It is a mystery for the city's cycling lobby Pedal Power, all the more baffling because in all other categories in a national participation survey for cycling, Canberra comes out on top. Nearly 82,000 people ride their bike at least once a week in Canberra, 23 per cent higher than the national average.

But in the 0-9 years category, the participation rate is 15 per cent behind the national average of 49 per cent, which is alarming according to Pedal Power's chief executive John Armstrong.

"An even bigger concern is, if these children aren't riding a bicycle, are they at least being active and healthy through other means?" Mr Armstrong said. Pedal Power knew this age group needed attention, but not as severely as reality would suggest.

"We all remember being five years old, and running our legs along the ground before putting them on the pedals of our bike," Mr Armstrong said. "Our parents releasing the back of the seat and us riding without training wheels for the first time."

Isobel Jones comes from a cycling family and has been on a bike since age two. Her father Stuart Jones says she has pretty much grown up around people riding bikes.

"We are lucky in Canberra to have a great network of bike paths, particularly where we are, in the inner north," Mr Jones said. "Isobel can ride almost the whole way to school on a cycle way and feel quite safe there. On the road, if I ever ride with her, I do like to ride next to her or behind her, to try and make her feel a bit safer."

Mr Jones said if schools were a long way from children's homes, riding may not be an option, and at other times, parents could find the logistics of taking bikes to a place to ride a hassle.

"I know where we live near Turner School, there are lots of kids riding to school, in the outer suburbs where the distances are greater, the chances are decreased," Mr Jones said.

Mr Armstrong said Pedal Power's 2015-2017 strategy introduced initiatives such as the Ride or Walk to School Program and Education & Training in Cycling to get more people on bikes.

The national survey found absolute cycling numbers in the ACT have increased by 3.7 per cent since 2011, and 83 per cent of those surveyed (over the age of 15) said they felt comfortable while riding a bike.

Canberra's male participation rate is much higher than the national rate, while the female participation rate is similar to the national average.