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Old 04-02-14 | 03:18 AM
  #7  
Donnie Johnson
Donnie Jonhson
 
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 89
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From: Australia

Bikes: n-1

Originally Posted by westrid_dad
Well, our experiences from the early 90's are a little aged, like my wife and me, but lessons we learned then are still relevant now. Also, allow me to apologize in advance for the length of this reply, I thought I only had a few quick comments to make, but...


When our 1st daughter was around a year old my wife took her for a week-long self-contained tour from Spokane, WA to Glacier National Park in Montana, towing Genny in a Burley trailer. What was especially note-worthy for this trip was the fact that in addition to the "normal" camping / cycling gear, my wife was also carrying cloth diapers, and of course taking care of the necessary laundry duties for such. Around a year later, shortly after our daughter turned two, my wife and I headed out on another trip with Genny, touring from Spokane, WA to El Paso, TX. This was a 2-month self-contained adventure, again with Genny in tow in her Burley trailer.

Without getting caught up in the day-to-day activities, here are general guidelines I would share based upon our experiences.

Help your child become familiar, and comfortable with as many aspects of bicycle touring as possible, prior to leaving on an extended trip. For us, this wasn't necessarily as much a challenge as we had been hauling Genny in her trailer since she was strong enough to sit up on her own and support her head. Genny rode in the trailer pretty much daily. My wife and I worked alternating shifts at the REI in Spokane so, for example, my wife would hook up the trailer, bike to work with Genny, switch the trailer over to my bike and I'd head home with Genny. Sometimes, she would just sleep through this "transfer". And on most days either my wife and/or I would take Genny out for longer bike rides as well or to run errands. So, Genny was fully used to being in the trailer and with few exceptions enjoyed it. We also had taken Genny out for some (car) camping trips, so she had some experience sleeping in her own sleeping bag and in a tent.

In our situation, touring with a trailer, we needed to make sure that our daughter had plenty of things within easy reach to keep her entertained. This meant toys, coloring books, and her favorite stuffed animal, of course. Also, we made sure that the tent we traveled with was large enough for Genny to have room to move around (run around?), and could keep some of her toys with her.

As much as possible, interact with your child while pedaling. Although while in the trailer Genny was basically staring at my back, my wife and I would talk with her, sing with her, and make frequent eye contact with her. We would point things out as we were passing them, and as much as practical, would stop to let Genny out of the trailer for frequent breaks. During our longer trip, this was especially important, because Genny was almost done with potty-training so we wanted to give her every opportunity to take care of business. Also, we learned an important lesson. When on a tour, when you are biking for pretty much the whole day, without these frequent stops your child is not getting the same opportunity as you are to expend energy. You will likely find that at the end of the day, after you have setup your tent, are tired (exhausted?) and are ready to relax and call it an evening, don't be surprised that your child is rearing to go, and wanting to play and have fun with you.

Make sure you are focused on providing the "basic needs" to your child. While this seems obvious, it can be the deciding factor in whether you are having a good day, or a bad day with your child, and can directly impact her experience on the road. This means make sure your child is dressed appropriately for the weather conditions, is adequately sheltered from the weather, and has food and beverages available. As much as possible, keep a consistent schedule for eating and have a menu that your child is familiar with, and enjoys. And as mentioned above, whenever I heard Genny say, "potty stop", I would stop the bike as soon as I could find a safe place for her to get out and go to the bathroom. Yes, she was extremely comfortable taking care of business wherever.

Be flexible in your expectations / schedule. While this is good advice for any bicycle tourist, I feel it is especially important when touring with a child. If you come across something that will be of interest to your child, stop to check it out. Acknowledge that when you are touring with a child, you will likely be viewed differently by others, versus when just you and your partner / spouse are touring. Generally, this is a positive thing. Other people will want to talk with you and will be curious about your adventure. For us, this literally opened some doors that perhaps wouldn't have been available if we weren't traveling with Genny. People offered their homes to us, offered to transport us over some stretches of road that were less "appropriate" for touring with a child in a bike trailer. And also, obviously, you will be more aware of your surroundings with an emphasis on ensuring you and your family are as safe as possible while on the road. In general, though, make yourself open to new experiences that may present themselves as a result of you traveling with your child.

Be willing to stop earlier in the day than expected, if someone just isn't having a good day on the road. That could be you, your spouse, or your child. Perhaps the weather has turned for the worse, and while you may be willing to just put your head down and plod ahead, think about the effects of your child. Again, this experience is everyone's, and as a family on the road there are different dynamics coming into play.

Lastly, I would encourage you to journal, blog, and/or photograph as much of your trip as possible. I say this primarily because in our situation, our daughter was two years old during this epic adventure. She, of course, has no memories of it now. However, we feel that it definitely contributed to her overall experiences growing up, and played a part in the woman she has become. Our trip was before the digital era, so I certainly didn't take as many photos then as what I likely would have done now. We really have very little material content we can share with our daughter, mementos from that trip. The few items we have we treasure, like the hand-made Native American doll that was given to Genny when we stopped at a road-side gift stand on the Navajo reservation. Also, my wife recently came across the journal she had kept, and we were both surprised at how short some of the entries were, although, that was likely due to how little free time she had to write. But, as we read through it, reliving some of those day-to-day experiences, we realize, and now more fully appreciate 20 some-odd years later how challenging that trip really was, for all three of us. Due to some of the remote areas we traveled through, it was necessary to put in some long days in the saddle, we encountered a wide variety of weather conditions, and at times it was a very taxing, both physically and mentally. There were many parts of the country that we had never cycled through previously. However, that only reinforces the sense of satisfaction and accomplishment we take from that, knowing that we were up to the challenge, that we were strong enough and brave enough to even consider such an adventure with our 2-year old daughter. Although, truthfully, I wonder if we were actually brave, or perhaps more naïve, young or foolish. But, for the purpose of this post, let's call it brave.

Congratulations to you and your partner, and good luck in your adventures!

Westrid Dad,

Thanks for taking the time to write such a great response. I appreciate it. We were hoping people with real experiences of touring with their young would contribute something meaningful. Your experiences and ideas will have positive influence when our little girl is ready for her first adventure.

A few summers ago we were cycling around New Zealand when we meet a young couple from somewhere in the US and they had had their 12 mth baby with them. They had similar experiences to you and also had some great advice. One of the problems/challenges they experienced was the their trailer had two wheels and if there was insufficient shoulder on the road, their baby was bounced around all over the place as one wheel tracked thorough all sorts of rough terrain, water washouts and rocks. They also mentioned how tired they were in the evening and that they needed enough room in the tent so their little one could play while they had a bit of a recovery shut eye.

I imagine that we will begin to plan our first shorter tours, weekend and what not, when our girl is about 12 months old and gradually build-up from there. In the mean time I am designing a unique, multipurpose trailer that will (hopefully) house our daughter as she sits in her car seat and allow us to carry touring equipment, panniers and tent. This gives me plenty of time to complete the build, test and improve the trailer prior to hitting the road. I figure that if the car seat is a safe place for our girl in the event of a car accident then surely it must be a good place for her to sit while in the trailer.

Thanks again for your story,

Donnie
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