If you look above you’ll see I apologized already for my comment regarding tow ropes: Oct. 20, 2021, 5:16 p.m.
Every parent/family needs to figure out the best situation for their kid(s). Obviously, as with e~bikes, there are arguments for accessibility that couldn’t exist on a regular bicycles and what heartfelt person would deny that a tow rope is a universally great object in those situations.
Just as it pains me to see all the companies pushing e~bikes in kids sizes now, I don’t agree with what I see as a hyper doing it _for_ our kids culture. I love the DIY nature of mountain biking and have always endeavoured to present the activity to my daughter as I found it.
At the end of the day, does it really matter what I believe? No. And, if an assist is getting them in the woods, and it’s not hurting anyone else (affecting access, etc), I’ll try to keep my opinions to myself.
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That’s not going to be an issue for our family. There are a plethora of trails my kid can already get to that she won’t be riding for years. At seven, she’s regularly climbing Penny Lane / GSM / BP to the power lines on Seymour which opens us to a lot of terrain. Similarly we’ve accessed a lot of area in the couple other places we’ve visited (Squamish, Cumberland).
That’s certainly not because she’s been endowed with tons of natural athletic ability, or that she’s uncharacteristically tenacious, or etc. It’s about patience, fun, patience, support, patience, and repetition. She loves experiencing improvement, and doing things for herself, and puts in the effort. I don’t think that’s unique in anyway, that’s always been my experience working with kids with a whole range of abilities.
Oct. 21, 2021, 12:24 p.m. - Andrew Major
If you look above you’ll see I apologized already for my comment regarding tow ropes: Oct. 20, 2021, 5:16 p.m. Every parent/family needs to figure out the best situation for their kid(s). Obviously, as with e~bikes, there are arguments for accessibility that couldn’t exist on a regular bicycles and what heartfelt person would deny that a tow rope is a universally great object in those situations. Just as it pains me to see all the companies pushing e~bikes in kids sizes now, I don’t agree with what I see as a hyper doing it _for_ our kids culture. I love the DIY nature of mountain biking and have always endeavoured to present the activity to my daughter as I found it. At the end of the day, does it really matter what I believe? No. And, if an assist is getting them in the woods, and it’s not hurting anyone else (affecting access, etc), I’ll try to keep my opinions to myself. —— That’s not going to be an issue for our family. There are a plethora of trails my kid can already get to that she won’t be riding for years. At seven, she’s regularly climbing Penny Lane / GSM / BP to the power lines on Seymour which opens us to a lot of terrain. Similarly we’ve accessed a lot of area in the couple other places we’ve visited (Squamish, Cumberland). That’s certainly not because she’s been endowed with tons of natural athletic ability, or that she’s uncharacteristically tenacious, or etc. It’s about patience, fun, patience, support, patience, and repetition. She loves experiencing improvement, and doing things for herself, and puts in the effort. I don’t think that’s unique in anyway, that’s always been my experience working with kids with a whole range of abilities.