BenReaper Posted October 14, 2018 Share Was such a beautiful morning in Gansbaai, took my son for a ride from my parents house to the harbour and back.[emoji1690]He has been bugging me lately to up our usuall 5km rides to 10km's as he wants to become fitter to win races......this from a 7y/o.....[emoji23] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
udxcob Posted October 14, 2018 Share They grow up so fast hey http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj310/udx-bmx/IMG_1066_zpsbdbef455.jpgDammit time flies, this guy now waits for me at the top of the hills BenReaper and DJR 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisF Posted October 15, 2018 Share Dammit time flies, this guy now waits for me at the top of the hills Will consider myself lucky if I can keep up with Maritz in 2 or 3 years time .... His slowly getting the power in his legs. He has lately shown that instinct to accelerate and catch others in front of him .... He is now getting the hang of using the gears BOTH to be able to climb hills and to get speed on the flats .... For now he still lacks the endurance to keep pace for extended periods ..... dankie tog ... When he brings these bits together I will be playing catch up ...... and yet, there is a sense of pride in seeing how he develops ... more so than the broken ego of being left behind ... DJR 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilipV Posted October 20, 2018 Share I went riding with babyface to get her out of her mom's hair this morning (we're still adapting to having a newborn at home as well.) This was the first longish ride on the star seat. She loved it, but the jumps and berms at the Southeys track might be a bit much this soon. I taped a pair of cut up silicone grips on for her. The grip isn't an issue, but the red provides a visual aid for her. Edited October 20, 2018 by PhilipV BenReaper, Escapee.., varkie2 and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cycle-mania Posted October 20, 2018 Share Lekke PhillipV. May i ask how old your baby is? Mine is six months. I started looking for childseats for her. I babysit every afternoon so it will be great if she can start cycling with me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilipV Posted October 20, 2018 Share Lekke PhillipV. May i ask how old your baby is? Mine is six months. I started looking for childseats for her. I babysit every afternoon so it will be great if she can start cycling with me. girl 21 months and boy 1week. She starting riding in a rigid Giant bike seat from one year, and the star seat is only catching on now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stretched@Birth Posted October 20, 2018 Share Little spin around Thaba with the boys. BenReaper, NotSoBigBen and Pikey 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisF Posted October 21, 2018 Share Question time : Maritz has steadily been improving his riding. He can do the trails pretty good when it is the two of us. He even likes to give chase if there are other kids some distance ahead of us .... But he is struggling with some of the "events". During a recent event there were some 70 odd 6 to 8 year olds starting in their group ... (personally I would have like to see 2 minute staggered starts for 20 odd per group - such as at the PPA event I ride) He got crowded out at the start, and only managed to make up a few spots before they got to the single track section .... he then ended behind 20+ kids that could not ride the bridges and A-frames, and who walked these sections, but he could not get past them either .... QUESTION - any advise on how to get him used to "bunch starts", and how to get him better at it ? PS - I KNOW that he is an average rider, and have no expectation of him chasing down the older kids in the group. But he was very dispondent after the race, knowing that we RODE the track a few days earlier, and he now had to walk sections just because he could not get past the slow riders, due to his bad start .. Edited October 21, 2018 by ChrisF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSG Posted October 21, 2018 Share Question time : Maritz has steadily been improving his riding. He can do the trails pretty good when it is the two of us. He even likes to give chase if there are other kids some distance ahead of us .... But he is struggling with some of the "events". During a recent event there were some 70 odd 6 to 8 year olds starting in their group ... (personally I would have like to see 2 minute staggered starts for 20 odd per group - such as at the PPA event I ride) He got crowded out at the start, and only managed to make up a few spots before they got to the single track section .... he then ended behind 20+ kids that could not ride the bridges and A-frames, and who walked these sections, but he could not get past them either .... QUESTION - any advise on how to get him used to "bunch starts", and how to get him better at it ? PS - I KNOW that he is an average rider, and have no expectation of him chasing down the older kids in the group. But he was very dispondent after the race, knowing that we RODE the track a few days earlier, and he now had to walk sections just because he could not get past the slow riders, due to his bad start ..He must just call out "passing right" or just start swearing at them like the race snakes do in the "adult" races. [emoji23][emoji6][emoji848][emoji2955] Edited October 21, 2018 by BSG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisF Posted October 21, 2018 Share He must just call out "passing right" or just start swearing at them like the race snakes do in the "adult" races. [emoji23][emoji6][emoji848][emoji2955] Uhm .... may prefer to only mention the first option to him .... I spoke to a cycling coach today. He will have a session with Maritz, and some of his other kids, creating similar conditions where the front riders are deliberately slow .... then teaching the others how to pass safely .... That said, we re-did the route this afternoon .... very limited passing opportunities !! As with so many routes out there ! Learning how to pass safely certainly would be a very valuable tool in his skills set. But we will have to work on group starts ... BSG 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolling Stone Posted October 21, 2018 Share Question time : Maritz has steadily been improving his riding. He can do the trails pretty good when it is the two of us. He even likes to give chase if there are other kids some distance ahead of us .... But he is struggling with some of the "events". During a recent event there were some 70 odd 6 to 8 year olds starting in their group ... (personally I would have like to see 2 minute staggered starts for 20 odd per group - such as at the PPA event I ride) He got crowded out at the start, and only managed to make up a few spots before they got to the single track section .... he then ended behind 20+ kids that could not ride the bridges and A-frames, and who walked these sections, but he could not get past them either .... QUESTION - any advise on how to get him used to "bunch starts", and how to get him better at it ? PS - I KNOW that he is an average rider, and have no expectation of him chasing down the older kids in the group. But he was very dispondent after the race, knowing that we RODE the track a few days earlier, and he now had to walk sections just because he could not get past the slow riders, due to his bad start ..My advice is not to tell your kid how to race. It places rhem under huge pressure and could take the fun out of riding their bike.Rather just encourage and let them figure out how to race and if they want to and can win every race.At the end of the day you want a kid that enjoys the sport . They cannot all be race winners and they all develop at different rates. Edited October 21, 2018 by Rolling Stone PhilipV and Shebeen 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisF Posted October 21, 2018 Share My advice is not to tell your kid how to race. It places rhem under huge pressure and could take the fun out of riding their bike.Rather just encourage and let them figure out how to race and if they want to and can win every race.At the end of the day you want a kid that enjoys the sport . They cannot all be race winners and they all develop at different rates. Our input has ONLY been to ENJOY these events. Not once have we placed any pressure on him in terms of expected achievements. Frankly a newby 7 year old has ZERO chance to place in a race with a couple of FAST 8 year olds. What got me thinking, and asking, was the fact that Maritz was TOTALLY DISPONDANT after the event. On Tuesday he cycled most of the route and he knew what he was capable of. But instead he got stuck behind slow riders and simply could not get passed them ... resulting in the group walking some of the nice (but slow) sections through the forest .... Thus the question - how to help him to get a better start ... purely so he can have a nice ride "mid-pack", but ahead of the very slow riders. PS - I am certainly no racing snake, and only manage mid-pack for the event I ride. I share photos of these rides with Maritz, having open conversations about the fact that there ARE faster riders out there, and the we ride to enjoy nature and to have a good time. So our example to him is one of "fun rides" .... enough time later in life for racing, IF he shows the talent and interest ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenReaper Posted October 21, 2018 Share Our input has ONLY been to ENJOY these events. Not once have we placed any pressure on him in terms of expected achievements. Frankly a newby 7 year old has ZERO chance to place in a race with a couple of FAST 8 year olds. What got me thinking, and asking, was the fact that Maritz was TOTALLY DISPONDANT after the event. On Tuesday he cycled most of the route and he knew what he was capable of. But instead he got stuck behind slow riders and simply could not get passed them ... resulting in the group walking some of the nice (but slow) sections through the forest .... Thus the question - how to help him to get a better start ... purely so he can have a nice ride "mid-pack", but ahead of the very slow riders. PS - I am certainly no racing snake, and only manage mid-pack for the event I ride. I share photos of these rides with Maritz, having open conversations about the fact that there ARE faster riders out there, and the we ride to enjoy nature and to have a good time. So our example to him is one of "fun rides" .... enough time later in life for racing, IF he shows the talent and interest .....The problem with getting him into the front part of the pack is that it will put him in a position where he will have more pressure on him to perform. Here is my reasoning. I would at first encourage him to get further in front of the bunch before the start. This will be achieved by either being at the start line earlier or pushing his way to the front between the other kids before the start. Secondly he should do some sprints to get him use to darting away at the start line to try and get ahead in the pack as far as possible before thay hit the less passable parts of the trail. He will also be able to sprint past slower guys on sections where there is the slightest chance to pass where he will otherwise have not been fast in the past. This would have been my approach, having said that I wouldn't recommend doing this as this would most likely take the fun out of riding and as said above put pressure on the kid as he feels that he has had the training so must now perform. But that's just me, I might be wrong and there might be another/better way to accomplish what you want to do. See what the coach says and let us know on here. ChrisF and BSG 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisF Posted October 21, 2018 Share Thanks Ben .... seems we are thinking along the same lines ... and ending at the same questions ... BenReaper 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Robin Posted October 22, 2018 Share Our input has ONLY been to ENJOY these events. Not once have we placed any pressure on him in terms of expected achievements. Frankly a newby 7 year old has ZERO chance to place in a race with a couple of FAST 8 year olds. What got me thinking, and asking, was the fact that Maritz was TOTALLY DISPONDANT after the event. On Tuesday he cycled most of the route and he knew what he was capable of. But instead he got stuck behind slow riders and simply could not get passed them ... resulting in the group walking some of the nice (but slow) sections through the forest .... Thus the question - how to help him to get a better start ... purely so he can have a nice ride "mid-pack", but ahead of the very slow riders. PS - I am certainly no racing snake, and only manage mid-pack for the event I ride. I share photos of these rides with Maritz, having open conversations about the fact that there ARE faster riders out there, and the we ride to enjoy nature and to have a good time. So our example to him is one of "fun rides" .... enough time later in life for racing, IF he shows the talent and interest .....I think the way you are approaching it as fun is great and so important.Alot depends on the nature of the child too. My 7yr old is competitive so in races the moment it starts he immediately 'weaves' his way in and around the other riders and gets right to the front. He races hard and does very well. However my other son is quite happy to ride wherever, have a chat and wait for other riders and rarely overtakes yet he is also a very capable rider but he is not competitive.They both enjoy it in their own way and that makes me happy. So if Maritz would like to get further up then gently suggest he does so right in the beginning and stay on the outside to make overtaking easier. Enjoy and continue the way you are by making it all about fun. ChrisF 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
varkie2 Posted October 22, 2018 Share I went riding with babyface to get her out of her mom's hair this morning (we're still adapting to having a newborn at home as well.)This was the first longish ride on the star seat. She loved it, but the jumps and berms at the Southeys track might be a bit much this soon.I taped a pair of cut up silicone grips on for her. The grip isn't an issue, but the red provides a visual aid for her.Jis daai tone kort n service. Het jy n anker op hom laat val of lyk hy maar so? Lekke plan daai PhilipV! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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