Riding with kids is fun. Sometimes i think we forget to have some fun while training and riding hard to improve. Today i think the adults re-discovered the true fun it is to simply cycle.

We had about 7 kids ranging from 8 and up and 4 parents today on our first Junior club ride. Sorry in advance for not recalling names.

I was a slightly concerned about the risks of riding in a peloton situation with kids but we were all good. we did have a couple of minor tingles at ultra slow speed but no harm done.

Seb and Fin were keen to set the pace and had to be hauled back a couple of times.

we re-grouped thrice, once at the end of the Kwinana fwy stretch near raffles, once along Shelly near the playground, and once at the narrows on the way home.

Safety was the name of the game and keeping left seemed to be the main rule to be vigilant about as the kids seem to loose concentration (esp. boys).

Seb was determined to do a break-away on the Kwinana stretch home-ward bound – so we did split a bit there but re-grouped later.

He even managed to overtake an adult (with a bit of encouragement) in all the gear and snazzy bike.

the look of shock on his face was priceless! – guy then latched on to Seb’s wheel and towed until the narrows…that’ll be me soon.

Thanks to all the adults who helped out (leader Shaw, John G, Mike B’s better half and Toby’s Aunty) plus of course well done to the kids (sorry for not recalling names) who all did so well.

ok, after the post by toby last week rallying the junior riders we will start off this saturday by inviting any junior riders to come and do a ride.  as discussed before, each junior rider must have a family member accompanying them for the ride as we currently do not have any qualified coaches to take the group. 

i have mapped out a new route and it basically takes the bike path all the way down to the mt henry bridge before coming back along the road past mt pleasant.  back to the coffee shop via the freeway bike path.  this should initially provide enough challenges for new riders as they will have to cross roads, avoid poles and pedestrians, and even a bit of road riding (but the option of staying on the path).  It will be up to the more experienced chaperone’s to help guide the group and give advice as to some of the finer points of riding.  initially we are not setting this up as a proper group ride, rather riding in numbers for safety and most probably in single file.

spr saturday 22.11km juniors (mt pleasant)

if you have kids (probably around 10 yrs and older) then this is a great opportunity to get them involved in riding and so they can see that it is more than just a way to get to school.  the course is just over 22kms but pretty well flat the whole way.  this should be an ok distance and there is always the oppurunity to just turn around if it gets too much. 

we will be starting at 7:00am with the other groups just so we can make sure that the group gets away ok.  if it gains popularity, there is an option for changing the time to suit, but for now, i just don’t want a lone junior and chaperone turning up and there being no-one there.