Originally Posted by
Longfemur
No, definitely not. For one thing, they can't ride them anywhere - parents won't let them, and roads and neigbourhoods are just way more congested, distances to things are greater, people drive faster, they drive while talking on the phone, etc. Kids get driven everywhere. When I was a kid, we rode our bikes everywhere we went -- and there was no computer or video game console to keep us glued at home. We were always gone somewhere, and it was almost always outside, and it involved having our bike with us.
Unfortunately, we're in this boat. My kids absolutely love riding, but none of it is for transportation. I have to explain to my wife that the kids need to learn that a bike ride shouldn't start with putting the bikes in the truck and driving to the rail-trail. We do have forest access in the neighborhood, but there's a steep climb to get there.
There is hope: on one of these rail-trail rides soon after getting new bikes (6yo boy has 20" 6 speed Trek, 10yo boy has Fisher hardtail) the 6yo saw someone ahead and immediately put it in high gear and chased him down! Gave him a raspberry as he passed! On our neighborhood rides they're both climbing 8% grades going to our city's forest reserve and riding 5+ miles at a shot on steep singletrack and logging roads. We did a bunch of rides while my wife was working this summer and the kids progressed so much that when she joined us for a good forest ride they both dusted her, and she's fit!
I do wonder if it is irresponsible to teach my kids to wheelie and hop 2' logs. I remember as a kid I had to do that stuff surreptitiously.
Later
Mel