Children, stamina & cycling

[pinkbikes]

DH and I had always wanted to tour a bit and last year we finally decided we would do Cycle Queensland, a 9day supported tour where your camping gear is carried for you and meals are provided. Imagine our surprise when 10yo DD (henceforth known as the Princess) announced that she did not want wish to be left behind with Grandparents and wanted to come!

To that point she'd had a tagalong which she'd grown out of and was riding her own bike only over limited distances (up to about 22km) so the thought of dragging her distances up to 94km in a day seemed incomprehensible even if she could fit on a bigger tagalong without hitting her knees on the handlebars.

Then I met "the funny tandem family" and after extracting a promise that Princess would "do the training and not whinge or all bets are off!" we acquired a tandem and commenced training. I think if it was just me I'd have winged it without any particular training and lived with the soreness I may have had over the first few days but I had to be more considerate of a small passenger without many miles in her legs.

The longest training ride we did in preparing was 74km. I found any distance up to that was fine as long as there was one stop for a bakery! Our family all runs on bakeries! And she was happy to ride up to 35ish km on her own bike as long as it wasn't too hilly.

The first day of the tour was 57km and she was absolutely toast by bedtime due to the savage headwind. The second day was 94km and she was an absolute trooper after I discovered giving her some gatorade just after lunch!

She did very well as my little stoker and is very keen to go again this year. We start training for it shortly and she has already been out on her own bike doing distances up to 25km or so with a friend and his daughter who is 12yo. The nice thing is this year's route is much faltter than last year's so we should have enough energy at the end of the day to socialise instead of just sleeping!

But all 11yo kids are different. The Princess has always loved riding her bikes. But one of her best friends has always disliked riding bikes, despite the rest of her family being bike-mad! Last weekend we did a nice gentle family ride of only 14km with their family and one other, and she was whinging by the time we made it to the 5km mark! So I guess there is no "normal" for kids on bikes!

[Crankin]

My son was minimally athletic (soccer/baseball) when he started mountain biking at 13. At 12 he took out his old Huffy and rode 10 miles. We were shocked. At 13 he also started running cross country. At 14 he took a 3 week bike trip from Vermont to Maine. We bought him an entry level road bike for the trip, even though the other kids had mountain bikes. When he came home, he rode a century with a group of adults and never looked back. He was racing within months.
I never would have predicted it and now regret we didn't ride as a family when they were young.

[pinkbikes]

My son was minimally athletic (soccer/baseball) when he started mountain biking at 13. At 12 he took out his old Huffy and rode 10 miles. We were shocked. At 13 he also started running cross country. At 14 he took a 3 week bike trip from Vermont to Maine. We bought him an entry level road bike for the trip, even though the other kids had mountain bikes. When he came home, he rode a century with a group of adults and never looked back. He was racing within months.
I never would have predicted it and now regret we didn't ride as a family when they were young.

It's funny how they do that! I mean, the Princess went along with us riding distances as a family over the years, but didn't show any special enthusiasm for touring until we decided to leave her at home while we toured! Then there was plenty of interest!

Of course, after seeing kids just a little larger than she is touring on their own road bikes, all of a sudden she is sizing up mine to see when she can grow into it. I'll be happy to be in that when she is big enough, because it means I get a new one! And she won't know herself after doing all her riding on a trek MTB with knobbly tyres or our tandem (the Queen Mary).

I just can't wait to see the look on her face the first time she feels the acceleration of a roadie! She is even making triathlon noises after she came and watched me at one the other week. So you just never know...

[shootingstar]

The longest training ride we did in preparing was 74km. I found any distance up to that was fine as long as there was one stop for a bakery! Our family all runs on bakeries! And she was happy to ride up to 35ish km on her own bike as long as it wasn't too hilly.

The first day of the tour was 57km and she was absolutely toast by bedtime due to the savage headwind. The second day was 94km and she was an absolute trooper after I discovered giving her some gatorade just after lunch!

She did very well as my little stoker and is very keen to go again this year. We start training for it shortly and she has already been out on her own bike doing distances up to 25km or so with a friend and his daughter who is 12yo. The nice thing is this year's route is much faltter than last year's so we should have enough energy at the end of the day to socialise instead of just sleeping!

But all 11yo kids are different. The Princess has always loved riding her bikes. But one of her best friends has always disliked riding bikes, despite the rest of her family being bike-mad! Last weekend we did a nice gentle family ride of only 14km with their family and one other, and she was whinging by the time we made it to the 5km mark! So I guess there is no "normal" for kids on bikes!

A bakery stop is unquestionably a good carrot for kids and adults.

I'm sure pinkbikes, you have infected her with love of cycling forever..even if she temporarily drops it for a few years.

I think what started this trend in this sister's family, is 2 yrs. ago the oldest nephew went on the 50 kms. ride when he was 9 with his father. Actually my brother-in-law did that ride with son and with a bunch of other fathers with their sons doing the same thing.

The family lives close to a lovely off-road bike route that 50-55 kms. with some little hills, which is helpful to practice and take side trips to go farther. Do a picnic, etc.

Just hope the niece has a good time.. she is into gymnastics but now doesn't want to be left out of the ride.

[Biciclista]

my younger son did his first double century when he was 11 and a pipsqueak.
he rode his 10 speed schwinn (what else did they have for little kids then?) all the way to Portland, learning how to draft off large men along the way. Except for occasionally crying when having to ride up a big hill (not on that ride) he was always fearless and strong, as was my older son.
What did that riding at an early age do for them? they are both incredibly confident riders (they know they can do any ride they set out to do) and they both have great legs.