Forum menu
I dropped riding completely for the first 9 months. It seemed the right thing to do.
That’s interesting as I saw the opposite. Riding is the release from whatever is happening at home. Like everyone else, certainly not the dawn till dust trips of old but really important for both parents to get out doing something.
From no.1 I’ve got nice photos of hiking around with him at 3months while mum went off for a loch swim. When there are 2+ kids it’s harder of course but I still feel it’s important to get away for a while (again, talking both parents here)
Additionally, this is another thread I started.
Scroll-down to read the comment by @Muke
https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/becoming-a-dad-any-tips/page/2/
I died with laughter. Still makes me smile.
Link broke
Just ride the baby home from hospital with a bike trailer in it’s baby seat 😂
Never understood why people stop doing things that make themselves them just because they have a kid. So many friends now look dead inside and won’t have the fitness to keep up with their kids when they start riding.
Half the time the mum is with the baby at a baby group and they are lying on the sofa doing Netflix so it’s nothing to do with support.
Shame.
That’s interesting as I saw the opposite. Riding is the release from whatever is happening at home.
Shows we're all different I guess.
Never understood why people stop doing things that make themselves them just because they have a kid. So many friends now look dead inside and won’t have the fitness to keep up with their kids when they start riding.
Set your alarm clock to go off 5 times every night for 3 years and see what happens your appetite for shredding the gnarr.
Not sure if this is aimed at Mum's or Dad's?
Dad's = what you can, when you can, but get your season goals out of the way ahead of due date. I got my second cat licence 3 days before my second child was born. I knew the birth would ruin my season so hit the first part of the season hard, then prioritised the family.
You can still ride and be good with young children, but you need to:
1. Prioritise your family and their needs, nothing will ruin your cycling (and everything else) more than being selfish. If you are the model husband for 95% of the week, she will be more willing to let you slope off for a few hours to ride.
2. Be flexible - ride when it least annoys everyone else. Be prepared to get up early (long lonely extended commutes in the dark or turbo sessions)
3. Prioritise your riding - make the most of the limited time you have, whether thats doing rides that = maximum fun or maximum training benefit etc
4. Being the Dad to a newborn is hard, so you need to make sure you look after yourself, get enough sleep and do the things that you want to do too. Newborns are so boring really, so you need to keep up with your own interests.
Took a while after the first for anything mote than a couple of hours from the door , until he started nursery really . The fact i do shifts really helped as i have days off in the week when he was in nursery . when no.2 came along no.1 had started school so maybe a few months but i had got into a routine of riding that suited family life a bit more , early starts , night riding etc etc Also decent bad weather riding kit helps as living in Scotland very rarely do decent weather and an opportunity to ride coincide so i've learnt to just get out when i can whatever the weather .
One difference between my first and second was i had started doing other less time demanding types of exercise , running , kettlebells , bit of weight training with a PT . the idea being to stay as fit as i could so when the opportunity of a day out with mates came i wasn't breathing out my backside . It helps with riding with the kids to , one on the shotgun seat while towing the other one up the fireroad is a good workout .
Never understood why people stop doing things that make themselves them just because they have a kid. So many friends now look dead inside and won’t have the fitness to keep up with their kids when they start riding</quote>even the least unfit adult will keep up with a kid when they start riding. Now by the time their kid is 12 they might be getting dropped on the hills...
<quote>Half the time the mum is with the baby at a baby group and they are lying on the sofa doing Netflix so it’s nothing to do with support.
Not sure what parallel universe you live in where mum's spend 1/2 the time in baby groups and dads watch Netflix all day.
“Not sure what parallel universe you live in where mum’s spend 1/2 the time in baby groups and dads watch Netflix all day.”
With our first two my wife knew that if I wasn’t at work and she was doing something with the kids without me then it was pretty much guaranteed that I’d be going out for a bike ride. We now have three so I seem to always be in charge of at least one. Maybe when this pandemic is over things will get easier.
Thankfully my job and my other main hobby are closely intertwined (the latter sired the former).
We were windsurfers more than cyclists when the kids were born. Mrs BigJohn went back on the water in lake Bala in early May 4 weeks after our 2nd was born (glacially cold) and about 3 weeks after the 3rd. I didn't wait quite as long, that was the deal.
Another outdoor family here, also slightly bemused at the majority of very dad-centric responses 🙂
Mrs was back on the mtb 3 weeks after each kid. She rode mtb singlespeed euros when 2nd was about 10 wks old with a breastfeed before / after the racy bit. I rode whenever but can't remember exact timescales.
My comment was half joke but in reality each mother and baby coffee morning could be a bike ride for the dad. I witness too many men lounging on sofa during this time scratching balls rather than making use of it.
The longer it goes on the more weight gets added and further they get from ever seeing the gnar again. See too many unrecognisable from their younger years for no reason.
For reference I’m a Dad... Never bothered waking up in middle of night / early morn for kid or to catch a ride. Just as happy hitting BPW or pulling a trailer 😂
> https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/becoming-a-dad-any-tips/page/2/ < As I said above, the comment from @Muke is a gem.
Thanks to generalist for the link fix.