Now that our kids are getting older, they don’t always ride on the back of the Xtracycles. They are both confident road riders and are quite capable of riding their own bikes. But, sometimes they take a ride on the Snapdeck. Usually because it’s night or we’re traveling farther than they think they can ride or our destination requires pedaling on busy roads or they just feel like chilling on the back of the bike with a book.
When they choose to be a Snapdeck passenger, I usually tell them to wear running shoes. Cause even the most seasoned Snapdeck rider needs to get off, stretch his/her legs and take a little run from time to time:
– Anne
Anne & Tim
Tim King
Anne
cfdgirl
Tim K
Car Free Days 
Oh, that is so awesome! What a great kid!
I can’t wait to show that to Henry! I sometimes make him get off my Fr8 and run up the hills…:)
Sheesh Betsy, if I was riding a Fr8, I’d kick him off on _every_ hill. A week riding Anne’s Oma (waiting for a frame to replace my 25 year old rockhopper) convinced me that she’s a hell of a lot tougher than I am. That bike looks great, but, at least for the hills I normally ride, beauty hurts. ;-/
The Dutch bikes really do use different muscle groups. Once you get used to it, it’s not so bad. Though I’ll admit to a bit of a love-hate relationship with it… I love how it rides and how stable it feels, that I can carry Henry (and anything else I want to) on it comfortably, but the weight sometimes makes me grumpy. Feeling lazy a couple weeks ago, I decided to take my old Trek to work, and I didn’t like it at all, so I guess I’m a convert.
Excellent! I really like the rolling re-mount. Nicely done.
We call it a running start…and both kids love it ; – )
Yeah, Drew could use some inspiration in that dept. These days it’s all “Daddy please carry me, my legs tired from all that walking [about a block]” … great video! Go P!
I remember that. (and I can say I sort of miss it a little)
P: Mama will you hold me?
Me: I’ll hold your hand.
P: No! Hold all of me
I love his head waggle as he runs. And impressive mount! I’ll show this to girl child to see if she wants to re try the Xtra. She thinks it’s scary. But we might make it into a mermaid for the 4th of july parade and she said she’d ride it…. We’ll see.
Mermaid? Who could resist that! We’ll be posting some vids of the girl – maybe the added propaganda will help.
I, too, really like the running start! What is he pushing himself up on to get up on the snapdeck? I don’t see those footsie things.
I also really like seeing that glimpse of Portland. Darn, that is a beautiful neighborhood. My guys have become confident riders. The true bummer is that there are just not roads safe for them to ride on in New Haven.
Sara — Anne’s bike does have the footies (I think they should have named them “phooties”). I had them on my bike until I ripped one off on a surprisingly high bridge curb. He’s still able to manage, though not as gracefully (he sort of throws himself up chest first and then swings up. Picture a bareback horse thief mounting a stampeding stallion in an old western and you’re close.
So no phooties is OK, but, but no phooties and no stoker bar (the new bike didn’t have the stoker bar right away. ) is an epic fail.
Sometimes he’s a bit of joker and yells “Help! I’m not on” when he’s really is. But in this case, I looked around to see him bent over the snapdeck as I whizzed down a hill at
20???mph (anne says I’m exaggerating about the 20mph. Whatever. It was still fast).Oops.
Just what I needed. Thanks. Did you guys ever use child seats? I know they’re way past that stage now, but I was just wondering. At what age did the kids manage hanging on for dear life? I ask because my kids are still livin large on homemade seats, but I am looking for the day when I can offset my 6 yr olds increasing weight by ditching one of the seats. She’s just a bit nervous about the idea. Currently we strap them and their bikes to the Mundo and ride to the trail, where they take off.
The running mount was definitely nifty. That could be a new challenge in the cargo bike olympics?
We started using the Xtracycles after a trip to Amsterdam where we saw parents transporting kids of all sizes on bikes…most were not strapped in. It never occurred to us to strap them to a seat.
Our kids were 3 and 5 when they started riding on the Snapdeck. That’s the way they’ve always ridden and we’ve never had a problem with either kid holding on.
Yes, the running start is a handy trick! It still makes me smile. We’ll have to include it in Julian’s fiets of parenthood challenge!
That’s a beautiful little video … hey, why don’t you ever contact me when you are in Portland?
Well, dang! Kathy. I better fix that the next time we’re in town. Maybe some bikes and beer and kids and stuff?
That would be great!
Love the video. My 5 yr old watched it with me and said “Mom, why can’t we have a bike like this?”. Anything to get him interested is great!
that is the cutest video I’ve seen in a long time. Nice one Anne & Tim! 😀
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