Good morning Abbo,
I had that same trouble with my wheel. I found that by binding the rim with paracord it was much more pleasant to handle and gave a very good grip. Plenty of colours to match your taste but a bit of a fiddle to carry out.
It seemed to me that the diameter of the rim of the wooden wheel was too small to be comfortable for a long journey - must have become used to modern cars.

Rgards, Ross
+4 06