Riding With Kids
How do you ride with kids? I'm trying to get my kids used to riding with traffic, teaching them the rules, etc. We've taken our 4 kids to church, grocery store, out to eat, and all kinds of places on the bike. My 9 yr. old and 7 yr. old ride their bikes while my 4 yr. old and 1 yr. old ride in the trailer with me. It won't be long before the 4 yr. old is on a bike too. Typically my wife or I will take the front. We'll put the two riding kids between us and the other adult will take the rear.
It works pretty well on neighborhood streets and the trails. But you just can't get very far without crossing and sometimes riding on a major street. We often find ourselves having to use Country Club, College, Tyler, Salem, or Prince, at least for short distances. M wife can't stand the thought of the kids being on the road with cars (they do sometimes behave unpredictably - even with instruction) so she often directs them to the sidewalk. To me, the sidewalk is more dangerous. What do others do? Do y'all just stay off the streets with your kids, drive to a safe place, let them use a sidewalk, or what? We will eventually have better places to ride, but in the meantime we will have to use the streets. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Greg
Riding with Kids
I take my 6-year-old to school every day by bike. We can't avoid riding on or crossing major streets. I ride slightly ahead of her and slightly to the left of her. She has a bell on her bike so that she can alert me quickly if there's a problem I don't see. At the busiest streets we get off our bikes and cross the street that way (but sometimes there's no safe place on the other side to stop to get back on, which is a problem). We also leave plenty early so that we're not in a big hurry to cross streets - we can take our time and watch for good openings.
One other thing - we both wear helmets, all the time. At her elementary school I have yet to see another kid who bikes to school wearing a helmet.
I used to ride ahead of my
I used to ride ahead of my kids, but I've decided to let them stay ahead of me for the most part. I typically also ride a bit to the left of them. When I was in the lead I would inevitably get too far ahead of them. The challenge now is getting them to go fast enough :-)
Greg Reddin
Bakfiets
This is what I was telling you about the other day...
They are made in the Netherlands. Tons of people ride them over there. As far as I know there is only one place to get them currently and they are in Seattle. However, they are opening a shop in Chicago soon.
Here is a blog about a family that has one.
Kids are one of the
Kids are one of the exceptions to the stay-off-the sidewalks rule... It's generally recommended that they stick to the sidewalks (in residential areas, not downtown or the business district where sidewalk riding is patently illegal) until they have the expereince and the judgement to ride the street. You as a parent have the best observationand judgement as to when that point is.
When taking to the streets, teach them to walk their bikes to the end of the driveway, then look left, right, and then left again to be sure that traffic is clear. They should wear their helmet, ride on the right side of the street, ride in a straight line, learn to look behind them, and the fundamentals of traffic (signs & signals, how to cross intersections, etc.) Bikes really aren't toys, they're your child's first vehicle, and a wonderful start on eventually learning how to drive motor vehicles...
Thanks
That was helpful. I'm glad I don't have to feel bad about putting them on the sidewalks in some cases.
Greg Reddin
Too Small Still
My kids are too small to ride by themselves; so I tug them around in a trailer (Chariot Corisaire XL, it is awesome). My oldest is getting close though so I am thinking about it. What you are doing is exactly what I would do -- stay off the sidewalks and main roads unless absolutely necessary.
The other thing to consider is getting a tag along bicycle. Basically a one wheel bicycle that attaches to yours. The trailer can also be attached to the wheel on the tag along. Yeah you would look goofy but it would get the job done.
If you have the money you could look at getting a Surly Big Dummy and let them ride on the rack. Again the trailer could hook to the back of that too.
As you can imagine though, tethering all of that together is going to put some strain on you and your bike. I would use a rugged mountain bike with street tires to do this. I would also suggest nice disc breaks to enhance your stopping power.
Chad Files - http://www.chadfiles.com