Recreational & Family - Child trailer - starting and stopping advice

I've recently bought a Burley D'Lite trailer and Mongoose hybrid bike so that I can still get some riding when I am doing Daddy Daycare with my two children on weekends. We are having a great time except that I am finding the whole process of loading the kids into the trailer, hitching and getting going and also when stopping a bit 'messy' and has resulted in the resting bike falling over a couple of times when I am concentrating on the children and trailer. My principal concern is to avoid damage to the bike.

I assume that someone out there has worked out the solution - either a bike stand or the right 'order' to do things so that everything and everyone is happy. My kids are 3 years and 18 months so are not really all that controllable yet. I have begun to change the order of doing things so that I hitch the trailer to the bike only when everyone is in and we are about to go and unhitch at the other end before letting everyone out so that I can put the bike somewhere safe - it is a bit time consuming - anyone been able to master this in a different way?

I always hitch the trailer to the bike first. I lean the bike against something and load our 16 month old. Our 3 year old is able to get in on their own. The 3 year old does not get in until the baby is in. If there is nothing to lean the bike against I try to find a slight slope and lay the bike pointing up the hill to load them.

When I load with the bike standing, I keep my leg against the trailer bar to keep the bike from tipping over. Of course, with the bike on the ground, there is no danger of tipping over.

I am guessing that your problem is a result of your handlebars. If you lean a bike against a wall, longish flat handlebars will cause the front tire to be turned off center. Typically the wheel will point away from the wall. In this configuration, the bike is much more likely to fall as the bike is given a way to roll away from the wall. Corners of buildings work well to help overcome this if you put the handlebars so that they hook the corner. Barring that, you would need a wall that is lower than your handlebars to get a stable lean.

A kickstand is really helpful for this. Back when I was using my trailer to drop off my daughter on the way to work, the thing just stayed connected to the bike all summer. If you

Paul

Stupid question: can you instal the bike on the trailer while the bike is lying down?

Answer to the "stupid question": Esge two-legged kickstand. It holds the bike upright. When I actually installed the kid, I typically attached the bike to a post or leaned it against the fence.

Notice past tense as my children are now 11 and 7.

My bike is totally banged up from loading my daughter into the trailer at her daycare on the *well* drained (tilted) parking lot. 2-legged kickstand would be the solution if I could just get around to implementing it.

What about one of those folding bike stand that the front tire or back tire goes in? I am pretty sure I will just have the wife hold the bike until I am ready to go and they she can mount and catch up while I ride in a 'holding pattern'.

I hook up the trailer first, get it all loaded and get my daughter in there last of all, once all bags and other junk are loaded up. I usually rest it up against the railings/wall of my house or her Mums house, if we're going out on a day trip the trailer stays connected until we're done. If it weren't for steps, I'd leave it hooked up when I bring my daughter over, etc. but I have to disconnect to get bike + trailer down to my lower level place.

I have a simple rear axle kickstand which seems to help in times of need - just take your time, I guess.

I have a Chariot for my twins. I usually pull it with an old mountain bike and I put on a kickstand just for this purpose. It also helps if the trailer has a parking brake.