Posted by Frank Day (63.201.228.13) on January 18, 2004 at 11:55:52:
In Reply to: Addition to Franks statements on coordination posted by Juerg on January 18, 2004 at 11:15:53:
Juerg, You make a very interesting point
: As Frank states , we should actually only use independant pedals when we bike. I tried this system on a child , , who biked very little and very poorly before, and he was able to ride very fast with this system. Actually now riding from and to school and this even off road. ( It is actually my youngest son )
: I think Frank is right , independant pedals on kids , no other pedals ever, may change the way performance could be in cycling.
I have resisted saying children should use PC's because I think childhood should be fun and it is not necessarily "fun" if one has to put on special shoes everytime one wants to ride a bike with one's friends.
However, that being said. I suspect that a child, who has never known another way of pedaling would be able to do essentially anything on them, including technical off road riding, simply because they would develop the skills.
Further, the activity would enhance all of their athletic skills, especially making them faster runners (and more coordinated) in comparison to their peers. This could be helpful to their ego development and help them to "like" exercise such that they may want to continue exercise when they are adults.
Anyhow, we will know the tranformation of society is complete when WalMart sell tricycles with independent cranks! When (if) that happens I wonder if my memory will be priased or cursed?
Frank