14 year old son's first ride on a road bike

andyoh

My eldest son, just turned 14 has been nagging me to have a ride on my winter bike, a 2009 Wilier La Triestina. He has never ridden a road bike before and only ever rides his BMX.

I finally gave in and altered the position and height of the saddle to suit him, he's about 5'10" tall so only about 1.5 inches shorter than myself. He put on a pair of my cycling shorts which are a size large and he's no doubt a size small, put on my old Shimano shoes and he rode around the drive to get used to clipping in and out using the SPD-SL's, no problem there.

My wife suggested for the first ride we only cover about 12-15 miles. So off we go and straight away he's at pace, about 21 mph on the flat. At 12 miles he's averaged 17mph and I suggest we do another few miles, he agrees and we carry on over undulating roads but no major hills until a final hill in town where he stayed in the large ring and up the hill he went like a rocket.

Over the ride he used only a few gears on the rear cassette and never came out of the big front ring (it's a compact Campag Veloce group set).

In total we covered 19 miles and he averaged 17.2 mph which I thought was rather good for a first time ride. I know he has youth on his side and we didn't ride that far in distance terms but the roads were quite busy yesterday and it was the first time he had ridden a road bike.

Looks like it's going to cost me a few quid now for cycling clothes and potentially a bike for him next year.

andrewlwood

Ah, the energy of youth. I did the London Windsor ride yesterday, and while faster in general than the many teenagers I saw, they weren't sweating and puffing like I was, especially up the hills.

14 year olds learn fast, don't they? And well done on raising a son that wants to go on bike rides with his dad!

apreading

andrewlwood wrote:

Ah, the energy of youth. I did the London Windsor ride yesterday, and while faster in general than the many teenagers I saw, they weren't sweating and puffing like I was, especially up the hills.

Well done indeed Andy. Lots of good times to be had cycling with your kids if you get them into it.

Andrew - how was the ride yesterday? I did it last year but it looked a bit wet this year... did it with my (then) 10 year old son and he loved it.

ollyridesfirst

pretty impressive with that, sounds a decent run. BMX riders normally have a high cadence too on a low gear, so to push the biggie around is a good start

Keith1983

If he is keeping up with you on your old bike then keep him on that and slowly but surely add weight to it (maybe concrete down the seat tube or something). This way you may stand half a chance of keeping up with him when he gets into it!

mattshrops

Plus points- time with your lad. Less aggro from swmbo for clearing off all day.

Negative points- Its gonna cost you. No flirting with the women on a group ride. Having to descend sensibly and generally set a good example.

glad he enjoyed it good pace for his first time out 8)

andyoh

Weather and light depending we're out agian on Tuesday evening and we've planned a 25 miler which I think he can do. It will be interesting to see his pace over a slighthly longer distance.

The good thing is that if he can be quick on an aluminium bike albeit with carbon forks and carbon rear stays there is potential for him to be quite quick on a lighter full carbon bike, however, he's not getting his hands on my Wilier Gran Turismo just yet.

Speedmenace

that's really impressive, soon he'll be overtaking you

the_spooks

That's impressive indeed, and from my point of view slightly depressing You may wanna get a heavier bike for him, you don't want him overtaking you just yet.

mouth

Maybe you could make the brakes bind or something? Lower tyre pressure (say 65 psi).

In all seriousness though, a great achievement, and lets hope he gets to like road riding and keep at it for a while.

I took my lad out the other day (he's 10). We did about 12 miles on MTB, fairly flat and no real mud, more rough tracks than anything. Little bugger kept up with me all the way, except for one hill which I must admit had me breathing through my mouth. Worth mentioning that he was riding a bike nearly as heavy as him.....

Currently the little un' (6" smaller than me) is riding this sort of distance 3-4 times a week with either me, his Mum or his grand parents and seems to love every minute of it. Maybe next year I'll look for a used Isla for him.

skyd0g

mattshrops wrote:

Plus points- time with your lad. Less aggro from swmbo for clearing off all day.

Negative points- Its gonna cost you. No flirting with the women on a group ride. Having to descend sensibly and generally set a good example.

glad he enjoyed it good pace for his first time out 8)

+1
...and pour molten lead down his seatpost.

The Spiderman

Nothing better than the sense of achievement of getting the kids out on their bikes.
I recently had my 4 year old daughter who`d been riding without stabilisers for just a month riding off road through singletrack on her little 14" single speed and she absolutley loved it.

My 8 year old son has been coming out for longer rides with me on his mtb but I can`t wait until he can come out for a proper length road ride with me.As you say,it gets expensive though.I`ve bought 3 kids bikes this year.

mouth

sand down the seat post maybe? It is eventually removable when you (yes YOU, since You paid for it) sell it.

andyoh

As a bit of an update. We went out on Sunday 11th and did a 29 mile ride, it was fairly windy to say the least and I subjected my son to some challenging small hills, which he managed very well as he is only 8 stone. He managed a 16.4 mph average over the distance but struggled with the last 8 to 10 miles with lower back pain and slowed quite a bit; for the first 19 miles he was averaging 17.5 mph which I was quite impressed with. Obvioulsy stamina will come with practice and more riding on the bike and the lower back pain will go with more riding as he has to acclimatise to the riding position, he is only used to BMX which is rather different.

I think he did very well for his second ride and only 48 miles in total on a proper road bike but I think I may have pushed him a little too hard for a second ride, however he's keen to get out again this weekend to do a 20 - 25 mile ride.

Cheers.

pilot_pete

Big well done to him!

My 14yo started road biking in April and has taken great leaps and bounds - they progress so quickly at that age. He has done 64 miles as a longest ride, but more impressive than that in my opinion is that he completed the first 55 miles of the Cycle Store Geoff Thomas Sportive a few weeks back - that's about 25-30 miles on a flat loop around Cheshire before hitting the Peak District and it's climbs.

We went out the other night after school and I'd asked if he wanted to do a few hills or flat. His answer was 'Can we try the Mow Cop Killer Mile?' Now I have always encouraged him in tackling hills as I think a real good cyclist is one who can take the inclines in their stride, but I was a little apprehensive in taking up the Killer Mile. Have you seen the 25% incline near the top? http://www.icenivelo.co.uk/cheshire-cat-2011/

So we headed off and as we got to the bottom I told him to slow down and spin freely - it is a reasonable grade for most of the mile before you hit the steepo bit! I had also told him that when we reached the steep bit I would have to push on as I didn't have low enough gearing to ride up it at his pace, so I shoot off at the steep bit after words of encouragement and advice about 'getting angry' and using that aggression to not stop. Sure enough, I stop at the top and up he comes, looking a little 'peaky' but pleased with himself none the less - and rightly so. Many adults don't make it up there any go, let alone first go!

So off we go, over Lask Edge and then just to cap off a great ride we climb that little lump from the Tour of Britain Stage 3 - Gun Hill!

He was a little stiff the following day!

Hope your son progresses and gets as much enjoyment as me and my lad do. Oh, and I promised him that when he is tall enough he can have a go on my Pinarello - that put a cheesy grin on his face!

PP

MikeWW

Great that he is enjoying it but I think you want to be careful on the distance front
An hour is plenty at that age. Endurance will come over time but even at 16 they are only racing for 30 mins or so. Its the pace which is the issue

andyoh

Pilot Pete,

Yes I hope he keeps with it which he says he will and also progresses as your son has which at that age I'm sure he will.

I did let him have a quick ride on my Wilier GranTurismo which he enjoyed and said it was so easy to ride and felt a lot quicker than the aluminium Wilier he's currently using.

Cheers.

Hinzy9

Keith1983 wrote:

If he is keeping up with you on your old bike then keep him on that and slowly but surely add weight to it (maybe concrete down the seat tube or something). This way you may stand half a chance of keeping up with him when he gets into it!

I think someone must have done this to me! :?