twahl
05-08-05, 09:50 PM
There have been a few threads in the past about taking kids for longer rides, so I thought I'd chip in with my recent experiences.
My daughter is coming up on 11 in August. She's very trim and has never been athletic. Her current ride is a Specialized Sirrus. My son is 13, coming up on 14 in October. He's also trim, and getting tall, probably about 5'-4" or so, and would kinda like to be athletic but never really wants to work out in any way. He's really built for cycling in my opinion. His ride in a Specialized Allez.
Neither of them was very good at BMX racing...no ability to deliver a lot of power quickly. However, both are doing well on the road. We took them today for a ride on the Northern Neck of Virginia, which is the land between the Potomac and Rappahanock Rivers. The land of Washington and Lee. Plenty of wind, some hills, mostly short, steep hills, but overall fairly flat. Roads varied from somewhat rough pavement to fresh smooth roads...and about a mile on gravel.
We did 43 miles at an average speed of 11.4 MPH. We were planning to do a century with them in June, but it's coming up fast and I don't think they can truly be ready. Most of the problems were sore butts and wrists, my own included. We've decided to do a metric century rather than the full century, which is still pretty stout for a 10 and 13 year old, and aim to do a full century in the fall. This is, to date, our longest ride with the kids. We've done several ~25 mile rides, and up to 36 before. My son could probably have rocked it out at an average of 13 - 14 MPH.
So my point is this: Given a few things, kids can do the distances. They need firstly patience. Patience to teach them the road skills, patience to allow them to build up the confidence and endurance, and patience to ensure that their smaller bodies are properly fueled and hydrated. They need the right equipment. Big fat 20" or 24" tires on heavy bikes make it impossible for them to keep up with an adult on a road (or mountain) bike. I calculated this ride (using CycleStats) for my daughter for her 24" mountain bike vs. the 700 Sirrus. How about a 200 calorie difference? That's a significant amount of extra effort to go the same distance on smaller diameter tires. Let's call it huge.
Kids can ride, and ride seriously. Mine love this stuff, which is part of the reason we're gonna do the metric...I don't want them to hate that bike. They are really looking forward to it, and always want to go ride. Recreation for the family? You bet!
My daughter is coming up on 11 in August. She's very trim and has never been athletic. Her current ride is a Specialized Sirrus. My son is 13, coming up on 14 in October. He's also trim, and getting tall, probably about 5'-4" or so, and would kinda like to be athletic but never really wants to work out in any way. He's really built for cycling in my opinion. His ride in a Specialized Allez.
Neither of them was very good at BMX racing...no ability to deliver a lot of power quickly. However, both are doing well on the road. We took them today for a ride on the Northern Neck of Virginia, which is the land between the Potomac and Rappahanock Rivers. The land of Washington and Lee. Plenty of wind, some hills, mostly short, steep hills, but overall fairly flat. Roads varied from somewhat rough pavement to fresh smooth roads...and about a mile on gravel.
We did 43 miles at an average speed of 11.4 MPH. We were planning to do a century with them in June, but it's coming up fast and I don't think they can truly be ready. Most of the problems were sore butts and wrists, my own included. We've decided to do a metric century rather than the full century, which is still pretty stout for a 10 and 13 year old, and aim to do a full century in the fall. This is, to date, our longest ride with the kids. We've done several ~25 mile rides, and up to 36 before. My son could probably have rocked it out at an average of 13 - 14 MPH.
So my point is this: Given a few things, kids can do the distances. They need firstly patience. Patience to teach them the road skills, patience to allow them to build up the confidence and endurance, and patience to ensure that their smaller bodies are properly fueled and hydrated. They need the right equipment. Big fat 20" or 24" tires on heavy bikes make it impossible for them to keep up with an adult on a road (or mountain) bike. I calculated this ride (using CycleStats) for my daughter for her 24" mountain bike vs. the 700 Sirrus. How about a 200 calorie difference? That's a significant amount of extra effort to go the same distance on smaller diameter tires. Let's call it huge.
Kids can ride, and ride seriously. Mine love this stuff, which is part of the reason we're gonna do the metric...I don't want them to hate that bike. They are really looking forward to it, and always want to go ride. Recreation for the family? You bet!