How far?

NicG

My six year old is really into cycling at the moment and we have done some 6 mile rides and I was wondering how far we should go, he has a 16" mountain bike with no gears. It's one from a generic sports shop so no that light etc.

Would it be too much to stretch him out to 10 miles?

Mike Healey

Depends on the terrain and how you organise the ride.

May be teaching granny egg sucking, but break up the ride with treats, kick around, whatever. Play something along the lines of a treasure hunt if you know the route well. One friend taught his kids to recognise different trees and wildflowers by collecting leaves and taking photos and looking them up when they got home.

Another friend's 6yr old did about 40 miles on the Tarka Trail out and back - he was knackered by the time they got home tho'.

Just build up the mileage on trips a mile or two at a time and good luck

NicG

We stop off for a sit down and a drink! His interest is really high, I just don't want to go too far and knacker him out so much he gives up. I also worry about the bike being a factor in limiting him, will have a look for a bigger/better one with gears.

If I was your mate I would be so proud, that's bloody good going.

Will keep going as far as he wants then, and maybe mix it up with on and off road.

Cheers.

thelawnet

NicG wrote:

My six year old is really into cycling at the moment and we have done some 6 mile rides and I was wondering how far we should go, he has a 16" mountain bike with no gears. It's one from a generic sports shop so no that light etc.

Would it be too much to stretch him out to 10 miles?

My son turned 7 earlier this month. He used to have a 16" horrid heavy mtb similar to the one you mention, which he'd ride while his parents walk, got a lighter 24" bike with gears (http://www.islabikes.co.uk/bike_pages/beinn24.html) for his birthday

Can't really compare because we never actually tried to see how fast he could go before, but we did 22 miles on and off road yesterday and he was still happy to do 13 miles (round trip) to the swimming pool and back after school today.

I'm pretty sure however that he wouldn't have been able to do it on his old bike.

Also obviously you're going to be able to go further on-road than on bridleways. Our route yesterday had some incredibly steep nettly bridleways, and a mile of that is probably 3 miles on the road. Our 6.5 miles to the pool was only about half-an-hour each way because it's on (quiet) roads, which are fast, so it didn't take too much out of him.