Learning to ride a bicycle in Taiwan

So a couple of weeks ago a friend lent us some bicycles for the rest of the summer. I was eager to get on the road, but Alan was a little anxious. When I had asked him to go on a ride when we were in Provo, he would say that he wasn't a good bike rider and didn't want to go.  He had never had a bicycle growing up...that was his excuse...or so I thought. I was not very sensitive, because I have been riding since I can remember, I had a little strawberry short cake bicycle. (Which I hated at the time because I really wanted a mountain bike like my brothers. I thought then they would let me go play cops and robbers with them.) Anyways, so I pushed and pushed and finally we were on the road. Alan was super nervous, but  I thought he was just being a baby.  

I noticed he was having trouble keeping up, so I decided to pull back and ride behind him. It was from behind that I noticed Alan kept putting his feet on the ground to break. (like longboarding) 

Alan use the breaks on the handle bars! 

Stop talking to me Crys! You are making me nervous!

Every time a car past he would put his feet down. When he did pedal, he was all kinds of swervy and wobbly. It was about then that I realized....

Alan, I thought you said you knew how to ride a bike. 

No, Crys. I have only ever ridden in my friends garage as a kid!!!

This fact was something not well communicated to me. I wanted to laugh, but in order to preserve his dignity I didn't let it out. The difference between riding a kids bike in a garage is very different from riding on the narrow and busy streets of Taiwan.  He was extremely frustrated the entire time and kept saying we were never going riding again. But he was a trooper and kept riding even though he was scared and frustrated. By the time we were on our way home from dinner, he was a pro.  He hardly wobbled and he could ride in an almost straight line. He definitely had a crash course in learning to ride a bicycle.  I didn't even let him practice first, because I thought he already knew how to ride.  (It reminds me of the time that Alan took me snowboarding for the first time and I told him I had been a couple times as a kid so he took me down a blue....in Park City.  It about killed me and I told him I would never go again. But I did and I will. I guess we are even.)  Now, a couple weeks later, you would never guess he had just learned to ride a bicycle. I am so proud of him. He loves it and is excited to get back home and get a bike of his very own...without a basket. ;)

He looks so handsome on his bicycle.  It is an awesome bike. I am stuck on the smaller and less good-looking bike...without a basket. :( But I will do it in hopes he will keep loving to ride.