Learning to Ride a Bike

Motobug: Well, son, today, I think you're ready to ride on your own. Without your training wheels.
Motobug Jr.: But, daddy, I don't think I'm ready!
Motobug: Nonsense! Just give it a shot. (removes training wheels) There you go.
Motobug Jr.: Er... I-I'm doing it! I'm doing it, daddy!
Motobug: That's it, son! Ride like the wiiind!

— Sonic Shorts Volume 5

Vulcanized rubber and pneumatic tubes mean that riding a bike is a pleasant, rather than jarring, experience, regardless of the terrain. As a result, they've become a ubiquitous global presence over the last century. Exurb, suburb, or urb, you will see bicycles everywhere. They're a cheap, efficient, and effective means of rapid transport over short distances. Or long distances, if you've got the stomach for it. And, unlike the metro, it's free.

Another result is that learning to ride a bike has also become ubiquitous, such that it's a frequent cause for surprise to learn that a fellow adult hasn't yet learned how to ride a bike. Bikes, and the riding thereof, are so common that "It's like riding a bike" is a Stock Phrase for a skill that, once learned, can never really be forgotten.

As such, learning to ride a bike, or, more importantly, being taught how to ride a bike is a childhood milestone that crosses cultural boundaries. You learn to walk, you learn to ride, you learn to drive, you get your first kiss, you rob your first convenience store... Some things just show up a lot in media.

Sitting on a bike isn't People Sit on Chairs because it's the first time. It's a classic moment where children gain another bit of independence, putting literal physical distance between themselves and their parents. It's an achievement, earned through hard work and the real possibility of injury. You can expect to see joy from a child moving faster than they ever have before even as their parents weep.

This isn't just a moment for parents and children. Because it's so expected, it's a common plot point for an adult to teach a companion who never learned to ride. The result is that they get to teach their friend or romantic partner a valuable skill, providing a bonding moment (and probably some comedy) along with a little bit of freedom.

Useful Note: For their first rides, keep the seat low enough that the student's feet can reach the ground. Let them push themselves and balance themselves without the pedals until they get a feel for how the bike moves, balances itself, and turns. Then, when they're comfortable, raise the seat and let them get comfortable with the pedals and brakes as a separate exercise.

How common are bikes? Hero Stole My Bike, that's how common.

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Examples:

Comic Strips

• Calvin and Hobbes: A Running Gag is Calvin having trouble learning to ride his bike, which he imagines as a sentient, evil bike. Bill Watterson loved biking and shared that passion with Calvin's dad, so Dad was trying to share his passion with his son. The series Book Ends with Dad finally putting training wheels on the bike and Calvin finding peace with the dread machine.

Literature

• In The Berenstain Bears book "The Bike Lesson", Papa Bear tries to teach Brother Bear (then named Small Bear, since Sister Bear wasn't born), how to ride a bike, but keeps goofing up. He saves face by claiming that he was just giving him lessons on what not to do.
• The Giver: At the Ceremony of Nine, the children are given bicycles for the first time, instead of having to ride on the back of a parent's bike, and thus shown to be more independent in the Community. While this should be the first time the child is on the bike and thus wobbly and unskilled at riding, many are taught by older siblings beforehand in secret.
• Ramona Quimby: In "Ramona Forever", when Howie's uncle Hobart gives him a unicycle, Howie gives his bicycle away to Ramona. However, when she tries to ride it, she falls and cuts her knee.

Live-Action TV

• Thanks to her Hilariously Abusive Childhood, Phoebe of Friends never owned a bike. The B-Plot of "The One With All the Candy" focuses on Ross's dismay that she never got to have that experience, and he buys her a bike. Then, realizing she doesn't know how to ride it, tries to teach her (including the typical moment where he lets go and she's doing it on her own! Only she realizes he's not there anymore and freaks out). The episode ends with her happily riding her bike thanks to training wheels.
• The Rose family of Schitt's Creek are each and every one an Upper-Class Twit, such that David and Alexis never learned to ride bikes (he freaked out so badly the family burned all of their bikes up at the Hamptons). Mutt buys Alexis a bike (because she missed her spin classes) and then he and Twyla spend the episode teaching her to ride. The episode ends with Alexis teaching David, too.
• On Doctor Who, Ryan has dyspraxia, a condition which impairs his coordination, and thus has never learned to ride a bike. He won't give up, and as they bond, this cements the father-son dynamic with his step-grandfather, Graham.
• Niles and Frasier Crane match the Upper-Class Twit archetype, specifically the Stereotypical Nerd variety, with neither having learned to ride, and get to spend an episode hilariously failing to do so. Their father mentions that he tried to teach them as kids but they kept injuring themselves and he was worried the family doctor thought something worse was happening.
• One episode of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood features both Prince Tuesday and Ana Platypus learning how to ride from Handyman Negri.
• Kodi teaches Truly to ride on the TLC exploitation show Sister Wives.
• Ted Lasso inverts the father-son dynamic by having the son (Jamie) teach the father (Roy) how to ride a bike. The latter never learned because his grandfather promised to teach him shortly before he died. Realizing that never learning went against his grandfather's wishes sends Roy into a spiral before Jamie pulls him out of it.
• Sesame Street: Downplayed in one episode, in which Bert already knows how to ride his bike, but he must learn to ride it without training wheels.
• The Ultraman Taro episode, "Go Beyond the Ultra Brothers!" revolves around Taro's human host, Kotaro, befriending a young boy named Takeshi who's learning how to ride a bike, while dealing with the Monster of the Week, Tyrant. In fact, the climatic Ultra-vs-kaiju fight that caps the episode is inexplicably intercut with Takeshi struggling to maintain balance on his bike in the middle of a chaotic kaiju attack and pedaling to escape.
• Modern Family: In "Slow Down Your Neighbors", Jay tries to teach his stepson how to ride a bike and learns that his wife, Gloria does not know to to ride a bike. He tries to teach her, but she ends up crashing into bushes multiple times.
• Cory in the House: The subplot for "Just Desserts" has Victor trying to teach Sophie to ride a two-wheeler while her father is out of the country. The episode ends with Sophie finally managing to stay steady thanks to the timely arrival of President Martinez... only for both men to realize she doesn't know how to stop.
• Full House: The episode "Easy Rider" has Joey teaching Michelle to ride a two-wheel bike. The main conflict involves Joey trying to regain Michelle's trust when he lets go after he promised not to, causing her to crash.
• Desperate Housewives: In season 5, Mike realizes that he doesn't spend enough time with his son MJ, so he buys him a bike to teach him how to ride. Unfortunately, MJ asks Susan's boyfriend Jackson to teach him instead.
• Family Matters: Steve Urkel's parents don't take up much time at all with him, so he asks neighbor Carl Winslow to teach him to ride a bike. Since Steve is extremely uncoordinated, Hilarity Ensues as he can't control the handlebars or the pedals, tangling himself in the bike and/or falling off of it over and over and over...

Web Video

• The eponymous Buttered Side Down learns how to ride a bike. It doesn't go well.
• Big Train subverted this for Black Comedy: One sketch had Simon Pegg attempting to teach his son to ride a bike. After trying, three times, to push the kid (or, rather, an obvious dummy) on the bike and having him simply flop over, then throwing kid and bike together into the bushes for some reason, he attaches training wheels... which somehow cause the kid to burst into flames.
  We'll try again, and this time... try not to go on fire.

Western Animation

• Arthur: "D.W. Rides Again" focuses on Arthur teaching his younger sister, D.W., how to ride her new bike in time for a biking event.
• One episode of Bluey sees the eponymous Bluey learn to ride.
• The Bob's Burgers episode"As I Walk Through the Alley of the Shadow of Ramps" has Louise's family raise the question of whether Louise is getting too old for her beloved green tricycle, with Bob getting wistful at the notion of teaching another kid to ride a bike. Louise is initially adamant about giving up her "mean green machine," but when Alice the jerkass truck driver runs it over, Bob takes the opportunity to teach Louise to ride a two-wheeler.
• The Great North: A minor subplot in "Cillian Me Softly Adventure" is Beef being assigned a bike to ride for Lone Moose's Disaster Day simulation, much to his displeasure. This is because his parents were very neglectful and absent as he was growing up, so Beef never learned how to ride a bike or had anybody else to teach him. After he confesses this to his son-in-law Jerry (who was also assigned a bike for Disaster Day), Jerry teaches him how to ride a bike. By the end of the episode, Beef is able to ride his bike at a very slow pace and is enjoying himself.
• Hilda: In "The Nightmare Spirit" it is revealed that Hilda never learnt how to ride a bike. She tells this secret to the Rat King, who tells her that the mysterious girl they have been seeing has been causing the nightmares of David. When Hilda challenges the girl, the marra to see if she could get scared by her nightmares, the Marra uses the previous secret to her advantage, and implements Hilda not knowing how to ride a bike in her nightmare. This scares Hilda, and the next morning, she asks her friends to teach her how to ride a bike.
• Milly, Molly: Not the books, but the cartoon has an episode called "Ride to School Day", in which everyone in the girls' class must bike to school for the eponymous day, but Molly is the only one who doesn't know how, which embarrasses her. Milly and Mr. Limpy give her lessons, with the Episode Tagline "believe in yourself".
• King of the Hill: The B-plot of "Bill's House" has Bobby teach Peggy to ride a bike after she makes a fever-induced promise to learn, as she never learned as a kid (growing up in Montana, she rode horses instead). Unfortunately, she just can't figure it out.
• Little Princess: In "I Want to Ride a Bicycle", the Princess wants to learn to ride a bike because her trike is slower than the King's bike. However, because she is only four, she never learns to ride it but she does have fun riding the back of the King's bike.
• Hey Arnold!: In "Gerald's Secret", it is revealed that Gerald doesn't know how to ride a bicycle, and Arnold tries to teach him how.
• Rugrats: The episode "Uneasy Rider" has Chuckie riding a bike for the first time. He has trouble learning to use his brakes and can't stop in time to avoid a mud puddle, which he falls into.
• SpongeBob SquarePants: The episode "Ride Patrick Ride" centers on SpongeBob teaching Patrick how to ride a bike.
• The Simpsons:
  • Parodied in "Take My Wife, Sleaze", when Bart teaches Homer how to ride a motorcycle that he won, complete with training wheels on the rear.
  • Also parodied in "My Mother the Carjacker", during a montage of Homer and Mona making up for lost time. Unfortunately, he rides onto an exit ramp coming out of the highway, cutting right before he collides with a semi-truck.
  • Again parodied in "Pygmoelian", when Bart & Lisa park a bike in front of a hotel in pursuit of a lost pink elephant balloon. Snake Jailbird and his son immediately take it, the son riding while shouting "Daddy, I'm stealing! I'm stealing!"
    Snake: (smiling and rubbing away a tear) Oh, that's my little dude!
• Star vs. the Forces of Evil: The whole plot of "Star on Wheels" was for Star to learn how to ride a bike. Chaos ensues when Marco lets go before teaching her how to brake.

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