In Which Baby J Rides a Bicycle

Trying on the helmet. Baby doesn't seem to mind it.

Baby J is just past 6 months of age—a bit young for the toddler seat I use on my commuting bicycle.

But he is visiting from England and won’t be around all that long—and we, his family, wondered if he would enjoy a bicycle ride.

The Wee Ride seat that my wife and I purchased at Wal-Mart some 5 or 6 years ago has seen a lot of use. Each grandchild, from about the age of 11 months to about 2 or 2 ½, has been able to use the seat to go on bicycle rides with grandpa. The only exception has been the ones who life across the ocean—J has two older sisters who have started to bicycle in England, which seems a rather bike-friendly place to get started on this adventure.

8-year-old granddaughter ready for a ride on Monday. It's a different attachment on a different bike--she is ready to ride a Schwinn attached bike borrowed from another daughter. She rode the blue one shown below on Tuesday, too.

Anyway, with other grandchildren, results have varied. All of the children have enjoyed rides now and then, but some have been more addicted to biking than others. My next youngest grandson, for instance, often wants a bicycle ride—sadly, this is probably his final season using this system, as he is approaching the size where the toddler seat won’t fit him anymore, but in another year he will have graduated to the Tag-A-Long attachment.

Tuesday, late in the afternoon, for some reason, the curiosity bug bit all of us. I had inquired about taking the older visiting granddaughters for bicycle rides—the idea was approved, but I can’t remember who asked—my wife or my daughter—is it time for J to try a ride?

Well, we don’t know if we have a helmet for such a tiny head. I found one of our smallest, adjusted it down, and we fit it on his head. Turns out he has a large head for a baby, and it seemed big, but snug enough.

6-year-old grandchild rides on Lindale Trail. She seems to be liking the ride.

What about the toddler seat? There are two in the garage, one that I have used for years on my bike and a second one that another daughter used with her sons. My daughter’s Wee Ride seat is newer, so we chose to try that seat (the newer model seems to have a bit more padding than the older one). I adjusted the feet rests up for shorter legs, and my wife and I spent some time shortening the torso and shoulder straps.

And then J was placed in his throne. He seemed to fit well, and we strapped him in. The concern had been, at age 6 months he can sit, but would he be stable enough to not flop over too much during a bike ride?

I rolled up the street a short way and returned so his mother and grandmother could check on him. He was sitting in front of me, and I could hear that he was not making any unhappy sounds, but I could not see his face.

According to mom and grandma, he looked happy, so we left on another short ride, just a few houses up the street and back. I don’t think J is ready for long rides yet, but little excursions seemed to please him.

It’s a pleasure to play a small part in introducing another generation to the joys of biking. After J’s short rides, I took his two sisters on pre-supper rides, too. The younger one rode the Lindale Trail, just the paved part near C Avenue since it had rained earlier in the day. The older one doesn’t like to cross the C Avenue bridge, so we looped through some neighborhood streets.

The sky was growing grey as I finished riding with the third grandchild. We put the bike and Tag-A-Long attachment away, and headed in for supper before the raindrops fell.

There weren’t a lot of miles on Tuesday, but it was still a great biking day!

J and I return, smiles on both of our faces.