My kids, like most these days, aren't big on getting off the couch and doing things. Even though we try not to hyper-parent or be overly protective, keeping them on a short leash, there still seems to be little that gets them out into the real world. But my eight-year-old son rarely says no to a bike ride with Daddy, even if it's clear across the city to visit Grandma. Even my four-year-old daughter joins us on the ride-a-long bike trailer sometimes. We did 90 minutes in the warm sun the other day.
My boy, who has always been slower to advance athletically compared to many of his peers, is pretty gung-ho to head out on a bike and pedal to the best of his ability. His ability used to lag behind my rapidly improving fitness level, but now his fitness is improving too (building muscles I presume) and he's pushing me. You wouldn't think we'd be a good match for workouts but I'm still a very overweight middle-aged-man and he's just beginning to blossom into a young athlete as he grows like a well-watered weed.
I don't know what affect our bike rides will have on the kids in the long term, or what they'll remember of it. I do know that I couldn't imagine my parents even going on so much as a walk with me, let alone a bike ride.
I refurbished an old mountain bike to compliment my road bike (hybrid). It's opened up the door to all sorts of new adventures and put at ease my anxiety over breaking a bike wheel again. However, mountain bikes are less efficient than road bikes and I have to work harder to keep up with the boy who won't slow down.
We also bought a deluxe bike rack for the car. This makes us officially a cycling family, like the happy, adventurous ones you see pulling up to bike shops or occasionally depicted in tourism commercials on TV.
It's such a far cry from the other stereotype I used to be.
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