well, that was then plan, well, plan B. plan A had been to go camping in derbyshire this weekend and play about on bike rides there. With the death of Uncle Robert, we didn’t really feel right to go on holiday. Mind you, having planned to go camping, i didn’t look at anything else, and now realised we have missed strawberry fair – again! oh well!!
we got up, got ready, got in the car, drove out of the drive, drove back into the drive and then attached the indicator/reg plate thingy. 
but we did get going, and went to thetford. TBH, i feel nervous about cycling after all this time. this prob is silly [after all, i survived cycling in london for 7 years!], but i wanted to wibble and wobble off road, where we could stop in the shade, and find something interesting to comment on and do, and no sense that we had to get from a to b or go round something. and where if my unfitness was too dreadful, that i didn’t need to feel mortified!
so, anyway, we got there, nearly died when it seemed that parking was nearly 10 pounds!! shrugged, and got on with it. we had a picnic lunch, twiddled and fiddled with the bikes, and set off on the 6 mile family route. it says this is a really easy family route for beginners etc, but , as you will read, it isn’t exactly.
we identified a problem early on. bb is incapable of going a steady speed, watching where she is going, or even going in a vaguely straight trajctory for any length of time. both sb and i did emergency stops early on. chris didn’t, and was the first cycling accident, obtaining a war wound, which we all decided to ignore. and then we got to the path 
it was very sandy, and very sandy means very easy to skid and slip. and so they did! alot! so we did about 50m at a time. no worries that i might look foolish or out of breath there was there! by the time i had got on bike, i was off, hugging a wailing child. SB had got new pedals with clippy bits, and she didn’t like them. BB at least didn’t mind falling into the sand. luckilly chris brought tools with him, as SB managed to turn her wheel right round and wedge it with one fall, and bb managed to push her wheel and handlebar out of alignment with another finally we had bb on the trailgator – and another stop to sort out the alignment of that and we were really off. i think at this point we had done 15 mins cycle and 40 mins pause! the next stop was a mercy mission as i stopped a dad going past whose trailgator was on so badly that the child was almost sideways. chris fixed that too. lots of kids, and even some adults were skidding/falling in the sandyness. so yes, it was mostly flat, and an easy trail to follow, but not an easy trail to ride.
We had a single hilly bit and stopped at the top for chocolate and refreshment, having actually managed a cycle. sb was being grumpy, so we decided her blood sugar was too low, so fed her and made her drink! it did the job. we saw a couple of despondant families turn back, as this was only a third way round. we looked on the map, found a ‘shortcut’ down a firebreak and forest road, and had the best bit of cycling! not sandy, a bit flinty at times [another sb fall] and even bb came off the trailgator and cycled happily all the rest of the way – about another 2 miles – and we did this bit happily and quickly. so next time would try and avoid the sandy bit!
I got brave enough to adjust the height of the saddle to the correct position, rather than worrying i needed to put feet on the floor. and i also really enjoyed it, and i was right about being crap going uphill – so def more no pressure rides for me first!
we had icecreams back at base. SB was really jealous of those on go ape, and so they played in the adventure park for an hour or so until we left. a chippy pick up since it was late and we were hoping kids might be tired enough to extract from car to bed [nope, slept all the way, woke up at home and now really irritating me!] and had it a carpark which is free, and you can join the cycle trail from after the sandy bit [i guess that will be where we are parking again - though actually we did get the parking free at high lodge anyway due to being so late out and jools holland concert goers arriving.]
so that was our first cycle outing, and we all enjoyed it.
strawb fair missed my radar entirely!
M&C hired bike and trailer at Thetford a couple of years ago when I Go-aped. They found it tricky too.
I can recommend Marston Vale Nice wide flat car free cycle paths. Free parking, clean toilets and good cafe. I was going to say it’s a bit far for you but just done an AA check and it’s 15mins nearer to you than Thetford. http://www.marstonvale.org/countrypark/cycling.html
ooh, thanks
lololololol )
I don’t go with children who need assistance, and the ones who don’t, show me up!
What an adventure!
Most of the path was fine really I think, other than being a bit rough at times (it’s a forest, I’ve not a problem with that).
The problem was really the first bit of the path we went down (maybe the first km or so) is used by all/most of the marked trails in the forest and so gets lots of use and was very worn with lots of deep sandy bits. fine for the MTB’s not so bad for people who know how to ride through the sand, but not really suiatble for ‘beginners/family’ as suggested on the trail description.
Given the amount it costs to get in/park I’d expect a bit more maintenance of such sections
However, I’d go back again (parking elsewhere, it’s nice area to cycle around, and BB was eying up the singletrack though the woods :-), and there is a good playground in the woods
This is what I don’t get about cycling. Cycling as a means of getting from A to B – sure, fine, BTDT and might be interested again one day when Buttercup is a decent bike rider. Cycling as a means of entertaining the children a bit more whilst I am walking the dog – again, great. But I can’t get my head round driving somewhere in order to ride in a circle for an hour or two, lol.
C has been trying to explain
Meanwhile I’ll leave the family bike rides to him 
Sounds like you 4 had a lot of fun in the end anyway 
lol alison. think of it as a fun way to exercise – that doesn’t need a swimming pool [ i think i only really like swimming and cycling] but we talk, find things etc as well.
when i get better, you get to have a cake stop at a tea room [ruining the whole exercise thing!] and i guess, when i am a bit fitter and healthier, we can do the a to b thing
but yes, we did have a lot of fun, even in the comedy section!
I am thinking we should all get bikes so that we can do the getting from a to b faster – for example, one of the boys at beavers turned up with dad both on bikes and I can see that being more doable than walking it, but am slightly worried as to whether it is good for my back (feeling very unstable atm) and also as to Small’s behaviour on road. Is he too big for trailgator type arrangement?
erm, will pass you over to chris for that. the trailgator is more delicate a thing, but we have an aduly/child tandem, which has always been perfect for that kind of journey. espec if you want to cycle with child to point a and then cycle back without them.
i think this tag along addition
is prob a better bet for you than the trailgator we use, and not too pricy, being prob more stable.
traligator:
as i think it would prob be more stable for small.
or for stability sake, you might just want to go outright for a tandem
http://www.formbycycles.co.uk/product/5986/Dawes_Duet_Tandem_Bike, which does a child version. or you could have big on it and then small as a tag along for real adventurousness…
might be ok for you plus big, but prob not small
nyaargh, how much???
think the wee ride or some such is the kind of thing I was thinking of, hadn’t realised how it was different from trailgator. Think we are going to explore bikes this week, though I really need to try out Tim’s first to work out whether I can cope.
sorry jax! was looking for cheapest options too. from looking at a puter screen, the wee ride seems quite value 4 money. i think for taking small on a road it or a tandem is the best answer. if big not confident yet, a tando best answer there 2 – which i s why i popped in the cheapy tandem
Asilon – well yes, i take your point, but then lots of walking is basically that, and as for going backwards and forwards in a swimming pool…. It depends I guess on how much you like the activity itself.
A reason for going to something like Thetford is for there to be plenty of off road space for BB to ride, where can all ride together.
Jaxb, cycling is certainly a much quicker way of getting about than walking, we much prefer it. As for your back, a suitable riding poistion should sort that out – if it is leaning over to much that worries you, you can have a very upright position instead.
H has pointed out the sorts of options , here is some more from me.
The Trailgator is the cheapest option (you can get them for 40 quid). Once it is all fitted it is pretty quick to enagage and disengage the the kids bike. It is pretty stable, I can notice it behind me and it does affect the handling a bit, but not so much as to be a problem – the seatpost attachment is not the best place to tow something really. But it is better than it looks
For what we bought it for – so that BB can ride her bike and then be towed when necessary (when tired, on the road etc.) i think it’s fine. If I was going to use it all the time or for longer journeys I’d prefer to look for something else. I should imagine it would be ok still for Small. The trailgator website says up to 32 Kg.
The Follow-me Tandem is device to do the same thing, but which is more stable and better for towing, but lots, lots more expensive. If we didn’t have a tandem already I might have considered buying this at some point though. someone I know online has one and rates it higly.
The advantage of both of these options is the childs bike comes along, so it is good for when they will have the chance to get detacted and cycle as well.
Then we have the tag-along type trailerbikes such as H linked to. As ever there a cheaper and more expensive and better options.
The one H linked to is pretty typical of the cheaper (£80-100) copies of the Adams Trail-a-bike. I’d want to check the sizing on these though. some of the cheaper ones say up to about 9yo other 7yo, but Adams do a larger 24 inch wheeled version for older kids as well.
These type of Trailer bike all fit to the seatpost – it’s not the best place as it impacts more on the handling of the towing bike. Better versions attach to a mounting on the rear rack over the back wheel, such as the Islabikes one or the Burley Piccolo. But we are talking £200 + for these.
It goes without saying that the towing bike needs to have decent brakes. As a trailer bike + child could easily be 30kg + load. Luckily, pretty much all modern bikes have good brakes.
After this we get into tandem territory, which is paobablt £300 for the very cheapest options. Even with a child back version though smaller/younger children may not fit the rear pedals without an adaption. Pretty sure small wouldn’t.
It really depnds on how much use and how much you want to spend. for poottling around town, or a few miles around a country park or whatever, and assuming that you don’t want to be spending loads then I’d say a cheaper Trailer bike, or Trailgator would do the job for you
Thanks for all that, will ponder further with Tim
Lol, well yes, I do rather like swimming lengths
I was aiming for “aren’t we all different” rather than “what you are doing is wrong” 
I don’t mind riding for exercise (i like my local loop), but i actually struggle with “riding to somewhere i need to go because i ought to go on a bike and combine it with exercise but really it would be quicker and easier and i’d get more work done if i went in my car.”
Which is really not a very logical thing.
Dringi places with bikes on the back in order to get stressed out by needy children – nope, i’ll leave that to you!!!!!
Just checking, HH
I did growse whilst sitting in traffic driving the 2 miles to HE group on Friday and think that cycling wouldn’t be much, if at all some days, slower. I won’t pay £6.50 for the bus. Could walk, it’s not exactly far, but that would take longer and that’s more time that Dylan gets left in his crate.
I get irritated sometimes by driving somewhere in order to walk the dog.
have decided to make the above info into a page! it flows better now.
Alison cycling 2 miles to HE group would take about 12 minutes (av speed of 10mph, which is what i used to do in London, with traffic, lights, crossings etc.) Even if it is quicker in the car would that matter? I suspect even on a good day, you’d do well to better 20 or so mph on av in the car
opps, that was me not her
[
@him]
I can’t see us ever being a cycling family really either although I’ve been ‘enjoying’ (and I use the word hesitantly) my cycling to the allotment. Neither of the kids can ride bikes or have much interest in learning to do so
Didn’t think that was her, lol! I know, I know
And there’s a nice route – about half of it would be along the canal, and the other half on v. quiet back streets. When Buttercup’s competent I will have to think seriously about getting myself a bike.
Nic – there’s still time, lol! Gwenny hasn’t wanted to ride a bike all these years, and now she’s obsessed
National Bike Week starts next Saturday on her birthday, and she has been planning which of the local events she can go to!
I love family bike rides. However, the organisation and loading/unloading of 5 bikes really makes it a total pain, we haven’t done one for ages. I just get bored of the rides that are easily accessible from home! Also since the kids and I have been using our bikes for getting to school I don’t think it’s been top of our hobby list together, but there we go.
fwiw, we had a trailgator for Josiah from when he was about 4 – 6 ish, and Steve kept it on his bike for a while even after Joe was riding independently; it just meant that when he got tired he could have the option to hook up to Steve’s bike, giving the rest of us the chance to ride further.
Nice page, Helen
thnx sarah – and sorry alison, i made a pigs ear of sorting it out, so think it pretty much points where you wanted?