wheely good fun (Bikes in general)

Member Name: dibuzz

Product:	Bikes in general
Date:	22/07/01 (30 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: good exercise, cheap after initial purchase, a family activity

Disadvantages: not much fun in the rain, hard for little ones to keep up

As a child I didn't ride a bike much as my parents were very protective. When my son was a baby I decided to get a bike with a baby seat so we could go out for a ride. I don't ride on main roads with him but luckily we live near the Sankey Valley canal so there are miles of footpaths to ride on. When son no.2 arrived he went with me and son no.1 progressed to a seat on his dad's bike. Soon after he was riding alongside on his own little bike while daughter came with me.
We now have 4 children all riding their own bikes and the child seats are redundant.
Actually mine is still attached as it comes in handy for transporting a picnic and discarded jackets.
We spend many happy afternoons riding along the canal paths often forgetting that son no.3 only has 14" wheels and no gears. The poor child is shattered when we get home.
Apart from being good fun it is also good exercise. In fact 3 of my kids have asthma and are more likely to be ill if we haven't been out on the bikes for a while due to the weather or other things.
I think it is important to look after your bike with regular safety checks and oiling of moving parts.
We also all wear safety hats although I will confess to not wearing mine as often as I should when I'm on my own.
My eldest 2 sons have now got adult sized suspension bikes which were expensive but should last them a long time. They are also very comfortable to ride and I sometimes "borrow" one when they are at school. This saves a lot of wear and tear on sensitive parts.
I made sure the seat on mine was well padded when I bought it but this doesn't matter so much now as after 4 kids my own seat is quite well padded!
The only down side for me is when it rains and we have soggy clothes and wet bikes which need to be seen to. Oh the temptation to just stick them in the shed (bikes not clothes).

Summary: