Hi there.
I'm an ex South African, we moved to Dundalk last year April. One of the things I looked forward to most, was cycling where I want to go, and that indeed has been a pleasure. Make no mistake, I'm not on a shiny steed, it's a regular ladies bike with (Gasp!) three gears, with a child seat on the back, and my other two on their bikes.
Though I myself have cycled to Blackrock, Carlingford, Castleroche and Carrickmacross, I'm now looking at setting myself up to be able to cycle much further with my kids. I want the smallest (Nicholas, age 4 1/2) to start pedalling, as he gets very cold just sitting up there on the seat. For the other two, I have an interesting plan.
I want to let Jonathan, age 8, and Lara, age 6 1/2, combine their pedaling strength so that we can go longer distances. So here's my plan: for me, a slightly better bike. For Nicholas: a tag-along on my bike. For Jonathan: a slightly better and slightly bigger boys' bike (he's quite tall for his age). For Lara: a tag-along on Jonathan's bike.
Please don't laugh, but I'm seriously considering getting the two bikes from www.bargainbikes.net I've bought cheap bikes before, in South Africa, where I cycled with a child seat when Jonathan was small, then pulled a bike trailer with both of them in, when Lara came along, and while Nicholas was still very small, had all three of them in the bike trailer, but only on dirt roads with very little traffic near our plot. They've never let me down. (I had two; one, with the child seat on, was stolen, and I replaced it with another cheap bike). Anything will be an improvement on what we have now, rusty secondhand bikes.
I'm not at all inclined to get the tag-along from the site, though, as it just looks a bit as if the handlebars are a little too close to the rider, and I saw on another forum here that someone said it's better to get a really good tag-along, as a cheap and nasty one can be an endless hassle. Furthermore, I'd be prepared to pay a little more for tag-alongs with gears, as I envision this setup lasting us quite a few years.
I'm wondering if I should dip my hand in my pocket for the Pashley Add-1 for Lara, to lend more stability to the getup for the two children. www.pashley.co.uk/products/contemporary/add_1/splash.html It is, however, quite pricey at £445. The children can both cycle perfectly well on their own, so I do think they'd probably be able to balance together. Anyone ever been on a tandem, is it very tricky? Enough so to justify getting the Add-1 rather, to make sure they're ok when they stop?
Then there's another possibility, which I'd look at if all of you say I should spend a lot anyway. There a bike from a company in Amsterdam (where else) which has this: www.workcycles.com/Products/Onderwater/tandemtransporter.html
Wow. I'd ask them to custom build me one, adding a seat to the front, so that I can cycle with the two smaller children, and Jonathan can cycle on his own. However, I'd guess this would bring the price to the region of about €1 500 at best, so I might have to save so long that I'd have to give the thing to one of the kids as a wedding present. Even if I can make a plan to afford something like that, I don't know how practical it will be for town cycling (I don't have a car, and don't want one) with little corners and twists and turns.
Come to think of it, this bike would probably cost more than our car!
One more option is a tandem tag-along behind my bike for Lara and Nicholas, but apparently those are near impossible to get. It would, however, be the ideal solution. There was one on e-bay, but they weren't prepared to post it to Ireland because of the length, so I'd imagine that would be a problem with all of them.
Now I also want to know if anyone can give tips on deciding safe routes. I've been thinking that when a cycling path is not available, the best to choose is the smaller, less busy lanes; so we'd thread our way through the long way rather than going via the more direct, but therefore also more busy routes. I don't think we're anywhere near the sort of league we need to be in, to cycle with organised groups.
In all of this, please note that I'll probably only be able to buy the stuff towards the end of May. I was going to do it the end of this month, but a good friend invited me and the children to visit her in Holland while our husbands go climbing in Turkey. Don't know whether to laugh or cry, 'cause I really really want to see her, but I was so looking forward to getting the bikes.
Regards
Buggles.
I'm an ex South African, we moved to Dundalk last year April. One of the things I looked forward to most, was cycling where I want to go, and that indeed has been a pleasure. Make no mistake, I'm not on a shiny steed, it's a regular ladies bike with (Gasp!) three gears, with a child seat on the back, and my other two on their bikes.
Though I myself have cycled to Blackrock, Carlingford, Castleroche and Carrickmacross, I'm now looking at setting myself up to be able to cycle much further with my kids. I want the smallest (Nicholas, age 4 1/2) to start pedalling, as he gets very cold just sitting up there on the seat. For the other two, I have an interesting plan.
I want to let Jonathan, age 8, and Lara, age 6 1/2, combine their pedaling strength so that we can go longer distances. So here's my plan: for me, a slightly better bike. For Nicholas: a tag-along on my bike. For Jonathan: a slightly better and slightly bigger boys' bike (he's quite tall for his age). For Lara: a tag-along on Jonathan's bike.
Please don't laugh, but I'm seriously considering getting the two bikes from www.bargainbikes.net I've bought cheap bikes before, in South Africa, where I cycled with a child seat when Jonathan was small, then pulled a bike trailer with both of them in, when Lara came along, and while Nicholas was still very small, had all three of them in the bike trailer, but only on dirt roads with very little traffic near our plot. They've never let me down. (I had two; one, with the child seat on, was stolen, and I replaced it with another cheap bike). Anything will be an improvement on what we have now, rusty secondhand bikes.
I'm not at all inclined to get the tag-along from the site, though, as it just looks a bit as if the handlebars are a little too close to the rider, and I saw on another forum here that someone said it's better to get a really good tag-along, as a cheap and nasty one can be an endless hassle. Furthermore, I'd be prepared to pay a little more for tag-alongs with gears, as I envision this setup lasting us quite a few years.
I'm wondering if I should dip my hand in my pocket for the Pashley Add-1 for Lara, to lend more stability to the getup for the two children. www.pashley.co.uk/products/contemporary/add_1/splash.html It is, however, quite pricey at £445. The children can both cycle perfectly well on their own, so I do think they'd probably be able to balance together. Anyone ever been on a tandem, is it very tricky? Enough so to justify getting the Add-1 rather, to make sure they're ok when they stop?
Then there's another possibility, which I'd look at if all of you say I should spend a lot anyway. There a bike from a company in Amsterdam (where else) which has this: www.workcycles.com/Products/Onderwater/tandemtransporter.html
Wow. I'd ask them to custom build me one, adding a seat to the front, so that I can cycle with the two smaller children, and Jonathan can cycle on his own. However, I'd guess this would bring the price to the region of about €1 500 at best, so I might have to save so long that I'd have to give the thing to one of the kids as a wedding present. Even if I can make a plan to afford something like that, I don't know how practical it will be for town cycling (I don't have a car, and don't want one) with little corners and twists and turns.
Come to think of it, this bike would probably cost more than our car!
One more option is a tandem tag-along behind my bike for Lara and Nicholas, but apparently those are near impossible to get. It would, however, be the ideal solution. There was one on e-bay, but they weren't prepared to post it to Ireland because of the length, so I'd imagine that would be a problem with all of them.
Now I also want to know if anyone can give tips on deciding safe routes. I've been thinking that when a cycling path is not available, the best to choose is the smaller, less busy lanes; so we'd thread our way through the long way rather than going via the more direct, but therefore also more busy routes. I don't think we're anywhere near the sort of league we need to be in, to cycle with organised groups.
In all of this, please note that I'll probably only be able to buy the stuff towards the end of May. I was going to do it the end of this month, but a good friend invited me and the children to visit her in Holland while our husbands go climbing in Turkey. Don't know whether to laugh or cry, 'cause I really really want to see her, but I was so looking forward to getting the bikes.
Regards
Buggles.
There's a place here in Dundalk called Tommy the Bikes, I popped in there to just ask about tag-alongs. He'll have a new catalogue Wednesday, said they cost around €200. I wonder a bit, as I've seen a few others on the net, esp e-bay, for around 100, though I wonder - it's unknown manufacturers. 
