 Bicycles represent fun, freedom, exercise and fresh air .... everything that is special about being child
Being able to ride a bicycle is a development milestone in the life of a child. Riding a bicycle is a rite of passage, a passport to worlds beyond the front gate. Bicycle riding is a wonderful activity which can be enjoyed by the entire family together.
For more information click below to download a fact sheet
When is a child ready to be taken for a ride on a bicycle?
To take your child with you in a child trailer or child seat, the child will need to sit upright unattended and hold their head up while wearing a helmet. Generally this is true when the child is around one year old. Remember to familiarise your child with wearing a helmet before you taking them for a ride. Let them play and feel comfortable with wearing a helmet and being strapped in. If they are comfortable with the equipment they are more likely to enjoy the ride.
What are the advantages of child trailers?
Trailers are pulled along on the back of the bicycle and can seat up to two children and still have space for bits and pieces and your child's favourite toy. Bicycle balance is not affected much by pulling a trailer and most trailers have rain flaps to protect your child from the elements. The self-supporting nature of a trailer means that a sleeping child can be left in the trailer when stopping for coffee and, as the child grows, he or she can load and unload without assistance.Road rules for towing children in trailers can very between states but generally the person riding the bicycle needs to beat least 16 years old and the person in the trailer needs to be less than 10 years old.
Some bicycle trailers available in Australia are
What to look for when purchasing a child seat for my bike
Children's seats come in range of varieties, most attach to a rear rack. If you have a mountain bike or a touring bike with eyelets, you should have no trouble fitting a rack on the back of the bicycle. Some child seat models recline, which is better for younger children, who might fall asleep. Depending on the weight of your child, a bicycle seat may affect your balance. If you are used to using a rear rack and panniers, you should have no trouble with a child seat, just remember to be careful when getting on and off your bike.
What are trailer cycle or tag-a-long bicycles?
A trailer cycle or a tag-a-long device is attached to your bicycle and enables your child to pedal along with you being in control of steering and braking. It is a natural step up from a bicycle trailer and wonderful way to share the joys of cycling with your child and at the same time teach your kids the road rules as well as basic riding skills before they graduate to their own bicycles. Some trailer cycle or tag-a-long devices which are available in Australia:
Worried about your children watching to much TV and not being active enough?
As a parent you are in a unique position to encourage your children to be physically active every day in as many ways as they can, including play and transport. If you cycle with your children when they are young, they are more likely to continue cycling and to seebicycles as a great way to get around. This will provide them with a healthy start to their life and free you from being your child's taxi driver.
You may also be interested in an excellent fact sheet from
VicHealth on the importance of active play for children's development
click here to download it
Worried about traffic and safety?
The best way to improve safety is to provide children with lots of opportunities to practice. Ride with your childen regularly, off road first till they feel comfortable handling their bike, stopping, starting, avoiding hazards and doing hand signs and than progress to low traffic roads. Safety authorities recommend that kids under eight years cycle only in safe off-road environments, and that kids aged 8-10 ride on roads only under adult supervision. Children aged 8-10 can start to develop better traffic skills and more responsibility, but parents need to frequently reinforce the need for care and the road safety rules.
Children under 12 years of age are allowed to ride on footpaths, and in most states a parent or an adult riding with the child is allowed to ride with them on the footpath. When cycling on footpaths, teach your kids to watch out for cars driving in and out of driveways and to be alert at all times. Cyclists on footpaths have to give way to pedestrians. Check if your school provides bike education and if not, encourage the school to implement bike education.
Interested to improve your confidence to ride wtih your children?
Cycling with your children is an enjoyable experience.
-
Environment Victoria has developed an excellent curriculum which teaches parents to cycle with children.
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
if you want to find out more about the program or if you are interested in running such a program in your community.
-
The Jika Jika Community House in Melbourne together with the Darebin Bicycle User Groups offers regular rides for parents with children to popular child-friendly destinations.
To find out more about the program and/or to join
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
, the coordinator of the rides.
Thinking about letting your kids riding to school?
Cycling to school has many benefits:
-
It improves children's fitness and self confidence.
-
Kids who ride are more alert at school.
-
It is good for the environment.
-
It reduces road congestion around schools.
-
It is an economical way to travel.
When your children are younger, riding with your kids can be a great way to get to school and integrate physical activity into your and your childrens daily activities:
- Reduce the wear and tear on your car
- Save petrol (short trips are the least economical one's)
- Save time (for many parents riding to school is faster than being stuck in traffic)
- Reduce stress at drop off and pick up time
- Spend time together
- Teaches your kids cycling and traffic skills so they can become independent bicycle riders
- Provides you with a great opportunity to go for a spin yourself once the kids are at school.
Once children are older their ability to deal with traffic increases.
It is a good idea to ride with your children to school initially and select the safest route (which most likely is quite different to the route you're used to driving) before letting them ride by themselves. There are many initiatives around Australia to encourage and support more kids cycling and walking to school which:
-
Encourages active and healthy lifestyles
-
Improves safety in the community - more people walking and cycling provides natural surveillance,
-
Slows down traffic- it is one of the most effective ways to ensure motorists adhere to lower traffic speeds around schools
-
Fosters a sense of community by encouraging people to talk and interact with each other.
Some excellent resources and programs:
-
-
Click here to view an excellent guide for parents by the National Heart Foundation to set your children on the right path by walking or cycling with them
-
Click here to Ride2School website which includes lots of information and tips for schools and parents
-
Click here for a toolbox to develop quiet neighbourhood routes
Teacher Resources: Bikes are Brilliant
The Cycling Promotion Fund sponsored the development and publishing of a teacher's toolkit resource to integrate bicycles into the curriculum. The teachers toolkit magazine is distributed to all schools around Australia and a website is available for teachers to download lesson plans and tips and ideas.
- Click here to visit the website where you can download the lesson plan.
- Click here for additional information and tips
Interested in providing your kids with cycling skills both for everyday riding and for sport/competition?
Many of the 200 or so cycling clubs around Australia who are affiliated with Cycling Australia (Australia’s peak cycling body) conduct courses in bike skills for kids and introduce them to the fun of simple cycling competition. In 2004 Cycling Australia launched a major program called J-Cycle, a nationally consistent curriculum to provide young cyclists, 6-14 yrs old, with a structured and varied (after-school or weekend) program of fun cycling activities over several weeks.
Not only will J-Cycle ensure young cyclists become more technically proficient, resulting in safer riders, but also the fun, competitive setting provides a taste of the excitement of the sport of cycling. The core J-cycle values of “Fun, Fast and Skilled” are clear winners in the eyes of the kids involved to date in early trials of the program.
For details of the Cycling Australia clubs in your area who conduct children’s cycling courses
|
