Trail riding with the kids.

Took Jonathan to Whiting Ranch today for the 1st time! We decided he was ready to try the complete loop and his confidence was spot on! Our plan for the trip was to get to Mustard as quickly as possible then attack the Mustard climb with as many "needed" quick stops. I'm working on his trail stamina and he exceeded my expectations on this trip! In total, we stopped 6 times climbing mustard and each stop was less than 15 seconds. when he made the final turn heading toward the water tank he was thrilled! He gave it his all up that last climb making it half way then after a brief stop, he got back on and hammered the pedals up to the top! Jonathan downed a Gu then we hit Cactus, Vulture (at the 1/2 way point) then out to the car via every single track we could find! Good times watching him make every rock and hole in the ground a jump! All in all a GREAT TRIP this afternoon!

http://app.strava.com/activities/44336757


*We had a slight mishap with my bicycle rack while loading up Jon's bike... One of the securing wing-nuts striped out rendering the rack useless! I was so tied up in trying to make a repair on the trail I didn't realize my demeanor. I don't know if you are on STR, but if you are, I'm sorry if I came across rude or angry... My mind was so focused on repairing the bike rack and getting home that I didn't even realize I was coming off cold shouldered... It's not who I am and I'm very sorry! I would have loved to talk to you about my son's bike and our ride!!! I thank you for offering to help us before you left, much appreciated!

SEE YOU GUYS SATURDAY, 0730 @ FAIRVIEW PARK!!!

 

I took Jake, Ryan, and Conner out to El Moro today, perfect weather and pretty good ride. Conner had a few crashes and had a hard time figuring out when to use the brakes and when not to.

 

Jakes video from yesterday.
[video=vimeo;61780995]http://vimeo.com/61780995[/video]

 

Sat 7:30 am. Bringing another friend with his 2 kids. Parking on Placentia Ave, yes?

 

That's the place! Ample parking in the park! See you guys there!

 

Found a SWEET deal on a kids bike!
Trek mt60 20" mtb LIKE NEW $100 on craigslist!!!
http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/bik/3684396155.html

Someone snag this up! :bang:

 

WHAT A TURNOUT TODAY!

5 Kids (9 if you count the dads!), 4 dads and 1 mom!

We road the heck out of Fairview park today! Every jump, every single-track trail, every (cough) uphill (dad joke) and a few spills! It was cold, but the adrenaline warmed us up quick. I can't say enough good things about this group thats forming into very memorable friendships... Thank you guys for one heck of a fun Saturday morning, My son and I are still talking about! Until next time!
(here's the only pix I got, please post if you got any!)

 

It was great out there today! From gently rolling great dirt, to seeing my boys naturally take terrain they never would have just riding with me, to feeling the SS pain (even for such a short time), to learning how dependent I've become on being clipped-in...great times!

And it wasn't just a boys' day out - my wife was there riding (and taking most of the pics), and my buddy Carl had his daughter (and son) out there tearing it up!

Gonna sort and load our pics tomorrow some time. Thanks Kevin!

 

Jon was sending it off that jump at the bowl area yesterday, pretty soon he'll be looking like this!

and hitting these


Time to get out the full face helmet.

 

totally agree Jeff! We got his FF all dusted off lastnight while he was practicing on every stair in the complex. It's "go" time for him, I'm going to start looking into Jon racing, OTH stuff, bmx? Any pointers? He's abolutely hooked.

 

My kids did over the hump last year (and want to again this year) and it is great because it is really low pressure and there are a bunch of kids to play with after they race.

 

I will look into this! Thanks.

 

You guys have no idea how jealous I am!! My husband just cleaned our daughters' MTB's to put on Craigslist ... sniff sniff

They want their beach cruisers back and have no desire to ride dirt; my heart is broken.

 

Fairview is *near* the beach, at least!
We (my family) have fun together on our bikes, but the magic for the kids happens when there are other kids around to ride with. It's one of those "twice as many people are ten times the fun" things for them.
But keep them riding in whatever form you can, and keep the fun!

 

Hey roxy, before you sell those bikes get them out with our little group, the oldest kid is 12 about to be 13 and the youngest is 6 or 7. Unless they are 16 or 17 I bet they would have fun with all the other kids it, it might change their minds.

I'll be taking my kids to El Moro on Wednesday at about 4:00pm if anyone wants to join us.

 

I really appreciate the encouragement but my 13 yr old went OTB at Whiting on her very first ride. It freaked her out and her little sister too. Last October, I volunteered at Take Your Kid MTBing, hoping to get her unafraid (even took her bff), but to no avail.

I guess beach cruising is as good as it's going to get. Pls keep the pics coming so I can live vicariously through all of you!!

 

Perhaps cruiser tires on the mtbs? You know, just in-case. Tell the kids its a geared beach cruiser!

 

My daughter Ryan went over the bars on her first ride but it didn't slow her down, every kid is different. When she found out that by racing she could beat other kids (she's very competitive) she was fully hooked.




She got one of these every race!

 

Ride today, WED 03/20 @ 4-ish........... El Moro! Meeting off Ridge Park trailhead. I should be there between 4 and 4:15. See you guys there! :wave:

 

See you there.