Taking Your Kid from Trailer to Tandem

March 10, 2004 on 1:58 pm | In Family | No Comments

Oh, to raise a family. Just a few years ago, my only concerns were personal entertainment, racing bikes on the weekends and pursuing ‘holy grail’ singletrack.

Then I woke up, age 34, looking about the same, but now I’m married and have an amazing daughter.  Occasionally Amber and I have written about biking with Hyla, but now that she is approaching 5 years old, a new chapter is unfurling. She can pedal!

Sure, she has ridden trikes, and even raced her little bike with training wheels, but most of our bio-motor vehicle experience has been passive: snuggled in her Burley Solo Trailer.

Trying to escape winter weather and our hard working routines in Asheville, we booked a week at the beach for the 3rd year. This time, we took a big risk. Without having tested her liking of it, we packed an Adams Trail-A-Bike insta-tandem. Another great risk; I left my sweet bikes at home and brought along a Jamis EC-4 Earth Cruiser instead. The mounting system slid right onto its seatpost and away we drove.

On our first day down there we set out for a 5-mile ride, 4 mile hike to a remote beach, then another 5 miles home; ambitious for sure. As we set out down the flat coastal road, I felt an unexpected thrust…she was pedalling…hard! Oh joy! Active propulsion from my little girl! With the Trail-A-Bikes saddle all the way down, my work was not increased (like the trailer days), but actually aided by her little 18″ legs.

Her sense of accomplishment and contribution to our locomotion is huge, and the whole week became an overwhelming success; a restful vacation.

It may be time to sell the trailer. This bike-tech daddie’s next challenge; clipping her in with kid’s size 8 SPD’s (do they make those yet?).

Here are some pics of one family outing.