I've painstakingly dragged my 3 girls out on bikes since a young age and constantly hectored them about riding straight, looking out, stopping at junctions, minding that car, wearing helmets, being careful etc etc.

They don't really ride much at all now but i've at least done my bit to give them a basic training. It's still nothing like my childhood where i was on a bike every day doing crazy stuff and somehow not dying.

I ride on a very quiet residential street but mine is very young and whilst she's quite good, hearing cars causes her to drift or look.

Alternatively we ride in supermarket car parks when they are shut.

I am trying to get her safely holding a line and braking.

I'd like a bike path but there are not any near us and its difficult to find somewhere flat because she finds even false flats hilly for her but she is 4 so she will improve rapidly

We live on Main St. about a mile from a little downtown area where the schools, library, some shops are located. My daughter rides down there somewhat routinely. She usually just rides on the sidewalk, which no one seems to have a problem with. Once downtown it's a bit of mess with lights and roads coming in and out. People are pretty good about watching out for kids because the schools are right there too, plus there are crosswalks.

Depends on the roads and on the kids! Ours were cycling (with us) on our local roads when they were about 4, but that's on quiet roads, speed limits of 20 or 30mph and traffic calming measures including cameras and speed humps. If you have kid-friendly roads that you feel safe taking them on then I think it can be a good development step in teaching them about road positioning, traffic, etc. But there are places I've lived in the past where there is no way I'd have taken them on the local roads, would have loaded the bikes into the car and driven somewhere instead. Even now (they're 5 and 7) we don't do really do road-only rides, it'll be a section of road that gets us to a park or cycle path where we can all relax a bit.

I have a 5 year old We have sidewalks in our neighborhood so we stay on those. If my daughter wants to go for a longer bike ride ( 1 mile or more) we have paved bike trails about 2 miles from our house. I'll drive her there and ride with her.

I honestly don't trust drivers, I have tons that fly through our neighborhood nor do I trust my kid to pay 100% attention.

Oh and the longer rides with kids are so fun. 40 minutes to go 5 miles, but the stories they tell once they get going are just amazing! Best bike rides in the world!

I generally run while they ride on the greenway because they're slow enough I'd fall asleep on the bike.

They take the sidewalk to the trailhead.

Unfortunately, even in neighborhoods drivers are such self centered murdering cowards that I couldn't have my kids take the 25mph neighborhood street to the trailhead. We have neighbors crossing center, texting, weaving and doing 35+ mph in the 25mph zone.

Leaving on my road bike one day, 100 yards from the house almost had a woman hit me head on because she was swerving wide to turn into her driveway. FWIW, I was within 3 feet of the curb.

I have a 12yo boy, 8yo daughter and 5yo son. The nearest designated path is about 800m away. I try and encourage the younger two to stay on the sidewalk until we get there but there are some sections of road. The oldest has been off riding with his mates now for some time, so I like to think he is somewhat road savvy. The daughter has at times given me cause for concern; not looking when riding across the road; rolling her front tyre into a busy carriageway when coming to a stop in the median crossing of a main road etc. The youngest is still unaware of the true dangers and it's still a game to him. I constantly talk them through every step of the way (keeping to the correct side of the dividing line on a shared path, watching out for opening doors etc).

Any time I start getting comfortable with it I remind myself that my older sister lost a 12yo classmate back in the day who was run over on his bike.

As hard as it can be I'd rather them be out with me than indoors on electronics.

Yeah thats a big one keeping an eye on them. My wife was riding with my daughter on a trail that goes along side a busy road. At an intersection my wife said to cross. My daughter thought that meant turn left not go straight! She rode into a busy 4 lane road where people generally go 40-50mph. Thank goodness there were no cars at that point.

Conflict points that require decisions, be they road intersections, pedestrian crossings or driveways are perhaps the biggest concern.

Ensuring your child knows how to stop quickly is the first priority. Sounds obvious but my youngest transitioned from a balance bike where he was so used to dragging his shoes to stop. Put him on a bike with a pedal brake and front hand brake and he kept defaulting to dragging his feet. This doesn’t work so well on steeper downgrades. So be careful of letting them get too far ahead when they are required to stop.

As pointed out, too much information can overawe them. That’s why at conflict points I often ask them to describe things from their perspective. what do they see, what do they hear, what do we do? Gives you a sense of what they’ve previously absorbed.

It is essential that kids learn to ride in traffic. Spent the summer in Denver and saw many supervised (summer camp??) youth group training rides on neighborhood streets. It was especially encouraging. Hopefully, at least in urban settings, 20 years from now the bicycle will truly rule the streets.