convictions and stupid traditions are you still a victim of?

Everywhere I look, I see people doing things in ways that do not make sense at this point in time without realizing that things can be done more effectively and on an easier way if simply done differently.

So, my tip for you on this post is as follows:  Ask yourself regularly… How can this be done more effectively?

You’ll be surprised how often you find amazing answers to that question right in front of your nose!

Enjoy today’s food for thought

Ernesto