Training wheels
Mountain Bike Rider|August 2023
Riding with your kids should be the best thing you've ever done. Here's how to guarantee success
Fi Spotswood
Training wheels

When and how am I ever going to mountain bike regularly again?” This wasn’t the first thought that popped into my head when I learnt we were expecting our first child. Definitely top 10, though. But it didn’t take long before it dawned on me that the best long-term strategy for protecting my own trail time was to support my children in learning, and loving, mountain biking. Easier said than done, of course. Now, however, with three time-sappers in tow (four, seven, nine), I stand by the strategy, even if I’ve honed my tactics along the way.

We still aren’t quite at the point where a family ride involves a truly phenomenal shred, but it’s close. Very close. Often, our rides are short, snappy affairs. We will split the family for an afternoon and focus just on one child who will bask in the attention of having a whole grown up to themselves. These are where skills and confidence really notch up the levels. Our role is as cheerleader of a Million Tiny Victories, producer of custard creams, and regaler of stories from our own library of mountain biking adventures. These rides are the ones where my heart really soars and I begin entering adventure races and bike packing events in my mind. Then I realise that the child is in fact only four and riding on 16in wheels. And we’ve done 5km in an hour. Maybe next year.

It’s harder to ride all together, but we have some techniques up our sleeve. And this has resulted in some magical days exploring the landscape beyond trail centres, skirting around empty mid-Wales reservoirs and stopping for picnics on amazing rugged hillsides with kites soaring above. There has been some hike-a-bike too, and a few times we have lost a child in a bog. But it’s character building, right?

Denne historien er fra August 2023-utgaven av Mountain Bike Rider.

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Denne historien er fra August 2023-utgaven av Mountain Bike Rider.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA MOUNTAIN BIKE RIDERSe alt
Best places to ride with your kids
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100% GLENDALE GLASSES
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100% GLENDALE GLASSES

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1 min  |
September 2023
DMR STAGE 2 MTB RAIL SADDLE
Mountain Bike Rider

DMR STAGE 2 MTB RAIL SADDLE

DMR's new Stage 2 MTB Rail is one of those new/old products. The shape and construction are identical to the existing Oi Oi saddle, but the company has wrapped it in a new skin and added some harder-wearing reinforcement to the edges. It's also toned down the lairy graphics; this saddle only comes in plain black.

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1 min  |
September 2023
STRAIGHT TORQUING - GUY KESTEVEN
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Has tech taken the hard work and fun out of mountain biking, or should we embrace evolution and roll with it?

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September 2023
STORM FORCE
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STORM FORCE

Manon Carpenter may have retired from downhill competition, but her new role as a trail advocate is achieving results far beyond the race track

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September 2023
SWEAT AND SLATE
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We ride 140 miles through Snowdonia on Cycling UK's newest and gnarliest long-distance trail

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HEAD SPACE
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HEAD SPACE

New guidance reveals how to spot concussion, and how best to treat it

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LATE SUMMER LOVIN'
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Classic UK holiday hotspots that really shine when the crowds have gone

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HOT STUFF
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HOT STUFF

WHAT WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT THIS MONTH

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