The Biketour is definitely open for children, but whether it is suitable for your child will depend on the specific needs and personality of your child and of you. Keep in mind the following things:
- On cycling days, daily distances are usually around 40–70 km. For most young children, this is probably too much to cycle on their own, but it may also be too long to just sit on a seat or in a trailer. See below for some suggestions.
- Children are not joining the Biketour very often, so it is rather likely that there will be no other children to play with.
- People speaking all kinds of languages are joining the Biketour. English is spoken by most participants and is often the common language. If your child does not speak English, there can be a language barrier with many participants.
- We often wild-camp in nature in places without running water (although we do have a few water canisters filled up for cooking and cleaning).
If these circumstances are compatible with the personality of your child, the Biketour can be a very interesting and educative experience. If your child is afraid of strangers and/or adults, the Biketour might not be very enjoyable for them.
Although it hasn’t happened very often, children of all ages have participated in the Biketour over the years. Babies were travelling in their own trailer, and children who could already cycle joined on their own bike – when the distances got too long, their parents would just pull their bikes using a rope. Here are some suggestions how a child can join the ride:
- A bike seat can be attached on top of the rack (example image) or on the top tube of the bike frame (example images). These should fit for a small child, but might be difficult to combine with your luggage and might get uncomfortable and/or boring on a long ride.
- 2-wheel bike trailers for children are attached to the axle/skewer of the bike and can usually fit 2 children with up to 45 kg in total (example images). These can easily be found second hand for little money or even for free. They usually have an attachable rain cover.
- A so-called “tagalong” is a child’s bike without a fork and front wheel that is instead hooked to the seat of the adult’s bike and dragged behind (example images). The child can choose to pedal or not.
- There are plenty of types of cargo bike that are suitable for carrying children (example images). Buying these is usually quite expensive.
- Some tandem bikes have a small seat in the front (for the child), the person in the back is steering (example images, example images with recumbant seat). Buying these is usually quite expensive.
Anything can be imagined on the Biketour. If you need any advice, feel free to Contact Us.
It should also be noted that the additional work that comes with taking care of a child should not be something that keeps you off joining us. We are a solidarity community and try to support each other in any way that we can. There is no pressure about participating in communal tasks – everyone is free to do as much as they are able to. Also, be aware that we normally don’t cycle all at once. Some people go ahead in the morning and mark the route with chalk arrows on the road. So if you and your child take a bit longer, that’s not problem at all! No one will be forced to wait, but many people would surely be happy to.