My 9yr old daughter and I have been wanting to ride dirt, but
since it's been cold and/or raining here, we've not had the
chance to, 'til today - a sunny 60 degF day.
I took here to one of my favorite fireroads called Umstead
Park. The park has at least 30mi. of hilly and pebbly roads
adjacent to the RDU airport. We started around 3:00pm
packed with my Camelbak, and each with water bottles
filled with Gatorade. She had jeans and long sleeves on,
and I had long tights and long sleeves on too. It was fine
under the sun, but it got chilly in the shade, and 50 ft. trees
on both sides provided a lot of shade.
She did pretty good riding over (lots of) pebbles, at the
avg. rate of 6-7 mph. I had to wait for her on the uphills
at first, and we had to stop after every couple of big hills.
She got the hang of it after a while, and soon she was
pedaling along with me. The way in was a lot hillier than
the way out. All in all we did about 10 mi. She said her
hands were numb from all the bouncing.
She really did enjoy it though and want to ride dirt again.
I told her to practice shifting for next time. When she
gets the hang of the fire roads, on we go to single track.
Another dirt rider on the loose...
--
- Zilla
(Remove XSPAM)