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freedom from training wheels

A family bicycle workshop

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition is proud to help the next generation learn to ride confidently and comfortably on two wheels at the Freedom From Training Wheels Family Workshops across the city. At every Sunday Streets instructors are on hand to help caretakers and kids glide and ride on two wheels.

We will be offering our popular Freedom from Training Wheels program at all of 2013 Sunday Streets! Check the Sunday Streets website for dates and locations!

We offered Freedom from Training Wheels Sessions at each of 2012 Sunday Streets, helping over 250 families learn the joys of balancing, pedaling and biking! Next year, you and your child can bring a bike and helmet (if you have them) and maybe a snack to share. We provide the tools needed to get your child gliding, and a few additional bikes to lend if needed. Workshops are 'drop in' and children of all ages are encouraged to attend!


We need Freedom Leaders! If you are interested in assisting with our 2013 Freedom From Training Wheels workshops, please email Grace. We need your help in coaching parents and the next generation of San Francisco bike riders! It's fun, easy, and so rewarding!

Read our Parent Instructions document (PDF) to learn how to teach a child how best to ride!

Email Marc if you have questions.


Bike About Town:
Freedom From Training Wheels

By Linda Atkins

Jess Zak teaches Emma Cooney Geisler to ride a bike with guidance from SF Bicycle Coalition.

This is our Bike About Town column, which appeared in The Chronicle on June 30, 2011.

Does the approach of Independence Day have your youngest friends and family members craving two-wheeled liberation? If so, head for a Freedom From Training Wheels class, where children as young as 3 learn to ride bicycles on their own. The free classes are offered at Sunday Streets events throughout summer and fall, and on car-free John F. Kennedy Drive in Golden Gate Park on winter weekends (weather permitting). Instructors from the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition have been known to help get dozens of tykes on bikes in a single day.

No Training Wheels

The ritual of removing training wheels is one many adults recall and that seems built into the process of learning to ride a bike. But the Freedom From Training Wheels approach teaches kids to ride with no training wheels at all, ever.

“Never introducing the training wheels means you never need to take them away,” said Jess Zak, a Freedom From Training Wheels instructor.

Read the rest of this article on our blog