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Video: Balance bike racing - It's fast, it's furious… It's tiny tots on two wheelsBalance Bike Racing - Takeshi Ishimaru Facebook video still.PNG

Video: Balance bike racing - It's fast, it's furious… It's tiny tots on two wheels

Top cornering skills, crashes and drama in ultra-competitive race action with a fantastic finish
by Simon_MacMichael
Tue, Nov 29, 2016 17:37
8

We’ve covered toddlers racing on balance bikes before here on road.cc, and we’ll make no apologies for sharing another video of it with you – there’s something compelling about watching the little tykes tearing round the track having fun and being ultra-competitive in equal measure.

Uploaded to Facebook yesterday by Takeshi Ishimaru from Osaka, Japan, there’s some top cornering skills – and a couple of crashes – on a drying-out circuit in what turns out to be a closely-fought tussle for the win.

Balance bike brand Strider has already announced a number of events for 2017 for kids aged 18 months to 5 years who own one of its bikes.

Those include the Strider Downhill Cup next August, coinciding with the British Cycling National Downhill Mountain Bike Series in Llangollen.

Other events will take place in Birmingham as well as at the Staffordshire Cycling Festival at Chillington Hall and Kent’s Cyclopark – head here for details.

> Balance Bike Buyers Guide – and six of the best

Balance Bike
Simon MacMichael

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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8 comments

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whobiggs | 7 years ago
0 likes

Such irresponsible parents allowing them out without stabilisers!

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Altimis | 7 years ago
0 likes

Just wow 4 that really run to watch!

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flathunt | 7 years ago
0 likes

Craches or creches?

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OldRidgeback | 8 years ago
2 likes

My eldest used to absolutely love hammering down a steep hill on the balance bike while my youngest preferred taking it to the BMX track. They've both done BMX racing since. In the South Region we have some races at BMX tracks for balance bikes, as well as training sessions. Most of the kids that do it tend to come from BMX families and then graduate to racing later on.

Balance bikes are a great way to start riding and every times I see a kid on a bike with stabilisers I can't help thinking the parents have taken the wrong approach.

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Beatnik69 | 8 years ago
8 likes

WHere did the kid in the white helmet come from? Check his bike for a motor. Does a urine test involve wringing out his nappy?

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Bristol Bullet replied to Beatnik69 | 8 years ago
6 likes

Beatnik69 wrote:

WHere did the kid in the white helmet come from? Check his bike for a motor. Does a urine test involve wringing out his nappy?

He (or she) drunk half a bottle of Calpol (other analgesics are available) just before the start of the race but it's ok as he (or she) has got a TUE for it. 

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thesaladdays replied to Beatnik69 | 7 years ago
2 likes

Beatnik69 wrote:

WHere did the kid in the white helmet come from? Check his bike for a motor. Does a urine test involve wringing out his nappy?

 

That was excellent!  White Helmet held back in third spot for a while and chose a great moment to attack, some true skill there, and the cornering, really impressive!

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Tommytrucker | 8 years ago
3 likes

Looks great fun, if a little manic! Our youngest had a balance bike, he was like a whippet. He's now 3 and on a proper bike, pedalling furiously! I've just got to teach him how to use the brakes!

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