It's a shame. Where have all the kids gone?

rojasj

rojasj

Active Member
So yesterday afternoon around 4PM my 11 year old daughter asks if we can ride a loop around our town. Hey, sure..I'm always up for a ride with her. We end up riding about 12 miles through three towns. During that ride we saw exactly one other person on a bike and they didn't seem thrilled about it. Not even bikes parked outside a 7-11 or Quick Check etc.

It's really a shame that we didn't see one kid on a bike anywhere on this 12 mile loop, not one. I may sound like an old fart but when I was her age me and my friends were on our bikes riding around town every day from 7:00 AM till 7PM weather permitting (and sometimes even if it was drizzling). My daughter was even surprised and asked why more people were not out on their bikes enjoying the afternoon. At least I'm thankful she likes to ride. This morning I was off from work, she looked me straight in the face and said.."let's roll the tires are not going to wear out on their own".
 
I see a lot of kids riding around in my town. They aren't out on bikes to ride, they are out to steal shit and use their bikes to get around. There was a bike park here, but its getting torn down because no one used it. Why would you ride ramps when you can be out stealing people's UPS deliveries.
 
Was the same for me growing up. Bikes were our freedom! We had a way to get away from our parents and go explore, visit friends in different parts of town, and basically hang out. Even had a bike club in high school, and did road rides.

Only people riding bikes here are the mexicans to get to their jobs.
 
Knowing how people drive nowadays, I'm not thrilled about the idea of kids riding in the streets.
 
^this
yeah, I'm partially to blame
have two teen girls and always told them which roads they can't be on. Unfortunately most of their friends are out of that perimeter. They will be driving soon, thinking back, I should have let them ride more...
 
We saw t
Supermoto said:
I see a lot of kids riding around in my town. They aren't out on bikes to ride, they are out to steal shit and use their bikes to get around. There was a bike park here, but its getting torn down because no one used it. Why would you ride ramps when you can be out stealing people's UPS deliveries.
Click to expand...
We actually saw three kids on bikes today as we were heading to drop her off at a school / church function. She almost fainted.
 
No
jShort said:
Knowing how people drive nowadays, I'm not thrilled about the idea of kids riding in the streets.
Click to expand...

Nor am I, but a bike is a kids way to explore freedom and get away from their parents. The way people drive is one of the reasons I'm currently riding with her, right now she's on the sidewalk, just the way I rode when I was her age. I want her to get used to listening for cars on the roadway and looking at drive ways. As a matter of fact driveways was the one thing I never had to deal with. I grew up in such an urban area that there were barely any driveways, it was mostly street parking.
 
I see plenty of kids in my neighborhood on bikes (none with helmets, unfortunately). Probably a product of the local street layout, I guess we're lucky.
 
Kids on bikes....
IMG_0223.JPG
 
SpartaBard said:
I took 16 kids to Allaire today. We will be hitting Six Mile tomorrow.
Click to expand...
We saw you @ Allaire yesterday with that group! We were on the Fat Bikes. That is totally Awesome to see such a large group of 8-12 year olds(?) on bikes on the trail (both boys and girls). A big tip of the helmet to you! Great job.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom