Recreational & Family - mini-rant about kids and cycling

I don't mean to judge, but I'm going to:

I was out for a ride on the local MUP today, not a cloud in the sky, about 30degree weather (works out to about 80 F, I think), reasonably humid, all in all a hot day. Along the path, I found a mom and her two kids (about 8-10 yrs) sitting in the shade, their bikes near by. Both the kids were bright red and barely sweating, showing the first signs of a heat emergency (heat stroke/exhaustion). The mom said that she had brought a single half-litre bottle of water for the three of them for this trip, and they had gone about 3 miles. I have the kids some water out of my camelbak to keep them from getting any worse. I just want to say this:

there is nothing more important when your kids are performing physical activities than HYDRATION. all the safety gear in the world won't stop them from overheating and succoming to illness.

thanks for letting me rant.

I usually try to get my kids to drink water before we go. But since I (currently) only have one bottle cage, I can only take one bottle with me, but its also a bit bigger than your normal bottle of water. And I usually stop every mile or so, in the shade and make them drink if they havent already. And if its a hot day, 85+, I wait to go biking until evening.

great idea... let the heat dissipate.

Good point. I'll always try to carry a full bottle for each kid. I had to use hose clamps to mount a bottle cage on my daughter's trail-a-bike. Drink, drink, drink! I'd rather have to stop a few extra times for a potty break than risk heat exhaustion.

80 degrees seems pretty mild to me, I dunno.

80 degrees seems pretty mild to me, I dunno.

It depends on where you live. In San Diego, 80 degrees is considered hot.

80 degrees seems pretty mild to me, I dunno.

Depends on humidity too, the higher the humidity, the less effective sweat is at cooling, the greater the risk of heat exhaustion

I have to hide my kids water bottles, they will suck the whole thing down before we even get started.

Good rant! My wife and I have 100oz Camelbaks and carry bottles when the kids come with us. Never really thought of it in the same terms as your post. (ie: I bring water for comfort & convenience) When I was a kid (a long time ago) we rode our bikes everywhere we wanted to go, all day, every day. If we got thirsty, we'd either go home or knock on a neighbors door. And, I didn't have cage on my Schwinn Lemon Peeler back then! That being said, my encounter this past Saturday with a mother and her 2 kids went like this. My wife and I were riding the trail back to the car. Ahead we see a group of people in the center and left of our path. I thought somebody was hurt and prepared accordingly as we approached. Nope! I guess the young boy decided he wanted a snack and drink and also decided that sitting Indian style in the grassy area dividing the two tracks was the best place to enjoy them. The mother and daughter just straddled their bikes, blocking the left track in total. I just didn't get it?

Just got my daughter one of these:

http://www.camelbak.com/sports-recreation/hydration-packs/mini-mule.aspx

And she loves it. But now the problem is finding bathrooms on our rides!

Roland

Water IS so important! Wise rant!

I have to hide my kids water bottles, they will suck the whole thing down before we even get started.

Same here...my son 5 will suck his down waiting to ride, where my daughter 7 will sip hers the whole ride.

What's wrong with them drinking it before hand? Hydration is hydration.

What's wrong with them drinking it before hand? Hydration is hydration.

do you have young kids? do you know how many (private) bathrooms are available on a bike path? I'm sure you can see why now.

For you parents thinking about camelbak type devices. Young kids typically like using them. However they do not quite get their limitations. I have two bladders that have been rendered useless by my kids biting through the mouth piece. It may be cheaper to have them on waterbottles until they can control their urge to bite.

Camelback sells replacement bite valves so you can replace just the valve and not the whole bottle.
We had the problem that the kids flooded themselves (diaper and pullup) on a ride because they drank so much water at the start.

do you have young kids? do you know how many (private) bathrooms are available on a bike path? I'm sure you can see why now.

If you gotta go... just go! Find a bush or something. Keeping it all in the bladder is bad.

I think I got the c to f conversion wrong: 20C is 72F, so it might be higher. we also had about 85% humidity that day, which was my concern: it was stinkin hot. bottom line: keep your kids hydrated, keep them safe.

If you gotta go... just go! Find a bush or something. Keeping it all in the bladder is bad.

Yep. And if it's really hot, you shouldn't have to urinate - unless you're drinking way too much. I drank a diet coke and half a water bottle on the way to my ride yesterday, and three full bottles on the ride in 90+ degree heat and drank another bottle on the way home in the car and didn't even think about urinating. My body sweated out anything it didn't need.

If you gotta go... just go! Find a bush or something. Keeping it all in the bladder is bad.

that isnt always an option. with my son, I would just take him out in the woods a bit off the trail (IF theres a spot on this bike path), but my daughter is a bit pickier(sp?). there is a "restroom" nearby on the ball diamond, the type with a metal bucket and toilet seat. couldnt get her to go on that. should make things interesting when we start camping....

Camelback sells replacement bite valves so you can replace just the valve and not the whole bottle.
We had the problem that the kids flooded themselves (diaper and pullup) on a ride because they drank so much water at the start.

Thanks enine, I did not know that. I will check if I can get them locally.

Another tip for camelbaks, is to clean them immediately after a ride. Dry as best you can (I just shake and drink out what I can) then stick them in the freezer until you want to use them again. Stops any mold formation.

I noticed that our kids have to go more ofthen than we do since as someone said we sweat it all out, they just sit there in the seats and we are doing all thw work.
Finding a public place to go is hard enough, finding one that isn't nasty is even harder. Boys its easy since they don't have to sit, but girls have to site down and touch whatver is on that seat.
arej00dazed we bought one of the nice porta potties (actually a used camper on craisglist with it inside), this way we have a potty prety much the same as home.

FWIW, billions of girls can/do pee without sitting. Ever seen a toilet in Asia? (not the fancy electronic Japanese made ones! The old school "hole in the ground" toilet one squats over...)

No, I have never seen a toilet in asia.