cdonges

Earlier this year I attempted a metric century but only made 72km.

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...y-and-failed-(

My daughter was inspired and wants to do the 72km too. We ride to school regularly but she has never gone anywhere near that far. So as a test we rode from my Grandma's place to the local lake. 20km there and 20km back if she was up to it. She made it there ok but then we called the SAG wagon (Granddad) to pick her up.

It's a nice road. We saw about 5 cars and none of them passed too close. No magpies attacked my daughter which is a huge bonus in September in Australia.

Still, 20km is a good start. And I got to ride back at my own pace.

Her ride: https://www.strava.com/activities/84013747
My ride: https://www.strava.com/activities/83757998

d77

Awesome! It's so much fun with the kids. I'm only at about 7 km on hard gravel with mine but the youngest is only 3.5 years old so she tires out before her older brother and sister. The key is really just not to push them too far so that they are having fun the whole time and don't end on a sour note. Sounds like you're doing that. Congrats.

caffein8ed

That's great! I have been riding with my two kids all summer, (14-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter), and now into early fall as well. Unfortunately, with school back in session, I’m having to do a lot more riding solo now. I don’t really mind riding alone, but for me solo rides are more “workout” oriented. Riding with my kids, on the other hand, tends to be a lot more casual and enjoyable.

Anyway, the three of us logged about 450 miles riding together since mid-June, including two long (for us) trips of 26 and 28 miles, respectively. The kids seem to really enjoy themselves while we’re out riding, and for a treat we stopped for ice cream in the middle of both longer rides.

kingsqueak

That's great. I was out on the local MUP over the weekend and got such a kick out of seeing really little kids on tiny bicycles with no training wheels, really flying along and over decent distances too. I totally dropped them all of course :-P.

Fahrenheit531 

atbman

We tend to underestimate what reasonably fit and healthy kids can do on a bike.

We've had a couple of 8-year olds do the Wetherby-Filey Great Yorkshire bike Ride (72 not flat miles) for the British Heart Foundation charity. Another family have taken 3 kids age 8, 9 and 10 up Alpe d'Huez, while an 11-year old member did La Marmotte in 1hr.20m.

I'm not writing this to boast (well, not much) but to show what our kids may be capable of - if we let them.

And to the OP, if your daughter can get a reasonable number of miles in before next year and if the course is pretty flat, then I wish you both good luck and a successful ride - just make sure she waits for you at the top of any hills

zonatandem

Do it TWOgether on a tandem?!

cdonges

I have a tagalong that I use with my younger child. The 8yo wants to do a big ride on it with me...

Sixty Fiver

It does not take long for kids to extend their mileage capabilities and for many of us, we pretty much lived on our bikes when we were kids and rode epic amounts.

When my daughter was 8 she went from riding a few km to 40 km round trips in no time, and on those days she would also ride more besides that.

Used to have to fight with her to come in and eat or watch TV.