After bicycling with your children in a trailer, you may be wondering if your baby is now able to move on to her own trailer bike. The answer to that question is – maybe. Most children are able to ride safely on a trailer bike from about age 3 or 4, but it will depend on your child.
A trailer bike (tag-along, trail-a-bike) can make bicycling with children a delight for everyone involved. A one-wheeled machine that hooks on to your bike, a trailer bike is perfect for small kids who are big enough to reach the pedals. If she can ride it, she will love helping you pedal and being part of a team.
There are advantages and disadvantages of the trailer bike to consider:
Advantages:
She is working right alongside you rather than being dead weight. As a team, you will climb hills together and will rejoice when you reach the top.
On the trailer bike, the pedals are independent of yours, which means she can pedal when she wants and rest when she wants.
Disadvantages:
You will have to plan for rain or other inclement weather more carefully. In the trailer, it is easy to protect the child but is much more difficult on the trailer bike.
She may fall asleep. Due to the gentle hum of the road and the swaying of the bike, your child may fall asleep at the wheel. When you feel your bike jerking – stop!
If you have the single gear variety of trailer bike, she won’t be able to pedal going up hills. Just like you, she needs gears – but does she know how to use them?
Bicycling with your children will be a wonderful experience for both of you!
Looking for info on bicycling with children, then visit www.familyonbikes.org to find the best advice on taking children bicycling.
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February 26 2010 | cycling | No Comments »
Do you spend your days dreaming of taking off with your children to explore the world? You’ll ride camels around the Egyptian pyramids and gaze in wonder at the graceful domes of the Taj Majal – with your children by your side. You’ll take buses from town to town, fly from country to country, and explore back streets by donkey cart. But travel on bicycles? With children?
I have now cycled about 21,000 miles with my twin sons (now 12) in the past few years, and can tell you that traveling by bike may just be the best way to travel – even with kids!
Most families opt for buses or planes to travel the world, but they miss a lot that way. The motor allows you to easily reach the next city, so you tend to skip the small villages. However, it’s the small villages that have retained the character of the country. In today’s world, cities have become increasingly generic, but villages have not. Travel on bike allows you to spend time in the villages, thereby getting to know the countries you pass through more intimately.
Motorized vehicles encase you in steel and glass and isolate you from Mother Nature. Traveling on bicycle without the protective layer of your vehicle around you, you’ll be more in touch with nature. You’ll feel the wind in your hair and rain on your cheeks. You’ll grind up hills using muscle power only, so will truly understand what those hills are. You’ll feel the effect of altitude on temperature as you climb into the mountains.
But perhaps the most important part of bicycle touring with children are the life lessons they learn from their bikes. They learn lessons that will carry them through life – through all the hardships and struggles they’ll face. They learn to persevere and know they can come out victorious in the end. There are times when only through teamwork can you reach your goal. And sometimes, all you can do is focus on getting through the next 60 seconds and forge ahead.
Can kids learn those lessons by traveling another way? Sure. But the lessons come a whole lot easier on bikes!
Nancy Sathre-Vogel has been bicycling with children for more years than she cares to think about. She is now cycling from Alaska to Argentina with her sons as they attempt to break the world youngest to cycle the Pan American Highway. This and other unique content ‘bicycle touring with children’ articles are available with free reprint rights.
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February 24 2010 | cycling | No Comments »