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As parents, many of us remember the wind in our faces and the thrills of riding bikes around our neighborhoods and local parks as children. These happy memories are something we want our own children to experience for themselves. Plus, riding bikes is great exercise and gets us and our kids outside, so what is there not to love?
Hike it Baby is excited to share a three-part blog series all about biking with your children. Yup, you read that right, with your children. But, never fear! Whether you’re still considering biking as a family activity or just starting out, you bike recreationally already, or you want to take your family biking to the next level, we’ve got you covered!
The first post is all about beginning your family biking journey. The second is for those who bike recreationally or want to begin doing so. And this post is for those who bike regularly or want to do more biking as a family.
Beyond recreational biking as a family
You already ride recreationally on the weekends, but maybe you want to find ways to incorporate biking into your everyday life or at least more often. Then this is the post for you!
There are so many ways to bring biking into your everyday life beyond hitting the trails or greenways on the weekends. Will you still do these things as a regular biking family? Yup, you will. But finding ways to bike more often just adds a little something extra to your life and it is great for your body and the environment. It’s a win, win really.
One Hike it Baby family began their commuting biking journey during COVID. They sold their second car and now their e-bikes are their primary mode of transportation most weekdays. “We leave home, drop our kid off at school, and continue on to our offices. And during the weekends, it’s our preferred way of getting about town, whether to see friends, visit a park, or get groceries.” – Ashish Vatsal
The right equipment for commuting or biking regularly
When you choose to bike as part of your everyday life, your equipment needs will be specific to your family’s needs. Chances are you already have equipment that works well for your recreational use and won’t need to change anything. But sometimes, small adjustments to how you bike as a family can make all the difference in terms of making it easy to do it more regularly.
As we’ve mentioned in the previous two biking posts (starting out and recreational biking), bike seats and bike trailers are great for babies and young children. Both seats and trailers can hold children up to about 40 lbs, depending on the brand, so they can be used for a long time.
If you only have one child and like the idea of your young child sitting on the bike with you so it is easy to chat and share all the things you see with each other, a bike seat like the Burley Dash Seat may be a good option for you.
If you have two children or are looking for a more versatile set of wheels, the bike trailer may be a good option for you. Many bike trailers, like these at Burley, not only hold two children and can be used as a stroller and bike trailer, but they also enable you to cart around additional items easily. This is great for running errands and getting multiple children somewhere at an adult biking pace.
If you have an older child who isn’t quite biking fast enough to keep up with adults, a tag-a-long bike or Burley’s trailercycles will allow your child to practice biking, gain confidence and strength, while also not having to worry about keeping up. This is great for preschool/daycare dropoff and pickup or trips where you may not be picking up any additional supplies.
Finally, if you want to take your bike to run errands where you will be picking things up (like groceries) cargo trailers may be a good option for you. These are ideal if your children are already biking on their own and you don’t need to worry about having them attached to your bike in any way.
There are age and weight restrictions on bike seats, trailers, and trailercycles, so make sure to triple check your child can ride safely.
How to bike regularly as a family
Once you have the right equipment that works for your family, finding ways to bike more often together is actually pretty easy. Assuming your town is bike friendly, biking together to a specific destination you would typically drive to is one of the easiest ways to incorporate biking into daily life. Here are a couple of ideas to get you started:
- Farmer’s markets (almost always have easily accessible bike parking too)
- Out to eat – pick a restaurant nearby and go for it
- Preschool or daycare
- A dentist or a well-check appointment
- Grocery shopping and other errands
- Museums
- Parks and playgrounds
- Playdates
- Commute to work
There are so many ways to add biking into your daily life. No matter how you incorporate it, the important thing to remember is that each time you bike it will get easier. You will also form new habits and your children will see you and learn from you.
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