Summer Fun and Bicycling with Children

Happy cyclist!

We live in an area that has four distinct seasons. This lets us explore different outdoor activities. The summer season always makes me excited for bicycling. You get to see your neighborhood at a different pace when bicycling as opposed to driving your car. We began sharing our love of bicycling with our daughter at a young age. She first experienced bicycling as a bike trailer rider. We tried pulling the trailer on dirt roads near our house and quickly realized her little 10-month old head was bobbing up and down quite a bit! Maybe that type of road might not be the best for her age (as a licensed massage therapist by profession, I tend to be a bit protective of that central organ, the brain!). All was good as we biked the paved roads. She enjoyed being a passenger and sometimes would bring along stuffed animals and dolls to ride with her.

On her own energy she began to pedal a tricycle, then got the hang of a two wheeled bike with training wheels by the time she was two or three. When she was about three or four, we got a tag-along (trail-a-bike, third wheel – they have numerous names depending on the brands) attached to our adult bike, and she rode behind either my husband or myself. This bike attachment was pretty safe yet made the adult feel like they were riding with a drunk…as our daughter loved to lean from side to side as she pedaled! 😉 Most of the time we made it safely through our town doing errands or riding just for fun.

Dad and daughter bikers pulling into the driveway after a fun ride...

Sometimes my husband would create what he and my daughter called “the triple rig”: she would ride along on the tag-along which was attached to his bike, and the bike trailer would be attached to her bike. This way they could pedal to our local gardeners’ farmers’ market and bring home lots of veggies, fruit and other treats! We were amazed that the years passed so quickly and before long, she was pedaling her own two-wheeled bicycle along with us. It’s been a fun process that we hope becomes a life-long pattern of exercise and enjoyment for all of  us!

Where are you in the stages of bicycling with your kids – trailer, tag-along, tricycle, or 2-wheeled bike?

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Ducks, Zebra…Chicken?

Everyone’s been wanting to see this infamous “zebra” jacket I wrote about last week, but I couldn’t find a good picture from the dinner. So, I decided to go see my friend and her daughter to do a little “photoshoot”. Her gorgeous (part Russian, part Native American, Ukrainian, Italian and Irish!) green-eyed daughter, Sasha (Alexandra) is a ball of energy who doesn’t stop laughing and running around! I asked her to come give me hug, so her mom, Tatiana, could quickly get a shot, but Sasha immediately ran off to grab something. That “something” turned out to be her pet chicken, that (strangely) loves being held and carried around. Then, there was a good 20 minutes of running around after the chicken, away from the chicken (that would be me), and trying to get the chicken to sit at the table…yes, I mean that…that wasn’t a typo. I managed to engage Sasha in a conversation about flowers, but the chair behind me quickly turned into a climbing post. A few minutes later she rolled out of the house on her tricycle, and we finally got our shot! Kids have an incredible energy that’s so contagious – I can’t wait for our next “playdate!” – it turned out to be such a fun adventure trying to get that picture!

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Baby Model, Cousin, Cyclist…All-Round Good Guy

Alec (Yellow Turtle baby model!) in le•top, circa 1993, with his tricycle and...is he holding a bug?

J. at Yellow Turtle found a “vintage” photo of her son in le•top and sent it over for fun. I loved the old tricycle and the whole composition of this photo; the un-mowed grass, the dandelions, the lone tennis shoe and little Alec looking like the quintessential, all-American portrait of little boy having a great summer! Of course, I wanted to share with everyone on the blog, so I asked J. for a more recent photo of her son, Alec (now 18), and she sent over a few. I noted to her that there seemed to be a cycling theme, and she said her niece, Alec’s cousin, has MS, so Alec has been doing the Bike MS ride since he was 12! Alec and his dad do this ride every year. Last year Alec raised over $2000 – they both rode 75 miles each day, in the hills of Vermont! J. and her daughter are the cooler girls – they wait at the rest-stops with drinks and food. Great family support! We’re looking forward to photos from this year’s Bike MS in Vermont which will be held August 8-9, 2009…Go, Alec!

Alec, now, but still being a little boy at heart! Photo at left is from his Bike MS 2008 event

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