Ella Mae started to ride the Ridgeback Scoot balance bike when she was nearly three years old. Then, a little over four years old, she started riding the Ridgeback MX16 pedal bike. She confidently rides when it is flat and if there is a slight gradient. However, she is still learning to go downhill / uphill, starting and stopping. Her hands are still too small to brake fully. As a family, we ride long distance - up to about 70km. When we do these rides, she used to be on the bicycle child seat. She was protected from the elements as I re-purposed her pram raincover.
We were profusely in thoughts and discussions on our next step for Ella Mae even before she started to grow out of her bicycle child seat. We still wanted to keep up with our distance riding but we know that she is not ready yet. Her maximum distance at the moment is about 3km.
It took us a while to decide on what would suit her, Kim and myself. These were some of the questions we asked ourselves:
Dutch Cargo Bike / Bakfiets:
Encourage her to ride :: No
Encourage her to balance ::No
Freedom to ride on her own ::No
Ability to adapt to a bigger bike when she grows :: No
Compatible with my bike i.e. do not need to reconfigure my bike to suit :: N/A
Protection from elements :: Yes
Luggage space ::Yes
Bicycle trailer:
Encourage her to ride :: No
Encourage her to balance ::No
Freedom to ride on her own ::No
Ability to adapt to a bigger bike when she grows :: No
Compatible with my bike i.e. do not need to reconfigure my bike to suit :: Yes
Protection from elements :: Yes
Luggage space ::Yes
Tag-along:
Encourage her to ride :: Yes
Encourage her to balance :: Yes
Freedom to ride on her own :: No
Ability to adapt to a bigger bike when she grows :: No
Compatible with my bike i.e. do not need to reconfigure my bike to suit :: No
Protection from elements :: No
Luggage space :: No
Trail-gator:
Encourage her to ride :: Yes
Encourage her to balance :: Yes
Freedom to ride on her own :: Yes
Ability to adapt to a bigger bike when she grows ::Yes
Compatible with my bike i.e. do not need to reconfigure my bike to suit :: No
Protection from elements :: No
Luggage space :: No
Weehoo Venture Bike Trailer:
Encourage her to ride :: Yes
Encourage her to balance :: No
Freedom to ride on her own :: No
Ability to adapt to a bigger bike when she grows :: No
Compatible with my bike i.e. do not need to reconfigure my bike to suit :: No
Protection from elements :: Yes
Luggage space ::Yes
Followme Tandem:
Encourage her to ride :: Yes
Encourage her to balance :: Yes
Freedom to ride on her own :: Yes
Ability to adapt to a bigger bike when she grows :: Yes
Compatible with my bike i.e. do not need to reconfigure my bike to suit :: Yes
Protection from elements :: No
Luggage space :: No
After much consideration, we bought Followme Tandem. It has been wonderful as it ticked most of the essential boxes for us. Ella Mae really likes it. The Followme Tandem is normally on my bicycle since I am responsible for the school drop off and pick up.
Every school day, I attach her bicycle to mine. First, I straddle over my bicycle to stabilise before she hops on. When we get to her kindergarten, she disembarks before I hop off. I engage my bike stand. She holds on to her bicycle while I uncouple it. Once her bike is released, she pulls it off and wheels it to the gate. Then, I fold and latch on the Followme Tandem onto mine. She manages her bicycle while I take her kinder bag out of my pannier bag. I will then lock her bicycle at kinder.
After that, Thomas and I will ride to his school.
The first time she was rained and hailed on while out riding, she cried. She was not accustomed of being in the mercy of the weather as she used to be undercover while on the bicycle child seat. It will take time for her to get used to this. The most important point is to be always prepared for Melbourne's four season weather. In my panniers, I always pack sunscreen, hats, first aid kit, and waterproof jackets. Also, having treats encourages her to keep on moving.
She nearly fell off one day when we were crossing the street. She was distracted while I was waiting for the cars to clear before crossing safely. Lesson quickly learned, it is vital to keep communication flowing between myself and her. She is now ready at all times and is focused. She is aware that sometimes I need to make sudden decision and she has to be aware too.
When we cycle long distances, we couple her bicycle on to one of ours. We would uncouple her for her to have an opportunity to ride on her own until she has had enough.
Reflection:
Two things of the Followme Tandem I would like to improve on:
- Purchase an extra hook-up strap and carabineer for Kim's bike. This is because the difference in size between Kim and my bicycle. Sometimes we accidentally kept the length of the strap too long for my bicycle and the Followme Tandem clashes with my back light.
- Replace one of the fixing on my bicycle rack to a flat screw as one of the safety pin rubs on the it. We currently have wrapped a tape around the safety pin.
We were profusely in thoughts and discussions on our next step for Ella Mae even before she started to grow out of her bicycle child seat. We still wanted to keep up with our distance riding but we know that she is not ready yet. Her maximum distance at the moment is about 3km.
It took us a while to decide on what would suit her, Kim and myself. These were some of the questions we asked ourselves:
- She already rides and has the balance. Would we want something that continue and add to her cycling skills?
- She already has a bicycle. Do we want to buy something entirely new or to complement her bicycle.
- My bicycle is an extra small frame due to my stature, will this be a problem with the weight of her bicycle and the related attachments?
- It has to be something that suits my bicycle as well as Kim's. I will be using it more often as I take the children to school with it.
Dutch Cargo Bike / Bakfiets:
Encourage her to ride :: No
Encourage her to balance ::No
Freedom to ride on her own ::No
Ability to adapt to a bigger bike when she grows :: No
Compatible with my bike i.e. do not need to reconfigure my bike to suit :: N/A
Protection from elements :: Yes
Luggage space ::Yes
Bicycle trailer:
Encourage her to ride :: No
Encourage her to balance ::No
Freedom to ride on her own ::No
Ability to adapt to a bigger bike when she grows :: No
Compatible with my bike i.e. do not need to reconfigure my bike to suit :: Yes
Protection from elements :: Yes
Luggage space ::Yes
Tag-along:
Encourage her to ride :: Yes
Encourage her to balance :: Yes
Freedom to ride on her own :: No
Ability to adapt to a bigger bike when she grows :: No
Compatible with my bike i.e. do not need to reconfigure my bike to suit :: No
Protection from elements :: No
Luggage space :: No
Trail-gator:
Encourage her to ride :: Yes
Encourage her to balance :: Yes
Freedom to ride on her own :: Yes
Ability to adapt to a bigger bike when she grows ::Yes
Compatible with my bike i.e. do not need to reconfigure my bike to suit :: No
Protection from elements :: No
Luggage space :: No
Weehoo Venture Bike Trailer:
Encourage her to ride :: Yes
Encourage her to balance :: No
Freedom to ride on her own :: No
Ability to adapt to a bigger bike when she grows :: No
Compatible with my bike i.e. do not need to reconfigure my bike to suit :: No
Protection from elements :: Yes
Luggage space ::Yes
Followme Tandem:
Encourage her to ride :: Yes
Encourage her to balance :: Yes
Freedom to ride on her own :: Yes
Ability to adapt to a bigger bike when she grows :: Yes
Compatible with my bike i.e. do not need to reconfigure my bike to suit :: Yes
Protection from elements :: No
Luggage space :: No
After much consideration, we bought Followme Tandem. It has been wonderful as it ticked most of the essential boxes for us. Ella Mae really likes it. The Followme Tandem is normally on my bicycle since I am responsible for the school drop off and pick up.
Every school day, I attach her bicycle to mine. First, I straddle over my bicycle to stabilise before she hops on. When we get to her kindergarten, she disembarks before I hop off. I engage my bike stand. She holds on to her bicycle while I uncouple it. Once her bike is released, she pulls it off and wheels it to the gate. Then, I fold and latch on the Followme Tandem onto mine. She manages her bicycle while I take her kinder bag out of my pannier bag. I will then lock her bicycle at kinder.
After that, Thomas and I will ride to his school.
The first time she was rained and hailed on while out riding, she cried. She was not accustomed of being in the mercy of the weather as she used to be undercover while on the bicycle child seat. It will take time for her to get used to this. The most important point is to be always prepared for Melbourne's four season weather. In my panniers, I always pack sunscreen, hats, first aid kit, and waterproof jackets. Also, having treats encourages her to keep on moving.
She nearly fell off one day when we were crossing the street. She was distracted while I was waiting for the cars to clear before crossing safely. Lesson quickly learned, it is vital to keep communication flowing between myself and her. She is now ready at all times and is focused. She is aware that sometimes I need to make sudden decision and she has to be aware too.
When we cycle long distances, we couple her bicycle on to one of ours. We would uncouple her for her to have an opportunity to ride on her own until she has had enough.
Reflection:
Two things of the Followme Tandem I would like to improve on:
- Purchase an extra hook-up strap and carabineer for Kim's bike. This is because the difference in size between Kim and my bicycle. Sometimes we accidentally kept the length of the strap too long for my bicycle and the Followme Tandem clashes with my back light.
- Replace one of the fixing on my bicycle rack to a flat screw as one of the safety pin rubs on the it. We currently have wrapped a tape around the safety pin.
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