Need to get a motorbike for my 2 x 20 sessions (and up the pace a lot!)

Seriously. Kid Rudys. Where can I get my littles pairs of those? Genius.

Je pence those are Briko Stingers, not Rudy’s. Never been a fan of Rudy’s, despite my boys Jan and Erik (Dekker) riding them and making them look badass.

@Oli

No denim Roadworks gear has ever or will ever exist.

I expected nothing less. And thank Merckx for that, too.

@Oli
Those are my favorite shades ever. Love how they match the kit. Pantani class. The Roadworks kit, from this angle, even looks like it might be lycra denim.

Class.

They’re not big enough for road bikes but they love cycling, it doesn’t matter whether it’s a big loop round a local reservoir, an afternoon at the BMX track or just belting up and down the garden.

Here she is at 18 months testing out the first trike in the living room.

You may well notice she has already discarded the bidon in a bid to reduce weight before cycling up the stairs. She pushed it up four before mum told me to stop her so we will have to call that an abandoned attempt for now.

Seeing and/or riding with kids is huge fun and the future of our sport. Like a digital wallet with cascading pictures of your kids, I blabber about it constantly on my fluffy blog. My son, now 12 years old, has ridden with me for a few years now. He also races mountain bikes and cyclocross. It’s been fantastic sharing the two wheeled time and watching him progress as a rider.

Seeing my son and other kids get the riding/racing bug is awe inspiring and just a kick in ass. Pics of him in action and other bike fluff here: http://yoeddy.blogspot.com

Picture below is a neighbor of ours, all of 7 years old, going for the gold – on a shoddy jump constructed in my front yard. This is where it all starts…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A285M5c-be8&feature=player_embedded

@scaler911
Is that a Petzl climbing helmet? You getting the little dude out on the rocks too?

He loves climbing. As do I. Goes to the rock gym quite a bit in the winter, and we do some top-roping outdoors. I let him take a cam or two and a couple nuts and he places them a lot better than some of my climbing partners.

Frig me, that reminds me of the time I tied a rope to the front post of my then 5 yr old son’s scooter, to help pull him up our steep driveway – then as he hit mach 2 going back down the hill I couldn’t keep up and the rope, which I had safely wrapped around my wrist, went taught, resulting in my first born face planting the cobbles too
Jesus I’m a bad father

I recommend a track bike. Probably get an even trade, yes?

chapeau for watching, I just scream now and look away

Jesus I’m a bad father

Going to gauge her interest in doing some Lil Belgians races during CX season though I don’t envy her if she has to lift that beast over any barriers (nor do I really envy myself. Not sure I want to expose her to daddy getting waxed in his race week in and out).

Lesson one – cycle in front of them – my daughter, inherently a show off, kept looking over her shoulder to tell us how fast she was going – I told her to keep looking a head, then thought, quick, get in front – too late, she lifted out of the saddle and buried it – and sadly herself – face first onto the tarmac – didn’t put her off, and now big brither struggles to keep up – great to see them at it – now at our caravan park (no not Trailer Park) it is not cool to walk anywhere, so the bikes and scooters have taken over the shoes as #1 mode of transport – vive la velo!

Great to see the big growth in our club cadet rides (9-15) – they ride small front cogs (or disconnect the FD cable) to keep the speed down – fantastic in a scary parental sort of way – though I hope learning in group rides with a club will keep them safer longerterm

@grumbledook

Great photo. That looks enormous and steep.

He even had a podium girl (and not even his mom!)
He also rides and cleans his bike most every day.

I love the idea of exposing a kid to cycling at such an early age. The ultimate in La Vie Velominatus; start young and don’t stop until you take your dirt nap. A few years back, we were in San Sebastian and this little girl was riding lap after lap after lap around this enormous fountain while her dad watched. She was really booking and was so obviously in love with the feeling of being on a bike and going fast. So cool.

I’ve also got a picture somewhere of the neighbor kid’s scoot parked at a tree with his helmet stored in perfect Rule #74 goodness. To be fair, I taught him how to do it, but what was so cool about it is that I had taught him a while ago and he was doing on his own at this point.

No such thing as starting too young. I’ll try to find the picture of it.

Possibly the best thing about all of this is the simple joy of turning the cranks.

Was coming in from walking the dog with the VHM last night as I spotted a cyclist flying down the hill a block over.

Me: “Boy, that makes me jealous!”
VMH: “What, that guy riding? Why? You already rode today.”
Me: “I know, but that guy was going fast, and it looked fun!”

Nice one Jim. I used to put my little guy in his seat on the back of the mountain bike and do hill repeats while he napped, head in helmet lolling around, he always woke refreshed and happy. The guns were awesome that year!

I regularly take my 2 year old son on rides. It is some of the best times we have together as father and son and I’m sure will be some of my fondest memories later in life.

When Sam first started talking well enough he could never just say bicycle, he had to always say “bicycle-ride-it”. For every bike he saw, ours or another, whether being ridden or just sitting, he would always shout out “Daddy – Bicyclerideit!”

My first inclination was to correct him to just say bicycle or bike, but then realized that when he sees a bicycle, all he thinks is “ride it!”, and why would I want to do anything to curb that impulse?

So he still says it, and now when I’m driving down the road and see bike I can’t help but say to myself “Bicyclerideit”.

The simple wisdom of kids never ceases to amaze me.