Learning to ride a bike is a rite of passage for any kid, so much so that we even use the expression “taking the training wheels off” for all kinds of situations. We say it to mean that we are going to let someone perform an activity on his own after removing some safeguard, even though we know he will likely experience failures before becoming proficient at it.

You see, riding a bike requires an individual to learn three skills—how to balance on the bike, how to pedal, and how to brake—and training wheels allow the child to master two of those three without the dangers associated with failing at the third.

But at some point the training wheels must come off, and the child must learn to balance on her own. Inevitably this ends with some scraped knees and tears, and in some cases a general desire to never touch a bike again. We hope the child eventually learns and discovers what a great joy riding a bike is, but this isn’t about the end of the process but rather how one gets there.

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