Bicycling with Kids: Weaving together Passion and Pedaling.

When I first learned I was pregnant with my first son Lorenzo, I admit there was a moment, OK several, OK I kind of flipped out wondering what would happen to my freewheeling spirit and my bike tour leading once I had baby in tow. As usual, I figured out a way to weave my personal and business life together with my passion to create two tours for Ciclismo Classico that would become big hits. The first: the Bambino Bike Tour was a celebration-tour that brought together our best guests for the tour of a lifetime: a tour that circumvented Sicily and ended up Cittadella, Calabria (my husband Mauro’s home town) where together with guests, family and friends we baptized Lorenzo in a tiny chapel by the sea. The second tour, The Tuscan Fantasy is a family tour based at the Fattoria degli Usignoli that is one of our best selling tours now in its 12th year ( the same age as Lorenzo).

While I hear many people define their cycling life as pre and post kids with the former being full of active adventures and the latter being more sedentary, I hope to inspire that there is a way to have both! I always tell parents (who are shocked at how we keep traveling and biking with our kids) that kids are kids whether we are at home or away and I would rather deal with them in a beautiful or fun new place on my own terms! Some parents are seamlessly able to uphold their cycling quality and quantity while others (like my husband and I) have had to modify expectations which has meant less miles but happier kids. Here are some guidelines on how to keep cycling and kids happily in your life.

1. Get the right gear that is safe, comfortable and durable. Do your research on child seats, trailers, bike and tandems then go to your favorite bike store and invest in good quality equipment that will last you years of fun! An excellent book that we give out for our tours and that has the best overview I have seen on Cycling with Kids is: Bicycling with Children by Trudy Bell. It is really the Bicycling with Children Bible! While I support equipment swaps, sharing and reselling items on craig’s list etc, I prefer complete peace of mind and have always supported my local bike shop and purchased my cycling equipment new and use it until it’s worn out!

2. Teach your kids basic safety rules and regulations. If they are in a trailer or bike seat you are mostly in control of their safety. As they graduate to training wheels, tandems and their own bikes you must teach the basics and constantly bombard them with the rules of the road and trail. Courses are available for kids but the best person to hear it from and see it executed by is you! Walk the talk. Wear your helmet. Be courteous. Follow the rules and be a safety role model. I still cycle closely behind my 10 year old daughter who bikes on her own little road bike. I constantly give her tips. Recent ones have been on blind spots, avoiding pot holes, signaling and steady pedaling. Study up on cycling safety with kids. Hint: The best method for teaching a kid how to ride a two-wheeler is down a gently sloped grassy hill that flattens out. Start them at the top of the hill, have them pedal like crazy and after several attempts, the ecstatic, unforgettable feeling of momentum takes over as they hit the flats and realize if they keep pedaling fast, the bike stays up! This method usually take about 30 minutes. If you live in the Boston area and would like to arrange a private or group cycling lesson for your child, a group of friend or their scout or girl scout troop, contact me. I am available for private or group lessons for kids of all ages.

3. Realistic expectations while keeping it fun for all. Cycling with kids starts out with setting realistic expectations for both you and your children but it also involves being a creative and fun parent so as to stretch your children’s cycling endurance. When Lorenzo was a baby he hated to be in the burley for more than an hour. I could usually stretch this by at least another 30 minutes if I included an ice cream stop or let him get out to “smell or pick the roses” or made sure that we stopped at playground along the way. As my kids have graduated from burley to trail-a-bike to their own bikes, I have maintained this simple guideline: Make it fun. Take lots of breaks and reward with yummy food, drink and play. While I do not give my kids junk food, I never calorie count when we are biking. I want them to get the connection between food calories and exercise. They get to eat what they burn so bring on the ice cream, cookies and healthy snacks! Kids get bored on bicycles especially if they are with their boring parents! Children have the strength and stamina but they don’t have the mental energy (or need to unwind ) to keep them focused for very long on the road. When biking with kids singing silly songs, telling funny stories and just plain parental goofiness (with a high degree of safety) is the norm for our family outings.

4. Make bicycling your lifestyle! The best way to get your children to enjoy cycling in small doses and understand the role that cycling plays in your life and in our planet’s health is to use your bike as a form of transportation that includes them. Give up your car for short trips; take your kids to school by bike and adopt what I call the two-mile rule: For any trip under two miles, we try to bike or walk. Trust me, it’s faster, healthier, more fun and creates better communities. Get a good lock, some sturdy panniers, reflectors and get ready to make each errand trip into a mini-outdoor adventure! Get involved with your local Safe Routes to School program. Lead rides or volunteer to be Safe Routes to School Coordinator. Some of my fondest memories are taking my kids to Sunshine pre-school along the minuteman bike path. We would sing songs, count squirrel nests and practice spelling and letters along our 10 minute, one mile commute. When we arrived at school, all of his fellow classmates loved learning about his burley and Mom’s cool bike. I earn extra points by attaching bells to the Burley so everyone knows we are coming, like Santa’s sleigh!

5. Cycling with other families and kids. Anyone with kids knows this is the best way to guarantee that your kids happily participate in any family outing is to plan to ride with other families with kids their age. For day trips, the first step is to find an easy local ride that everyone can access easily preferably by bike. An excellent web site to find any ride for any ability in your area is Map My Ride. Make sure to carry the basics: snacks, first aid kit, fun stuff for breaks (Frisbees, balls, bubbles, chalk) and basic road repair kit. For weekends or longer trips you can plan a bike camping tour. The most inspiring family and website that covers it all by family who has been everywhere by bikes is: Family on Bikes. If you are interested in a commercial tour, there are many options but hope you will consider a Ciclismo Classico Family tour. Our classic family tours are: Tuscan Fantasy, Mediterranean Multi Sport and our New England Family Adventure. but we can also create a custom family tour for you and your beloved crew anywhere on the planet.

6. HAVE FUN! Wherever you go, whatever you do with your kids make sure that you remember : The days are long but the years are short. Every tantrum passes and has the potential of becoming an unforgettable memory! If you love biking and the outdoors just keep sharing and enjoying what you love with your kids; eventually they will either love it or call you an obsessed biking hippy (like my older son) but at least I gave him the option and my other two kids, for the time being, are biking and loving it. Two out of three ain’t bad!