BICP – Learn to Ride a Bike

Help Someone Discover the Joy of Riding

Teaching someone to ride a bike begins with helping them feel comfortable, supported, and ready to try. BICP – Learn to Ride a Bike provides practical teaching methods to help you guide a new rider from walking beside a bike to balancing, pedaling, and riding with greater independence.

Whether you are a parent helping your child, an instructor working with adult beginners, or an organization developing a Learn to Ride program, this mini-course offers a structured approach to making those first experiences positive and encouraging.

Who This Course Is For

• Parents and caregivers teaching a child to ride.
• Bike instructors and coaches working with first-time riders.
• Schools, recreation departments, and community organizations.
• Volunteers and program staff helping people discover cycling.
• Anyone supporting an adult who is learning to ride for the first time.

Our Purpose

Help you create a welcoming learning environment where new riders can develop foundational bike skills, build confidence, and experience the satisfaction of riding independently.

Core Principles

• Comfort before complexity. Help riders become familiar with the bike before adding new challenges.
• Balance before pedaling. Give riders time to explore how the bike moves and responds.
• Progress at the rider’s pace. Use readiness and understanding to guide the next step.
• Encouragement throughout. Recognize effort, respect concerns, and celebrate small accomplishments.
• Independence as the goal. Help riders develop control and make decisions for themselves.

What You Will Learn

Through this mini-course, you will learn how to:

• Recognize basic bike features and assess suitability for a beginning rider.
• Choose an appropriate lesson location and prepare essential equipment.
• Teach riders to walk and maneuver a bike before riding.
• Introduce balance and gliding through manageable progressions.
• Help riders begin pedaling and get moving independently.
• Introduce braking, steering, and shifting as appropriate to the bike and rider.
• Understand the purpose and limitations of the basic holds presented in the course.
• Adapt your communication and activities to support rider confidence.

Earn Your BICP Mini-Course Badge

Complete all lessons and pass the BICP Learn to Ride – Exam to earn your downloadable BICP Learn to Ride a Bike professional-development badge.

Your badge recognizes completion of this mini-course and your commitment to supporting new riders through patient, confidence-building instruction. You can share it on social media, your website, or your professional profile.

This mini-course provides professional development and a completion badge. It does not grant BICP instructor certification.

A positive first experience can open the door to a lifetime of riding.Teaching others to ride a bike

This course will help you share the joy of riding a bike by teaching others to ride a bike for the very first time. Whether you are a parent working with your child or represent an organization or school wanting to build a Learn to Ride a Bike Program, this course will provide you with essential teaching points and methods, bike information, and strategies to help a new rider of any age overcome their worries and help them succeed in riding a bike.