Cycling expert Rob Kemp says the sooner you can get your kids on two wheels, the better
For many parents the first experiences of cycling with their children comes when they fix a child seat to their own bike and take to the local roads,? says Andy Cremin, project manager of cycling charity Sustrans.org. Of the estimated 610,000 cycle journeys made each day in London, a rising number of them feature babies and toddlers being ferried along our busy roads in child seats, trailers or purpose-built ?family? bikes.
One such parent is John Amir, 50, from Herne Hill. ?I first took our eldest boy Eddy on the bike seat when he was eight months old. I take his little brother, Kit, who?s 19 months now, in the same seat.? Since becoming a father John has also opened his own bike shop, BonVelo (bonvelo.co.uk). ?My partner Karina and I are both keen cyclists so it came naturally to take the boys with us on the bikes as soon as we could. We use a rear-fit seat ? it?s the most comfortable and will take a child up to 22kg, so around five years old if you need to.? While it?s possible to use both front and rear seats on the same bike, it can make things very cumbersome. A more popular solution for carrying two or more children is a trailer or a specially designed cargo bike.
?I use a four-seater cargo bike,? explains Maria Ona, a childminder from Isleworth. ?I take children aged 10 months to four years old ? including my own ? and have used it since doing a trial run with one on Wandsworth...