How To Survive and Thrive on Long Bike Rides with Babies and Toddlers
So you want to take a long bike ride, but you have little kids. You’re probably thinking, “There’s no way I can expect my kids to accompany me for more than a couple of miles.”
I’m here to tell you that you can!
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My family recently did a 35-mile bike ride through the Denver, metropolitan area with our two- and four-year-old sons. We spent about 5 hours on the pavement and it was one of our favorite adventures yet!
But it did take strategic planning and preparation. Here are my Top 5 tips for taking your family on a long bike ride that everyone can enjoy!
1. Choose the right Carrier for Bike Rides with Babies or Toddlers
There are lots of options when it comes to taking a bike ride with babies or toddlers.
Bike Seat Attachment
The first option is a front seat or back seat attachment for the bike. These are great for shorter rides to the park or around the neighborhood, but in my opinion they are not great for longer rides.
However, if you think your child would enjoy a higher vantage point or you only plan on short distances at a time,
For longer bike rides with kids, we prefer bike trailers. These trailers attach to the back tire of your bike and allow the child to have a bit more comfortable ride. They are also great for longer rides because your babies or toddler can have toys and snacks (more on this later) without fear of dropping and losing them during the ride. We love our Burley Bee double trailer that we got off Amazon. It’s perfect for pulling both kids. Only have one child? This is the one we rented a few times before we had both kids! One thing we have found to be extremely beneficial when doing a bike ride longer than an hour is separating our children when possible. We do this for a few reasons. First, it helps to distribute the weight between parents or riders if you have two or more adult riders. Depending on how much your kids weigh, you will definitely be feeling the extra weight by the end of a long bike ride. By splitting our kids up between us, we are able to go a lot farther. Second, if your kids are anything like mine, if they are in close proximity, buckled in together, they are going to start bickering after a while. One longer rides, that can get unbearable. Everyone will enjoy happy kids if they are separated on longer rides. If you want to separate your kids into different bike trailers, you’re going to need more than one. However, unless you plan on weekly or monthly long haul bike rides, you don’t need to purchase two trailers. I can all but guarantee that you have a friend or neighbor with a bike trailer they aren’t using in their garage. Ask your friends and neighbors if anyone has one you can borrow in exchange for a plate of cookies or a $5 Starbucks card! You might even inspire them to get a bit more active, too! Make sure that you are being as safe as possible when you are heading out on your ride. I can’t stress this enough! I know we all grew up riding bikes with no helmets, but we know better now! Let’s do better with that knowledge. Babies and toddlers in seat attachments and trailers still need helmets that are properly fitting in order to prevent injury. We are big fans of these Giro helmets on Amazon. If you head to this link you can see all of their helmets from babies to adults. Similarly, make sure that you and your children are prepared for whatever temperature or weather you might have. For warmer rides, make sure to start early in the morning and keep your kids cool with misting fans or cooling towels. And don’t forget sunscreen! For fall or winter rides, make sure they are bundled appropriately. Remember, they won’t be as warm as you because they aren’t cycling, they are just sitting in the wind or chill! Another safety consideration is to plan out routes that mostly consist of bike paths that are separated from streets. We love finding greenways that go through bikes or along water fronts to keep us away from cars as much as possible. Speaking of planning routes, if you want to go on a long haul bike ride with a toddler, you will definitely need to plan some stops along the way. We love to stop at parks, water fronts, interesting landmarks and more. We usually try to plan a stop every 30-45 minutes. On our 35-mile bike ride, we had about 4 stops, some closer together than others. We stopped at a park with lots of fun new things to play on. Parks are great because they are fun, but the kids also get to run around and get some wiggles out after sitting in the trailer for a while. We like to make sure that everyone is getting some exercise! Further along, almost to downtown, we stopped briefly at our favorite football stadium! They boys didn’t get out this time, but they loved recognizing the stadium! Look for fun or recognizable landmarks along your route that your kids can watch for! Then we stopped at the riverfront downtown to play before heading a few blocks away for lunch. Water is always a huge draw for my kids so any time we can ride near or to water, we do! Plan a great lunch! We stopped at a delicious burger pub for all of the carb loading to get us home! Make sure to find a place where the kids can wiggle and run around because they will be tired of being cooped up in the trailer. On the way home, we made sure to point out a few different landmarks and had plans to stop at a river front natural playground, but the boys fell asleep (another reason we recommend trailers over seat attachments!). Here are a couple sites where you can find bike routes near you! I mentioned earlier that having a bike trailer is a great way to allow your kids access to snacks and drinks while on the bike ride so you don’t have to constantly stop and get them a drink or a bite. Our trailer has internal cup holders for the kids, where we put water bottles that can open and use themselves. We also like to use snacks that are easily accessible in baggies or containers they can open instead of wrappers that we would need to help them with. We make sure they have an array of snacks available to them, usually a fruit like apple slices or strawberries, a vegetable like cucumber slices, and crackers. If they drop things and can’t reach them, we set the expectation beforehand that we will get anything they drop the next time we stop. It may take a few rides for your kids to grasp this idea, but if you hold strong and don’t stop every time they ask, they will get the hang of it! Along these lines, we have our kids pick a small toy they can bring with them. It’s usually a car or action figure. Pretty much any toy without multiple pieces is great for a bike ride. The only thing that I don’t recommend for bike rides is an iPad or tablet, since the purpose of the bike ride is for my children to be in and enjoy the outdoors, unlike being trapped on an airplane. If you have a baby, consider pinning car seat and stroller toys to the roof of the trailer to entertain them or hook toys with pacifier clips to their clothes or straps. This is how I always kept my boys entertained in the jogging stroller when they were babies and it works for the trailer as well! Longer bike rides with kids is not something you can or should just jump right into! Just like your legs might need some conditioning to work up to a 35+ mile bike ride, your kids will need some conditioning as well. When we first started taking our kids on rides, we started with shorter rides to the park or to a restaurant for dinner. Other great destinations might be the library or a friend’s house! Once they are used to those shorter rides, try a little bit longer by adding a few miles before heading to the park or going on a ride without a stop at a park. You’ll know when you are ready to take on a longer haul bike ride! In the words of Ross from Friends, if things aren’t going well, PIVOT! We’ve definitely had rides where we have had to cut them short because we could tell that the kids our ourselves just weren’t in the mood. Or if there were detours or obstacles that ruined our plans. If things aren’t going well, turn around and head home, or add in some extra stops. Maybe stop and grab ice cream to bring up everyone’s moods! I would rather have a bike ride cut short before disaster than push through when everyone is unhappy and leave a sour taste for bike rides in general. There will always be another chance to get to your destination in the future! What questions do you have about long bike rides with babies and toddlers? How can I help you?! If you love cycling, make sure to check out this post on why we love to rent bikes while traveling to new cities. You can also read about how biking can help you to love your city whether traveling or at home. For more outdoors adventure in Denver, check out this hiking guide. Don’t forget to Pin this for later or share with a bike riding friend!Bike Trailers for Babies and Toddlers
Parenting Tip: Separate Kids Longer Bike Rides
Borrow An Extra Bike Trailer from Friends and Neighbors
2. Safety First when Doing Long Bike Rides with Babies or Toddlers
Safety Gear for Bike Rides with Kids
Safe Routes for Bike Rides with Babies or Toddlers
3. Plan Routes with Lots of Stops and Points of Interest with Biking with Kids
Where To Find Routes for Your Bike Ride with Kids
4. Pack Easy Snacks and Drinks for Bike Rides with Kids
Keeping Babies and Toddlers Entertained on Long Bike Rides
5. Start by Doing Shorter Bike Rides with Your Babies and Toddlers
Build Up to Longer Distances
Don’t Be Afraid to Pivot
