Pedal Power

Learning to ride a bike is like buying a ticket to freedom. And teaching your kids to ride their own bike will buy you the freedom to walk faster than a tortoise (beside them) and ride the trails you once took for granted (pre-kids).

Yes, it can be done. Of course, little-little kids will need to hitch a ride. For that, we love Calgary-based Chariot Carriers. Rent one at Sports Rent for $20 per day, or at The Calgary Outdoor Centre for $12. Your thighs will scream uphill, but think of the heart-healthy benefits and you’ll make it up in no time. 

When it comes to the post-training wheels stage, options include riding slowly on one of the city’s easier bike paths, or hitching up an Adams Trail-A-Bike. We love this invention that gives your five to seven year-old his own seat, pedals, handle bars and back tire (but no brake). It’s easier to pull than a Chariot, and kids love taking advantage of grown-up speed. Trail-A-Bikes are also available at The Calgary Outdoor Centre ($8 per day). Get Friday and Monday gratis with a weekend rental. The Outdoor Centre is also a great place to rent a bike to pull the trailer.

Where to go? We think the (just over) five kilometre loop linking Bowness and neighbouring Baker Park (north of the Bow River) is a good place to start. It’s flat, paved and scenic, and takes you by pit stops like playgrounds, a spray park and a concession stand.

Fish Creek Provincial Park in the SW offers almost 20 kilometers of paved, gravelled and single-track bike paths for different levels of users. The park is generally quiet, and you’ll be amazed that you are still in the middle of the city. Get a map of the park’s trails before you go and take plenty of mosquito spray.

A trip around the Glenmore Reservoir is the piece de resistance of bike path journeys, but at 18 kilometres, it will take several hours with independent, pint-sized riders. The good news is that there are only two steep hills (one in each direction) and plenty of benches and picnic tables along the way.

So, you aspire to family riding, but you’d prefer that someone else teach them? Both COP and Pedalheads offer lessons. If you’re concerned about safety, Safe Kids Canada publishes a detailed list of bicycle safety guidelines, so check out their rules of the road online before you go. The City of Calgary published a detailed map of the bike trails that’s worth browsing, too.

And with everyone on two wheels, you’ll never have to say “hurry up” again (ok, maybe not never).

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