kbarj

Long story made shorter:

Wife and I (who had finally achieved an empty nest in our late 50s) adopted a 6 year old two years ago. He loves to ride, which has allowed us to pick up riding again after a 26 year hiatus. We picked hybrids (Trek 8.3 DS) for us. He is now on a box store mountain bike that's working for him. We ride the greenways in San Antonio and go off trail a little. Our long rides on Saturdays are 20+ miles in length. We are teaching him about gears and cadence (using an old cyclometer) and he is doing well.

So...any advice? Even though we used to ride a lot, we both feel new to riding again. Also, I was a 160 lb triathlete before, now I'm a 225 lb clydesdale, so I've already learned that while I can pop up curbs and over small logs, a jump is NOT a good idea. Maybe later.

BobbyG

My Advice: When riding with young children, make sure they are yours. Just kidding. But seriously, I'd make sure it is a fun experience to ensure your kid will look forward to riding (and physical exercise in general) for the rest of his life. Too long a ride, or too "instructional" may bring on anxiety about riding. But I suspect this kid hit the jackpot when you adopted him. Older parents are usually more patient, and less selfish than younger parents, especially "accidental" parents.

So just ride at a pace he can keep up with, and in six or seven years he will hopefully return the favor.

CrankyOne

Some good advice but this line takes the cake :-)

IIRC, pops Stetina first lost to Dale when he was 8 so might only be a couple of years.

Let him take the lead on how much and how far. OTOH, don't bail him out if he gets overly ambitious. Let him know that there are numerous avenues for riding including road, track, mountain, trials, touring, and riding an upright 2 miles to lunch. On that last one, kids really love riding to someplace—lunch, dinner, grocery store, school, etc. We've heard numerous times that when our nieces visit us at the beach their highlight isn't the beach but riding bicycles to dinner.

If you work on a bike, especially his, let him help.

BTW, condolences and congratulations. Lucky kid to have you in his life.

TimothyH

This is an incredibly generous act. I hope God rewards you.


-Tim-

reverborama

I know several people who have small kids they ride with. The first rule is single file and the kid is always in the middle. At that age they often switch between having the kid ride solo or using a tagalong for longer rides than a 6-year-old could do. You can often find them on Craig's List for $100 or less. Here's a nice one from Austin:
https://austin.craigslist.org/bik/5938046525.html

San Antonio is a great town for biking! I've been there for conventions several times. The last time I drove down a couple days early from Minnesota and brought bikes for me and a co-worker. It was a blast!

FrankHudson

Having the kid ride in the middle between two adults is ideal. I also used a tag-a-long along with his own bike at that age.

My memory of my kid at 6 was that gear changing was unfathomable, and things like cadence and so forth was more than he wanted to handle--but then kids are individuals. I did try to stress riding in a straight line and situational awareness and enjoyment.

Dan Burkhart 

If you can get a 6 year old to ride 20 miles, we should be asking you for advice.
Well done.

DiabloScott

How about a home-made obstacle course to teach bike handling skills.

turning tight circles

riding real slow

riding while looking over his shoulder

emergency braking

that kind of stuff

canklecat

If you ride very early or late in the date, get some high visibility stuff -- helmet, at least. I see lots of families riding with their kidlets along the local MUP, and suburban and rural routes I ride. Often it's after work, so this time of year it's getting darkish quickly. Most of the kidlets are wearing hi-vis yellow, orange or green helmets. Really helps make them pop at dusk, including on the bike/hike trails.

On streets/roads shared by vehicles, I'd suggest adding some blinkies, especially on the backs of the helmets -- including yours. It's the highest point, and can help drivers see you above the rooflines of parked cars.

And on the bike trails remind the li'l rascals to stay to the right and check behind them before moving toward the center or left of the lane. They should practice this in a safe place without competing bike or foot traffic. It's not easy for anyone to master looking over the shoulder without weaving on a bike.

reverborama

Sometimes when I see someone struggling up a hill with a tagalong I'll ride up next to them and say "He's not helping!" -- the response is always, "I KNOW!"

John E

I am looking forward to riding with my grandson, but he is only 22 months old.

I am very impressed with the story of adopting a 6-year-old. Bravo!

mikeybikey2

Consider a tandem. I have five grandchildren and have great success with this approach. You never have to worry where they are at or keeping up. Also, they feel more like and active participant unlike a trail-a-bike

CrankyOne

Great photo. He looks like he's ready for a balance bike.

Lazyass

I never had a son, only one daughter, so when my grandson was born I had visions of making him a BMX racer like his old Paw Paw was. Not. When he turned four I got him a bike. Two years later, it still has the training wheels on it and is sitting in his backyard rusted. He does absolutely nothing but play video games and watch you tube. I don't think he even plays with his toys anymore.

John E

That is a sad statement about today's society. I was a total nerd, devoid of athletic talent, but getting hooked on bicycling saved my life and health and literally opened up an entire world to me. Henry, my grandson, has seen me ride a bike to his house and participate in their neighborhood 4th of July parade, and his dad has my old Peugeot PKN-10 and the Cannondale Rush I bought him as a college graduation present, so I am hoping the bike bug rubs off as he gets a little older.

Speedskater

The younger grandson could ride without training wheels before he was three. But he couldn't control the bike when he got off. So the training wheels remained on for 6 months and he still had some off bike problems.

When he was 5 we started going for point-to-point rides in the park. About 6 miles was his limit. Although he could ride fast, he had little interest in doing so. Same with his speedskating, he only goes fast when he has competition.

So I used my old bike. I liked to wander around and often stop, which meant that I had to get of the bike quickly. I took off the shoe clip pedals and installed strapless toe clip pedals, but that didn't work. I had to use big clunky pedals. Also had to lower the seat a lot.

kbarj

Thanks, that's what we are trying to do!

kbarj

Thank you! Great ideas on the destination approach. We are doing both paved and unpaved trail riding. And we're on the same page on bailing him out. Lastly, you "get it" on the condolences and congratulations!

kbarj

Thank you. God has rewarded us. He is a blessing in our lives.

kbarj

Thanks. We just figured the kid in the middle thing out on the last ride. And I agree San Antonio is on its way to becoming a great bicycling town. Light years better than when we moved here in 1990.

kbarj

Actually, he's now 8. He came to us at age 4, we adopted at age 6. And I'm impressed he can do a 20 mile ride and want more the next day! Not sure how this happened.

kbarj

Good skills to have. That's actually what they do at his school for the "Bike Rodeo" - which he has brought home a trophy for every year (1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade).

kbarj

Thank you. While he's got the high visibility gear and blinkie lights, I didn't think about that for my helmet. It might help him find me should I get too far ahead. We do practice staying to the right and calling out "on your left" when passing hikers or slower riders (very rare now, but that could change).

Good luck on riding with your grandson. Great pic! I think everyone who has made positive comments about the adoption would have done the exact same thing in our place. It was simply the right thing to do.

Thank you. Might have tried that earlier, but at this point he really likes having his own bike.

Since we don't allow video games and really limit TV, he is forced to play outside. He has grown to love it. He loves the outdoors, camping, hiking, biking, etc. Now when his school friends come over, he is always dragging them outside to play.

B. Carfree

Thinking of an eight-year-old out for a bike ride takes me back five decades to when I was eight.
I sure do wish I would have had an adult to show me how to ride properly and to go with me on my cycling adventures. Maybe I wouldn't have eaten an entire large package of Oreos if there had been an adult with me on that first 100 km ride. Your son is one fortunate person.

HAMMER MAN

I'm pretty lucky as most of our grandchildren love to ride, mostly mtn bikes. But they still ride. They range in age from 2-12 years. I'll take them on the bike trail with my wife or just with our eldest grandson and do 7.5 miles. Best advice i can give is if they are at the front, lag behind a little as sometimes they'll hit the brakes for no reason at all. it's a wonderful joyous time when they do ride and its always fun!!