soda

I bought an Alleycat the other day. It's one of those things that attaches to your seat post and has a seat, pedals, handlebars and a wheel for a child to ride on behind you. Now that the weather here in Cincy is getting a bit warmer (not much this morning though), I can take him to school (he's 4, it's a preschool), leave the alleycat at the school and then continue onto work. Total mileage for the commute is 14. Six to his school and then another 8 to my work. It's great! He loves the ride, I get a bit more time with my son, I get a good workout all while saving gas. Total roundtrip mileage (I then pick him up too) is then 28 for the day and 84 for the week since I only do it MWF. My previous commute, until they moved my job location was 17 roundtrip for a total of 85 for the week. That's only one mile difference from what I was used to before. I love the looks on the faces of the drivers. Some have this "aww... ain't that cute, the father and son" but most have this WTF look.

pj7

I look forward to those days, my son is -4.5 months old right now, due in July. Guess that gives me plenty of time to get the proper gear

reich17

Just curious, what kind of riding environment are you in? Trails, streets etc.?

soda

oh... glad you brought that up. I was going to ask you guys for your opinion on that issue. I can take sidewalks all the way to his school. I feel much safer with him on the sidewalk than I do on the road and have no problems telling you that I'm riding on the sidewalk with him in tow.

Good? Bad? There are some tight roads that if I were by myself wouldn't have any issues riding on, but with my son, I don't want to take risks.

EnigManiac

I used a trailer to transport my son to school for above five years on narrow one-way streets during rush-hour and I found that motorists behaved remarkably well when there was a child on the bike, remaining a respectful distance behind, proceeding slowly until there was appropriate room to pass. Riding on the sidewalk is not recommended, in my opinion.

reich17

I'm with you, I'd ride the sidewalk before I used the roads if that was an option. Just doesn't seem right to me to put the little ones safety at risk, especially since we depend on the actions of others to keep a safe distance etc.

Map tester

I agree on the safety issue: you do what you have to do to keep your kids safe. I ride about 4.5 miles with my son (age 12) to his school every morning on a variety of roads, trails, and parking lots. Some sections are just too busy and/or dangerous for him to ride on the street. But when we can, we try to ride as legally and properly as we can. And it doesn't get much better than riding with your son.

recursive

I agree with safety being priority #1 in this case. However, the only way I think a sidewalk is safer than the road is if you are moving at a pace equivalent to pedestrian. I used to ride on the sidewalk. Cars coming out of driveways do not expect something coming down the sidewalk over 10mph, and will pull out right to the edge of the road without looking. I got hit this way twice in one day, and have been off the sidewalks ever since. The key is being visible. You still have to cross the path of traffic at intersections and driveways, which are the most risky areas. When you enter these areas from the sidewalk, you are much less likely to be noticed.

On the other hand, if you are going slow enough to stop on a dime, the sidewalk could be the safest option, but then you may as well walk.

motorhommmer

Used one for 5 years, they are great. Make sure he wears reflective vest. I never had an issue but make sure he is properly covered.
Lastly as he is only 4, put a little mirror on, you don't want him to fall asleep on you, unlikely at that age but .......

BeTheChange

My current girlfriend of 2 years already told me that I'm not allowed to bike the kids around if we ever have them. I think she'll come around.

billh

I use the exact same setup, except now I take him on the "Tag-along" to the bus stop, which is about 1 mile away, lock up the tag-along at another local school bike rack, then proceed another 7 miles to work. We have no sidewalks in our neighborhood so I am forced to use streets. No problem. 6 miles with a 4 year old is a tough call. I guess I'd use sidewalk too, although when my son was 4, I did take him on the streets to the YMCA and had no problems. I guess it depends on the streets.

sbhikes

There's a guy in town that I see doing this. His son is probably 7. I think he's a lucky guy to have a dad that spends time with him in this way. Plus he's learning how to work bicycle riding into his life.

They ride in the streets. I think the streets are probably safer than the sidewalk, so long as they are all residential streets. You run too much risk of being run over on the sidewalk if you have driveways where people have to pull way out in order to see. If that's not the situation in your area, and all the driveways have good visibility from the driveway without having to pull way out, then maybe it's ok to use the sidewalk.

rule

Good job Dad!