Family Biking: Destination Ice Cream
When introducing kids to longer bike rides, use ice cream and peer pressure.
I live in the St. Croix Valley. New to the area with young kids, I had to reach out to the mothers of other young kids to find out what to do and where to go. I also wanted to find people with some of the same interests.
Step One: Initiate family biking trips with local moms
Getting bicycles for my kids was a key first step. Cycling was not as popular back when my children were young. I would reach out to moms of kindergarteners to go cycling, and many of them no longer had bikes. Many kids also didn’t have bikes, even though Hudson Middle School began having the Swap-a-Bike rack out front, which I believe was started by a local Boy Scout troop.
What I had to do to get moms interested in family biking involved getting them connected with bike resources, plus helping them get their bikes oiled and aired up. It took some time for everyone to find and fit a bike that they were comfortable riding.
Step Two: Selling the family bike trips…with ice cream
Step two is always the sell. Peer pressure can be a great tool for learning new skills. When classmates are going out for ice cream, it’s natural that your kids want to be in on it! Persistence can also take you far. Moving your herd to untried areas and attacking new skills involves a lot of planning. The ride leader needs to have a solid plan to encourage moms to disrupt their normal schedule to add in a family bike ride with the kids. I always tried to have answers and affirmations at the ready. Here are some of the questions I’d get:
Is there a place to practice first? Yes!
Will it be an easy ride? Yes!
Will you ask me again next time? Yes!
Can you help me get the bikes to the start point? Yes!
Will you be wearing a helmet? Yes!
If we can’t get it together, can we join again another day? Yes!
Can I invite another mom with kids? Yes!
Can we just meet you at ice cream? Yes! (But don’t tell my kid that is an option - I’m trying to wear him out.)
The ultimate goal for family biking
The ultimate goal for all of this - bringing moms and kids together for family biking outings - was the activity itself. The kids wanted to get ice cream. The adults wanted to chat and connect with other adults.
As a ride leader, I had three routes at the ready. Where we went depended entirely on who was coming to ride. It’s imperative to do the recon when inviting moms with kids. You need a safe corral spot where everyone can mount up, check tires, and ride in circles until everyone is ready. You also need a reasonable guess as to how long you will be riding.
New ride adventures require moms to plan the supply packing prior to the event - before they get people into their car. Amazingly, three moms agreed on our first outing and they were each bringing two or three kids!
Step Three: Adapt to change
The group that arrives may look different from the group you plan. It’s important on these family biking outings that you adapt to the changes quickly.
Our ride began on a weekday in a church parking lot. A park or town hall would have been a great spot as well. The kids took off riding large loops as soon as they could get their hands on their bikes. It was very helpful to see skill levels as they just mucked about with each other.
The moms decided who was watching the middle of the pack and who would be at the back. We agreed on hand signals and vocal warnings to keep the pack together, then addressed the kids as a group. They knew the yelling would be for their safety, and they could use the warnings if wanted to chime in. There was bike swapping, and we did not expect them to stay in the order they stayed in - too much energy!
Trail 1: Afton-Lakeland Elementary School
The first ride was a mostly straight bike path that has many road crossings. Kids had to stay behind the leader due to many obstructed view road crossings. To avoid all the stops and starts and holding the speedsters back, we adapted.
We came back wandering through mostly vacant town streets for more shade and fewer stop signs with much better intersection visibility. The kids also wanted to take a break and touch the river at Lake St Croix Public Beach.
For this ride, start from Afton-Lakeland Elementary School, take the bike path South to Selma's for Ice cream. 3419 St Croix Trail S, Afton, MN 55001
Trail 2: Hudson Bandshell
We also did the shorter bike path ride starting at the Hudson Bandshell along the riverfront. Kids circled the flowers or bandshell on paths where we could see them until everyone was ready. Head North along the St Croix River to Willow River Landing, then double back, go to Hudson pier Beach then double back, then on to Dairy Queen at 9 2nd St Hudson WI. There are many many more people on that path now. Still, it is a safe place to learn with a few hills, and kids are encouraged to learn the "Passing on Your Left" shout.
Trail 3: Brown’s Creek State Trail
The most advanced ice cream route is the Brown’s Creek State Trail starting in Stillwater. Why not the loop trail? That is actually an easy way to defeat the progress your young cyclist has made. It is a challenge either direction. The hill is way too steep to climb or descend with most single-speed, sketchy-brake kids’ bikes. On a good day, everyone is on the loop, so it’s best to avoid it for the kids.
Instead, start at the public parking lot by the Zephyr Theatre and head North on the old rail way track along the St Croix River. This will be an uphill grade for a few miles, but it is shady and offers wild blackberries at certain times of the year!
Just past the golf course, turn left on McKusick Rd N. This bike path was smooth and wide without shade, but is interesting as it travels next to Lake McKusick. Plus, there is a tempting greenway trail that I have yet to explore just off this path, at the north end of the lake. Continue to the first intersection and take a right onto Owens St N. Here you will do street riding for 5 blocks. Plus, it gets hilly. I prefer to turn left on Rice St W, because the next intersection (Myrtle St W)can get busy. Turn right on Greeley St N and continue straight to Greeley St S where you will find ice cream at Nelson's on the corner at 920 Olive St W, Stillwater MN.
The fast way back is to head East on Olive Street. I prefer to head back along Owens St North where you can take a break at the playground of Stonebridge Elementary School and bike Stonebridge Trail N path almost all the way to Browns Creek State Trail. Turn right on Browns Creek Trail and it will be downhill from there back to your car. This is a challenging ride I would save for the end of the summer when everyone has had some cycling miles on them. The giant ice cream and the last long coast are generally what is remembered.
Bonus Cycling Friends!
When our kids got older, the moms planned ways we could cycle more and faster. We would enroll our kids in 2 - 3 summer fun classes offered by the Hudson School District to keep them busy for a block of time. We would drop off kids and take off for the two bridge loop. This was before the new Stillwater Bridge, so we took the bike path south out of Hudson and crossed the first bridge at Hwy 94. Continued West (uphill!) on Hudson Rd S.
Sometimes, many fast-moving paving trucks hogged this road, making it a bit dangerous. However, Stagecoach Trail N, (the St Croix Scenic Byway) was nearly deserted weekday mornings a decade ago. There is abundant housing along this route now, so it may be a toss up with St Croix Trail (HWY 95).
We would peloton our way along Stagecoach Trail N. If we were making good time we would add 47th St to N Osgood Ave to get into Stillwater. Then we would wind our way down to the waterfront and brace ourselves for the lift bridge hill climb. This was the old route and whomever was in the lead across the bridge would decide if we took the steep uphill climb or the left shallow route into Houlton WI. After a brief catch of breath we would peloton south along 35/64 trying to arrive by the time our kids were finished with summer classes.
Some afternoons we would all picnic lunch after, but most of the time we had schedules to keep. Two of the moms did multi-day century rides together. Six of us still manage to walk, bike, or kayak as time permits. These are my bonus cycling friends from taking kids cycling for ice cream.
Now that you have your summer marching orders, it’s time to go out and plan a family biking outing with parents in your area! Don’t forget the ice cream!