ryancx

Hey all!
Just a little background: I am a high-school freshman. I really have a passion for biking, which started on the mountain when I was about 6 or 7 years old. Anyways, I run distance events in track in the spring and cross country in the fall, but I do not really like either of them.

Recently, a mountain biker friend of mine tried to organize a biking club for the people like me who want to race and really love the sport. He found a teacher who rides and we are trying to pull something together before the end of the school year. The teacher used to be a mountain biker, from what I gather, but races road bikes and does triathelons. He was picturing a road bike team for our school, and that sounds great to me. I really like road biking too, however I have one problem.

My parents are really restrictive. Not that this is a bad thing necessarily; i know that they do what they do for my own good. But more recently,whenever I bring up the possibility of road riding they just shoot me down. I live on a hilly 3 mile long street without much traffic, however at both ends of the street there are more busy and main roads (with huge shoulders). As of yet, they won't even let me leave my short stretch of road I live on, and are horrified of the thought of me venturing to ride 1/4 of a mile down the road to school. Whenever I ask my mom just says, "I knew someone who died on a road bike." Does anyone have any ideas how I can convince them that road biking is not as dangerous and deadly as they think it is? I really would like to join the team and think that it is an amazing oppertunity but i just can't when my parents are keeping me on my short stretch of road.

Thanks!

hos13

Look for a local MUP and have them drive you there.

Henke

Learn the rules of the road as they apply to bicycles, then quiz your parents on the subject.

Moochers_Dad

Tell her you know more people who rode a bike and didn't die.

RichinPeoria

do the whole Emo kid routine and blame it on your parents not letting you ride on the road

thechemist

I would try to give them as much education about bicycles and safety as you can. Sadly your parents are in the middle of the bellcurve when it comes to current thoughts on bicycling and children(so it wont be easy.)

caloso

Ask them to drive behind you with the hazard lights on.

UmneyDurak

and I knew someone who died in a car? Yep I know it's very immature response.
Anyway you can bring up statistics, etc, but from what you described I don't think they will listen to reason.

Sirrobinofcoxly

Ride when your parents are not around.

prendrefeu

You may want to PM the user that goes by the name of "the Beef" - HS guy up in Seattle or vicinity, I think. Anyway, he could offer some good advice. Heck, he may even show up in this thread (stay tuned)

orcanova

Just say, "Thanks, Mom. Dad told me I was an accident anyway...sorry to inconvenience you..."

mkadam68

I'm assuming sarcasm, but if not, this is a very bad idea. You will not only not win them over, but lose any possible trust and future chance of them being your allies.

Riding is a dangerous sport. There's no denying that. All we can do is minimize the dangers. Learn how to do that (riding in traffic, packs, etc...).

Find an adult friend who also rides. Have them talk w/mom & dad and watch over you while you're learning. They can try and vouch for your abilities.

The hardest thing I did was let my 12-year old ride alone in traffic. Very scary.

artifice

shoot kiddo, that stinks. (My parents would have been super excited if I had taken an interest in anything besides being a bookworm at that age).

Yeah, I say just keep getting smarter about the rules of the road & safety.. if nothing else it will pay off in a couple years when you are FREE TO RIDE!! How old is a freshman, 15?

banerjek

There was a study done where they found that people who cycle over 900 miles per year face a significantly lower risk of getting killed per capita (i.e. not per mile) than those who ride less. Maybe someone here can refer you to the study.

My guess is that the reason this is true is that most casual cyclists don't pay attention to what's going on around them. They use poor technique and don't try to be visible. That's why I feel perfectly safe riding highways in the dark during winter storms and why I think a lot of the people tooling around in town only when it's sunny have a death wish.

Or you could do what I did when I was 15. I told my folks I was going camping with a buddy. I did (sort of). We rode our bikes into the next state and spent the night in a farmer's field...

RazorWind

Maybe start by doing it in the context of riding with the sponsor guy? Justify it by saying "Look, I'll be riding with an experienced adult"

Edit: What about track racing? I know it's not the same as riding on the road, but I'd imagine it probably is safer, and it should be pretty easy to convince a lay person that it's safer by virtue of there not being any cars present.

johnny99

Most of the danger of bicycling comes from personal judgment. Are you a smart, careful, responsible person? Do your parents know that?

forensicchemist

ask Dad (or Mom too for that matter) to get road bike and ride together? Or suggest a tandem? Its a start....

BillyD

You're a high school freshman? You write really, really well for a 14 year old. There are people three, four times your age that don't write as well.

Don't listen to the joker telling you to ride when they're not around . . . he sounds like he's only 13 himself.

Unfortunately you have to obey your parents. It's their job to be responsible and raise you to maturity . . . . alive and in one piece is a real important bonus. Your parents know best, it's their job. If they say it's dangerous, it's for a reason. Listen to them and be patient. It'll fall in place one day, I guarantee you. You're only 14, you've got tons of years ahead of you and plenty of time to be patient.

Get involved in other sports. There's more ways to have fun than biking. (A gasp comes up from the BF audience.) Your day will come.

theextremist04

See if they'll let you join a local club or team, they should do some rides. And maybe they'll let you if you're in a big enough group.

Snow_canuck

orcanova

Did you ever run away from home on a bicycle...?

Snow_canuck

You won't get far running ON a bicycle.

veganboyjosh

au contraire.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hmVQc91yVE

jbmadtown

Hmmm. Whatever the solution, you should work on resolving your parent's fears ASAP. Imagine how bad they'll be when you get your driver's license! Some suggestions:

Do some research and find some safe group rides around your area that you could hook up with. Maybe they would feel better knowing that you're riding with other safe, experienced riders that can show you safe routes. Talk to your local bike shops to try and locate one.

If I had a kid, I would want to make sure they knew the rules of the road before they started riding on it, so maybe pick up one of the driver's manuals at the DMV and study it. That may would help convince your parents that you really have safety in mind. Eventually your parents are going to have to trust you to make good decisions for yourself, this seems like a good venue to show them how reasonable you are. (You are reasonable, right?...)

steaktaco

Watch Breaking Away with your folks. That should do it.