Still don’t get why some people seem to be of the opinion that you can’t go out at all once the baby’s born. Are they that difficult to look after?

Are they that difficult to look after?

No….But some people just love to fanny about,esp older parents……..

Keep one ,the cannondale , & buy a cross bike.
Since my boy was born my riding has changed dramatically ,
less fun “proper” rides and more commuting/quick blasts on the cx tbh.

I have a mate who’s 35. Had a baby last year. So far he’s cancelled at the last minute on 3 riding road trips in the last year and several weekend rides too. His excuse every time, baby’s not sleeping.

Tried offering the opinion that there’s not much you can do about it. May as well let your partner look after it while you nip out for a ride for your own sanity’s sake. Got called a C-word for it.

Strangely, he doesn’t get invited riding anymore!

Still don’t get why some people seem to be of the opinion that you can’t go out at all once the baby’s born. Are they that difficult to look after?

Not really, the first few weeks of the first kid are a bit nerve-wracking, but you soon work it out. It’s more that babies and small kids are demanding, they get bored very fast, and can’t be left alone. This is tiring rather than difficult, and certainly there’s no way my wife would have accepted me just dumping the baby on her and not doing my part. (Even had I wanted to!)

Given that, regular (as in weekly) all-day rides are probably out of the question, at least for the first few years, but taking a morning off? Certainly in my case it has never been a problem – I take care of the kids on Saturday morning, it’s my wife’s turn on Sunday. This leaves both afternoons for family stuff.

Keep the one you like (Cannondale). Sell the one you wanted to like but didn’t really fit into your lifestyle. Then buy a road or CX bike, a baby seat and a turbo trainer. You’ll find 30 min for a quick blast indoors. Then in a few months can take the baby out for rides to give the mother a rest.

I used to ride around the local farms at 06:30 with Son1 to give Mrs TiRed a lie in!

curiousyellow – Member

Still don’t get why some people seem to be of the opinion that you can’t go out at all once the baby’s born. Are they that difficult to look after?

The problem I have is that as I work fairly long hours I barely see him in the week – I’m lucky if I see him for a few mins before bed time. And my wife looks after him for the entirety of the week. At the weekend I want to spend time with him and give her a break, both of which make it hard for me to get out by myself on the bike.

Now it’s lighter and we’re a bit more into a routine it’s going to have to be evenings / early weekend mornings on the bike. I do get commute by bike so get a good 15-20 miles in a day, so it’s not all bad.

You should have bought a TV.

Cut your loses, you could then split the cash 50% to your young un and 50% on a bike.
Either a road bike, purely for you, or a hardtail/rigid that will take a child seat /tow a trailer so you can do mobile babysitting duties (think of it as resistance training).
I only get one weekend off in five so I don’t “waste it” cycling my lads come first but Sunday night when there both in bed I get out with my mate 15-20 miles road or 1,1/2 hours in the woods then a quick pint and home.

Still don’t get why some people seem to be of the opinion that you can’t go out at all once the baby’s born. Are they that difficult to look after?

No, it’s the mothers’ that are the issue 🙂

I’ve 3 and found that in spring/summer early on a w/e morning suited everybody best. They’re all still in bed/lazing around and I could be out early and 3-4 hours later back for brunch.

mogrim – Member
Given that, regular (as in weekly) all-day rides are probably out of the question, at least for the first few years, but taking a morning off?

Quite. All-day outings aren’t really practical -or fair to my wife. The best scenario is to get out very early on a weekend morning and be back for lunch (so, the more local the better), although a baby and a noisy 3 year old who also gets up early can make it difficult at times.

As somebody who loves riding/running/walking in the mountains I do miss full days out.

Weekends away are extremely rare and need to be arranged with management at least 6 months in advance…

I recently took up running again, which is very good ‘value for money’ in time (and in actual money) terms.

ps. Somebody who does little riding before having children is very unlikely to do more once they arrive.

Aristotle – Member

I recently took up running again, which is very good ‘value for money’ in time (and in actual money) terms.

Likewise!

Before I became a dad I had

Orange 224 (DH bike
Orange Hitman (DJ bike)
Commencal meta 5.5

After becoming a dad I have

Whyte 905, ridden once off road since 2011

I do a fair bit of road biking though, mainly got into that becasue the travel to and from trails and bike cleaning is, to a great extent, removed from the equation

I have got through the baby time as Gti Junior is now 14 and almost riding the same size bike as me. However I haven’t ridden my Global for over six months now and only rode it twice last year. Selling it would be the end of my 22 years as a mountain biker and lots of good memories would go with it. With Gti Junior growing so fast we have the tantalising prospect of being able to share road bikes so I am thinking of selling the Global to make space and cash for a hooligan bike…. he can ride it at weekends and I use it for those summer evening blasts around the Ribble Valley. Nearly bought a Spesh Tarmac SL4 pro from Leisure Lakes last month, reduced from £4000 to £2000 but lacked the conviction to do it…. what to do….? Aaaaargh…..

+1 for selling it – but get a nice urban town bike that’ll take a bike seat, keep a couple of hundred back to buy a wooden balance bike for Junior, then a little Spesh or something like it, maybe a bike for your wife if he doesn’t already have one – then you can all go riding together

And this is going to make me sound like a total softie, but when you hear junior giggling from the child seat when you ride past the cows and make moo noises, you’ll be a very happy man.

PS I didn’t start riding properly until after my daughter was born, and even when she was younger (she’s 7 now) I found time to ride nearly every weekend for a few hours, and still get away to Wales/Lakes/Peaks with the boys 2 or 3 times a year as well.

Best of luck

I’m a new dad, own a new(ish) 3k bike and also like to ride as often as possible.

As much as I enjoy spending time with my family, it’s still important to get out often to do the things I enjoy.
If I didn’t, I’d probably be quite unhappy.

Even though I ride less now, I wouldn’t even consider getting rid of my bike.

The whole time you are looking after your bike and enjoying it when you can, the value of it is irrelevant if its the loss you’re concerned about.

My aim looking ahead in the months to come is to get out on the bike on a regular basis. Whilst I work in London but live near brighton, I’d like to at least get some time to exercise at weekends. That may well end up being very early but I’m keen to make the effort to find the time.

I think I’d find it hard to turn down a reasonable deal on a road bike if something came up. Would possibly also get a turbo trainer to put in the garage.

I may just have to persuade the wife that it’s not worth me losing money on my trail bike but it’s only worth keeping it if I’m going to use it properly, in other words get to wales on it. A friend of ours lives in Alpe D’Huez and has said I can stay with him for free during the summer but that might just be pushing my luck!

Sell the new bike. Put half the proceeds into the baby fund, half into buying a road bike and a turbo trainer (cheap one)

Hey presto – instant brownie points, a bike you can get out on for 30mins no problem, and a way to keep fit over winter.

Thats a nice ‘dale ? i can see why he don’t want to sell.Sell the other and keep the ‘dale ,mine is 18 years old ,you only need one bike now !

Still don’t get why some people seem to be of the opinion that you can’t go out at all once the baby’s born. Are they that difficult to look after?

It depends. At 4 weeks things were going very smoothly, her mum was feeling pretty confident and happy, and if it hasn’t been for the non-working bike I’d have already been out. At 7 weeks she’s really suffering with reflux, is waking up in pain when she’s not due for a feed and her mother is struggling mentally. Right now I’m needed when I’m not at work to share the workload but hopefully things will get easier soon.