Advice, information, ideas on cycling with kids.
Families who are already cycling and want more or to share the love
Recently I was asked for three suggestions for Christmas gift ideas for biking kids. But how to stop at three! Here are some ideas for all budgets (including no-budget) that will put a smile on the face of all kind of biking kids (and the not so young). Continue reading “Xmas gift ideas for biking kids”
Do you need a bit of motivation, or some well reasoned selling points up your sleeve? Here are my top 10 answers to the question of “Why cycle with kids?”:
There you have it, motivation sorted. Just remember the saying “the hardest part of going for a run is getting your shoes on”. Sometimes getting started is tricky, but we get going when we focus on just how great it will be once we are on our way and doing what we enjoy. Now you’ve got 10 things to focus on, so grab your bikes and get out there!
“Let’s do it again.” That was our kids response after we completed the Otago Central Rail Trail a few years ago. So after talking them out of taking the exact same holiday, we started scanning around for alternatives. Thanks to the growth of the NZ Cycle Trails, we were spoilt for choice.
Choosing to ride the Hauraki trail was influenced by:
The Hauraki Trail looked like a good match for us. With the kids aged 6 and 9 it wasn’t going to be too hard for them, yet it held plenty of interest along the way. Particularly with a child interested in geology/rocks/mining (aka big holes in the ground). It had the added attraction of being able to invite friends and relatives from that part of the country to join us for some/all of the trail. However for our friends in Aussie with older kids, Hauraki looked less attractive: they were looking for bigger challenges. Fair enough too: if you’ve got older kids this might not be the trail for you, or you might want to do it in bigger chunks.
We were also happy to wait a few years after the official opening of the trail (circa 2012), reasoning that this would be enough time for the services to get going. We are reluctant to ‘wing it’ when touring with kids.
Having made that decision it was time to get down to details. When considering Hauraki as an option I’d looked at daily distances and made sure there would be somewhere to stay each night if we did shorter than the usual suggested daily distances. So it didn’t take much more effort to convert those margin notes on the brochure into an itinerary that looked a bit like this:
| Origin | Destination | Mode | Distance | en-route | Notes | |
| Day 1 | Thames | Hikutaia | Bike | 22 km | Cheese Factory | |
| Day 2 | Hikutaia | Wahi | Bike & Train | 24 km to Waikino | Goldfields Railway | 8km extra if don’t take train from Waikino to Wahi |
| Day 3 | Wahi | Paeroa | Bike | 22 km | 1 hour windows walk | |
| Day 4 | Paeroa | Te Aroha | Bike | 21 km | ||
| Day 5 | Te Aroha | Relax | Gold Discovery Centre in Wahi.
Hot Pools!!!!!!! |
When making your itinerary, consider:
My rule of thumb for choosing an appropriate distance for cycling with kids is to pick what a reasonable distance for an adult would be and halve it. Thus if a multi day ride suggests doing it in 50km days, change that to 25 km per day with kids (or less). Choose shorter distances to start with, and increase the distance gradually. Follow longer or hillier days with less challenging ones, or rest days.
Originally we planned to use a luggage transfer service and leave our car at one end, just as we had done when we did the Otago Central Rail Trail. In the end we scuttled that idea and chose the ‘leap frog’ option:
Leave the car at previous nights accommodation, cycle together to next overnight stop, then one person cycles back and gets the car. You won’t need a luggage transfer service, you can dry your laundry in the car, and you have a car for getting around at your destination.
Our only disagreements were over whose turn it was to go back and get the car. We both wanted to!
We made use of the accomodation booking service offered by the local trail trust. I liked the idea of just being able to give them dates and locations, along with our basic requirements and have them do the legwork. I also like supporting the trail trust in their work: they get a commission from the accomodation operators. It worked out pretty well, and we had a good variety of suitable accomodation, and the one booking botch-up was quickly and professionally rectified (thumbs up!).
When choosing accomodation we like the option of self catering; we also look for: proximity to shops (for essential provisions) or the pub (for dinner), child-friendly (whether that means swimming pools or highchairs…), laundry facilities (wash and dry), and bike friendliness (safe place to lock your bike and an attempt not to wrinkle their nose when you turn up sweaty or drenched ….. well you would expect that wouldn’t you!).
In Part 2 I’ll share our experiences on the trail, including our highlights.
“There’s no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing.”
In New Zealand we are fortunate that we can cycle year round. For most parts of the country, our winter temperatures are reasonable and our weather challenges consist of rain and wind. Deeper south there are snow days to contend with, but they are the exception rather than the rule. Elsewhere in the world winter means months of snow and ice, and not seeing grass until spring.
A Chariot CX2 cycle trailer was our major purchase when expecting our first child. After two children and six years of use we were sad to see it go. I made a photo slide show celebrating its usefulness:
We chose the ‘Chariot’ brand double trailer for its safety, versatility and protection. We used it extensively not only for cycling, but also as a jogging pram, single and double stroller and cargo trailer for errands around town. On outings, we’ve even put our daughters balance bike in the trailer with her, so she could self-propel from time to time. It was light and easy to tow. Our biggest accident with it was when we misjudged the track width and it jack-knifed off the trail and down a bank. Our child, although surprised, was unharmed (and thought the whole incident was a blast).
Width and length of the overall ‘rig’ are the main downside of trailers. Our local bike trail uses very narrow pinch point gates to discourage motorbikes. To get past we had to unhitch it and lift it over, which is definitely a two person job. As a stroller it was wide and not always easy to maneuver around shops and through doorways. We found that the disadvantages were outweighed by its versatility, durability, excellent weather protection and its gear/groceries carrying capacity.
What piece of family cycling equipment would you like to nominate for a hall of fame?
The best way to teach children cycling skills is to ride with them. Awareness, caution, predictability and visibility skills are grown layer upon layer with lots of practice, guidance and positive reinforcement. When you introduce them to road riding, your position relative to them should enable you to be constantly observing and coaching. And remember, a great coach tells us what we are doing right as well as where and how we need to improve. Continue reading “Riding on the road”
If you don’t know what Strava is then head over to the archives and check out another post. If however, you use Strava or another performance tracking tool, then read on my friend. If you subscribe to the motto: “If it’s not on Strava then it doesn’t count” then commit this post to heart. Continue reading “Forget Strava”
