I’ve always been a keen cyclist in one way or another, and even more so since we moved to Swindon. So it’s quite amazing that its taken so long to get us using bikes as a family to get around.
There’s been several reasons for this. For one, my ‘workhorse’ bike has had a wobbly stem, and for another we’ve been working out what sort of seat we want to use.
We’d been given a bike seat last year, by some friends, but it was a rear-mounted seat and we weren’t sure if it was particularly good quality, or if we might prefer a front-mounted seat. We figure that Isaac likes to chat and interact, and he can get quite wriggly and playful in a car seat, so maybe a front seat would be better.
Anyway, I finally got the stem of my bike fixed, and had a go at mounting the seat that we’d been given, just to try it out. And we popped out and bought Isaac a little helmet (or ‘hat’) too.
And so it began.
Yesterday I took him up the road and back first, and I confess, I was a bit nervous and worried about wobbling and falling. But quickly found my way with it. And Isaac seemed to enjoy being in the seat.
So today we went for a family ride. We did 5 miles or so out and back to Shaw Ridge for a coffee there. Pretty much all off road, so very safe. And it was great!
In fact, we felt safe, free and are really keen to go on our next family ride.
Isaac’s verdict? In a quick interview once home he declared his ride on the ‘bak’ wearing his ‘hah’ with ‘daddy’ driving using his current favourite word: a load and firmly stated ‘Wow!’