Hi all.

I'm relatively new to biking (as in, to the idea of actually doing it every day). We replaced our cars with bikes and have been biking everywhere. My husband bikes to work, I bike the kids in a trailer to school and the park.

My daughter is about to turn 6 and has outgrown both the trailer and her current 16" bike. I had a couple of questions about commuting with a small child.

The park is about 1.5 miles from our house. Is a 6 year old capable of biking that far, then playing, then coming back? Obviously I'm assuming that we'll have a backup plan until she builds up the endurance, but my question is, is a 6 year old capable of that kind of endurance?

My other question is, I was hoping to get her an actual decent kid's bike but we're on a Huffy budget right now. For the amount that we would be commuting with her (.5 miles to school (1 mile round trip) every day, 1-3 miles occasionally to the library or park) would a Huffy be okay and last 2-3 years until she has to upgrade to a 24" bike? Or should we really buckle down and try to get a better $300 bike from a real bike shop since we really need it to be a reliable source of transportation in place of a car?

(We will be purchasing a minivan soon to use for long distances and for backup in case of inclement weather, but we still plan on bike commuting whenever possible.)

Again, I'm new to all this and know very little about bikes and biking as far as technical terms go. My husband and I both have low-end Raleighs (both $400 bikes) and they serve us great for what we do. (I come from a family that never had anything better than used Huffys...my first ride on a Raleigh was like biking through clouds. )

Thanks so much!