My boy was on a balance bike from two and on a pedal bike from 3 1/2. He's just turned six now, and has done 25km on his own bike, and competed in a duathlon. Last summer, we did a 112km brevet together on the tandem in my profile pic. Very proud.

So, as you can imagine, when I heard that my colleague had got his kid on a balance bike before he was two, and riding a pedal bike at 2y11m (really well too - he'll happily ride a couple of kilometres), I realised I am a failure as a dad. The shame!

I have a 10 year old road racer on my hands. His first year of racing was 2011 and he finished 2nd in the State for 10-12 year olds in the Best All Around Rider competition. He is a B+ rider at 10.... He will be dropping me soon!!!

Youngmonkey, that is really great! Your DD is gonna be a little monster on a bike, someday! :glasses:

We just got our almost 11 year old son his first REAL bike (ie not a department store special or his dad's 30+# childhood BMX bike, which is what he's been riding for years). His new bike is a Redline Conquest 24 cyclocross bike. It's almost as heavy as his previous bike, but it has gears (18 speeds, I believe--a real compact double) and cantilever brakes, rather than coaster brakes. It's essentially the scaled-down version of my cyclocross bike. We can't wait for better weather to get out with him to work on shifting and braking.

Longest rides for my sons - Son #1 (17) did 54m and #2 (13) did 30m last weekend. They have nice bikes purchased through the UK Cycle to Work Scheme.

Best of all is that cycling gets them off their PS3s!