Well after taking my son to glentress and having a go on some of the blue we took him to whinlatter to try the blue there. He’s 5 and rides a spec hot rock and we were keen to keep up his enthusiasm after glentress. Well I’m pleased to say after a few pushes up the hills he smashed it and loved it. His bike control was excellent and he managed the tricky sections with ease. As well as Daniel we also had a 7 year old girl join us who had just started riding and after a shaky start really enjoyed herself and told her mum it was the best ride she ever been on. Just felt I had to share and looking forward to getting him out on more rides

🙂 bringing on the next generation. Nice one.

nice one 🙂

Totally agree, the feeling of riding with your kids is quite special, really back to ‘what its all about’ IMO

Good work retrogirl!!! I remember having a similar experience when I took the Binnerettes to have a play at Lee Quarry. Daughter number 1 (6 at the time) was insistent on riding the bigger steeper sections, and managed them really well.

Its great seeing them genuinely enjoying something that will give them so much enjoyment, potentially for the rest of their lives 😀

Seeing kids out at glentress etc is awesome- I came across a wee kid scooting along on a likeabike on berm baby berm a while back, his dad was all apologetic but if something like that doesn’t put a smile on your face you’re dead inside, it was just too cool.

Trying to imagine my dad taking me somewhere like that as a kid!

Whinlatter is not a bad place for the young un

Off again next weekend with mine.

well done retrogirl

took my two 7(boy) and 6 (girl) down some usual trails here in Surrey two weeks ago… li’l one moaned abt the climbs but is probably the one with out fear or pays no heed to my warnings… took a few spills but now they don’t want to ride towpaths or any ‘easy’ trails anymore if you please!

Its a great feeling following your kids down a trail and its still a great feeling trying to catch them. Its seems like ages ago when our girls started and I couldn’t even hope that they would have the same passion as me as they got older. Abigale was five when we first took her to Glentress, also on a Hotrock, in preparation for our Alps trip . She had her 16th birthday a couple of weeks ago and still loves every minute on her bike. They grow up fast but we have loads of photos of them progressing and still look back in amazement of what they have done

2004

2012

This weekend

Get loads of photos, even when they crash, they are all proud moments.

Sounds fun. 🙂

What sort of blue are GT and Whinlatter? I’ve taken my 3 year old to Glenlivet and he has done some of the blue trail (the end bit from the track, about 1.5 miles after a wee push up) and he really loved it – we did it twice it was such fun. But then we did the new blue descent trail at Nevis range and it was so much trickier – narrower with sharper turns and a looser rockier surface. I thought he would be fine as he rides the lower orange at Laggan, but it was a bit challenging.

Wondering which other trails would be suitable.

Not ridden GT, but Whinlatter is a fantastic blue IMO. Well built, swooping but easy descents, enough climbing to make it a real achievement to get around for a young rider (3 might be a bit young to get around it all, but you can actually do a much shorter version but cutting off a loop about halfway round), or even just do the first couple of descents from the VC and head back along the road.

Good stuff op.
I took my two round most of Cannock’s Follow ye Dog, at 5 & 6.
They loved it.
Was a weekday, so very quiet but the half dozen riders who did come past seemed to be more stoked to see them riding than annoyed at them for getting in the way.

Loving this thread! 😀

We’ve just ordered our eldest, who’s just turned four, her first ‘proper’ bike (an Islabike Cnoc), and her Dad and I can’t wait to take her out for her first ride!

It’s so encouraging/inspiring to hear of all of you guys getting your kids into trail riding at such a young age. I’m especially loving the photos Tracey! I really hope we have a similar experience with our two little girls – certainly initial signs seem promising as they ride their balance bikes everyday! 🙂

Hope my girls still enjoy riding at 16! Oh, and Cnocs were a great purchase

4.5 on the Haldon blue:

[url=https://flic.kr/p/nvV46o]IMG_0654[/url] by oxym0r0n, on Flickr

We used to have lots of chocolate stops so the girls never felt any pressure and if Kevin saw them struggling on an uphill he used to ask them to push as he was tired and needed some help and someone to walk with. Worked every time and now its the other way round. They also used to help pick routes, weekends away and even holidays so they always felt part of what we did and involved with it.

Whinlatter is a fantastic blue IMO

thanks, just realised how far away it is for us unfortunately 🙁

Planning to do the whole of Glenlivet blue soon, all 5.5 miles. But we will be stopping loads (jellybaby anyone?)

We weren’t the only ones that found the new Nevis Range blue descent a bit trickier than expected. Apparently even the green is a bit red in places 🙄

if Kevin saw them struggling on an uphill he used to ask them to push as he was tired and needed some help and someone to walk with

Awesome idea – we’ll definitely be nicking that one!

Any other tips from/for parents of riding little ones?!

Great seeing/hearing about people getting kids riding. Our youngest (4.5) did 11km round Dalby last week (including bits of the red). He’s very determined, gave him a tactical tow up one long fireroad climb (climbing sling clipped between his bars and my camelbak). Very proud of him…

Ezra riding by Jonathan Bateman, on Flickr

Held big brother back a bit, but he made up for it lapping the jumps 🙂

Loving the stories and photos 🙂

Took my 7 year old out tonight on some technical singletrack descents. He had great fun and was actually awesome 😆

Loving this thread and it seems that it is bang on time for us.

Kip Jr just turned 4 and has been whipping about on her Strider bike for 2 years. I work above a bike shop so had her round the other day to sit her on a pedal bike without stabilisers on and lo and behold she can reach the floor on tippy toes. It was a 12″ Hotrock and if we trim the post she’ll be able to reach the floor properly with both feet. As she’s only 90cm with a 36cm inside leg (using the Isla Bike book method) it seems the Hotrock is the only one she can ride at the moment.

Question is…how have your kids got on with the coaster brake? The guys in the shop, who I know and trust all say their kids didn’t get on with it, yet almost all of America and Europe seem to cope. I’d rather wait until she’s older and get a Cnoc 14″, but judging by their info, that’s going to be a couple of years. She’s not desperate yet, but I can see it becoming an issue as she gets older.

Any advice and other bike choices welcome.

We had a coaster brake bike for first pedal bike. It worked fine and at foru years old they should be able to grasp how our works if they have got the balance bike basics and how to pedal dialed.

Biggest now on 16″ wheels with twin v brakes (XT parallel push out back) and imo it is much better now his hands are strong enough to brake properly.

My other tips….

Put their rides on Strava and show how far they have been (and if you have nice followers they might even get some good kudos / likes)

Take food and drink

Encourage, encourage and encourage with masses of positive reinforcement

Give some guidance but don’t make it a constant stream

Let them navigate / choose the route (we have a great place we go with loads of trails in a 3km by 2km area and he can do what he likes in there)

Point out loads of interesting stuff so they don’t focus on aching legs

Kip – 12″ Hotrock – my youngest son got it for his second birthday when he was 83cm tall.

We did cut the seatpost down, but he still couldn’t reach the ground enough to get a foot down when he stopped. However he could still ride it perfectly – only he needed me to run with him for a maybe 6 weeks so I could catch him when he stopped!

He has moved onto a 16″ wheel bike now he is 3, but he is still only about 93cm tall and the Hotrock looks tiny now. He managed fine with the coaster brake, but it does make it harder to get started as you can’t move the pedals back into the right position.

Do you know anyone with a Cnoc 14 you could try her on?

Tracey… V jealous of your parenting skills. Good work. Mine is nearly 3 and has just managed to grasp braking. So more complex rides are just around the corner.

Peabrain – I wish Kip Jr had been 83 cm when she was 2! She doesn’t have a problem with braking or pedalling and can scoot the Haldon pump track better than kids bigger and older than her, it’s just reaching the floor and having the strength to pull the brakes that we have issues with!

I’m in touch with Isla Bikes and there’s usually one or 2 up at Haldon when we’re there so will try next time we’re up.

Cheers for the advice.

Kip – She must be really tiny as my son is the smallest among all the kids at nursery! Sounds like she is very confident though and I bet she will be off as soon as you try her with a pedal bike.

My son has been using the 16″ bike with v-brakes since just before he turned 3 and he can manage the levers fine. I presume that the levers and brakes on an Islabike will be similar.

Let us know how you get on if she has a try on an Islabike.

Best. Thread. Ever. hopefull going to get him on pedals this summer then, if he’s tall enough, Islabike for his 3rd birthday in September.

Stunting. by pictonroad, on Flickr

Great photo 🙂 And I love back gardens that look like mine – ad hoc ramps and jumps 😀

Getting them interested at an early age really pays off – now feels like our boys (9 and 11) have a decent foundation and only a matter of time before they are thrashing mum and dad 🙂

Jonathan – remember your eldest and our Jake (in yellow below) racing the balance bikes back at SSWC07?