Start them young
 

My grandson @ 16 months.
https://www.glenn-ring.com/emonda/strider.jpg

My son (his father) @ 6
https://i.imgur.com/uYmNELU.jpg

My son @ 17
https://i.imgur.com/qWwMF4y.jpg

Son @ at 28 and me @ 62
https://i.imgur.com/16W2GWu.jpg

Time to get your grandson strapped into a Weehoo.

None of those cushy bike trailers, got to get the kid working too.

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/c...EEHOO_0487.jpg

Weehoo FTW. Best purchase we made was a used weehoo for our youngest. It extended how long family rides could be and expanded where we could go. Conversations were possible since she wasnt trapped in a burly bubble too. 5 years later it sold for the same that we bought it for since they are so popular.

Get your kids into cycling, and they'll never have money for drugs.

Get your kids into cycling, and you'll never have money for drugs.

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With gas, insurance, car maintenance, etc... riding a bike is cheaper than driving.

Unlike most other sports, if you get your kids into cycling they will have a life long passion for it. If they are into basketball, football, and most other school related sports , they will likely only enjoy them during their school years.

did 20 miles with my 10 year old on our last ride in the city.

https://imgur.com/a/1S2A1S7

of course, there were burritos involved...

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...327d7837d9.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...3f36e1bc18.jpg

get your kids into cycling and they will spend less time in front of a screen

I did a very challenging gravel race last weekend. I did the 65-miler, which was murder: tons of climbing, and very technical terrain. The longer version was 100 miles, and there were some fast dudes out there...Overall winner was a 16-year old kid! If he wants it, I'm betting that he's got a future in cycling.

Basketball, softball, and volleyball are wildly popular adult sports. Seriously popular.
Oh, and I hear running, tennis, golf, soccer, and swimming are kinda sorta lifelong sports too and last well past school years.

But besides all those, you are correct.

My only child is my 29 year old daughter. I bought my grandson who turns 11 next week a very nice BMX bike when he was six, and last year I bought him a beautiful 24" GT MTB. If I had those bikes when I was a kid I would have lived on them. I would have slept with them. He hardly touches them, he has no interest in life other than video games and watching you tube videos of other people playing games :lol:

During the early months of the pandemic, I rode with my son (who is quite addicted to video games) in our community late at night using head lamps mcgyvered onto our bikes. He thought it was quite an adventure; maybe you can try that with your grandson. I have since bought each of us an upgraded bike light, but he has pretty much outgrown his 24" bike (even with the longer seat post from my road bike). I am now looking for an XS size bike that would fit him.

Soccer is not really a lifelong sport for most people. All the kicking action can cause a lot of knee problems as you get older. Not to mention brain damage from heading the ball! You don't see many guys playing soccer on a regular basis beyond their 40s and 50s. Certainly not compared to the number of cyclists and golfers in that age group and beyond. Soccer is very much a young man's game. Where I grew up (Manchester) soccer is by far and away the most popular sport for boys growing up. But older guys don't often play. I'm sure there are a few exceptions, but that's all they are. Most of the more active older guys are swinging golf clubs or riding their bikes!

I bow to your superior intelligence. .

Ok, so one of my examples is good for 2 decades past 'school years' based on your estimate. There are tons of men's leagues where I grew up, and many are specifically 40+.
But either way, the point was that there are a lot of 'school years' sports that people can continue to participate well after their school years are over.

Again- running, swimming, tennis, volleyball, golf, cycling, basketball, softball- all these can be played for a long time past school years. How many decades they can be enjoyed is obviously dependent on how each of us ages.

the other difference, of course, is that other than running or swimming, all the others require multiple participants. i swam and played water polo in high school and into college, and because both are fairly impractical (one more than the other lol) i haven’t been in the water for exercise for decades.

running is the easiest and most universally accessible. I’d say cycling is a close second. most suburban and urban places have options for tennis and basketball, assuming partners and teammates are available and desired. any form of regular exercise that requires other people is of no interest or practicality for me.

Sure, but some sports are just inherently more accessible to older people. I do quite a few Sportive/GF cycling events and there are a lot of people in their 40s, 50s and 60s. Quite a few into their 70s too. Swimming, tennis and certainly golf are popular with older people too. I just thought soccer was the odd one out in your list. Maybe it's different in the US, where soccer has become much more popular in recent years. Perhaps older guys taking it up for the first time? Over here in the UK, guys typically play soccer into their 20s and 30s and then move on to other less damaging sports in their 40s. Road cycling has become very popular in the last decade with the active 40+ crowd. I'm pretty sure they outnumber the younger guys, which is definitely not the case with soccer!

Right- what works for one person doesnt necessarily work for another person. You dont want to exercise with others, yet many cyclists are dedicated to riding with their team/group for fun and exercise so they clearly do want to exercise with others. The lack of you wanting to exercise with others doesnt mean all the sports I mentioned arent realistic options for people to play well past 'school age'.

Ok, I clearly hijacked this thread even though it wasnt meant to be that way. I just saw a really odd comment which declared cycling to be the one sport people can likely continue one out of school and commented.
By 'lifelong' I meant for a really long time after school, but I shouldnt have said 'lifelong' in retrospect because we are now talking about whether 70yo people play soccer.
My apologies, I didnt pick that word well. I should have just listed all the sports adults play after school age and been done since that was my actual point.

Soccer(in the Chicagoland area and my metro) is played into your 40s as there are specific leagues for it. Same with basketball- leagues exist for all adults and there are also 40+ specific leagues. Golf is obviously played until the end. Volleyball leagues here frequently have 50yo players mixing it up with people in their 20s and 30s. Tennis constantly has older people playing on courts around me. Swimming pools are full of those aging gracefully.
etc etc etc.

Anyways, I damaged this thread enough so I will hopefully see my way out. The initial comment I responded to was just so comically wrong I couldnt help it.

It's cool. What I find interesting is that people generally seem to stay active for longer than previous generations typically did. Well at least the people who actually do any sports at all! Getting our kids onto bikes and out into the sports field is a much bigger challenge than it was for my parents. We literally had nothing else to do other than play sports!

absolutely. just my personal preference, which is probably closer to the norm than the exception. i'm very curious about riding in groups, seems like a lot of fun but very impractical for my circumstances.

in support of the original point, basketball is higher than cycling on this chart! i see a few different versions of this data out there, with walking, weights, running, and cardio equipment always in top spots.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...224eeb819.jpeg

On one of our traditional annual tours with our daughters.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...50e322b8_b.jpg

Cycling just barely beat out Golfing!!!!


https://www.allelectricvehicles.com....golf-cart.jpeg

Obviously this chart is going to vary a fair amount by country, but I have to say I'm a bit surprised that soccer is more popular than football and baseball over in the US. I'm also surprised that cycling is more popular than golf.