As a Mother, your instincts dictate that you protect and provide for your family. Your partner and your children are generally your top priority and so it’s vital to your mental wellbeing that they are safe and protected.
… bike riding is fun for the whole family and is a great way of spending time with each other, however, it can be a dangerous enterprise if you’re not properly educated.
However, it’s quite difficult to protect them all the time, and you can’t molly coddle your children and so it’s important that you get out there and enjoy yourself and life with your family. One of the great ways to do this is to cycle together. Not only do you keep fit, but you have fun and enjoy the outdoors.
Keeping Safe
As I mentioned in the opening paragraph, bike riding is fun for the whole family and is a great way of spending time with each other, however, it can be a dangerous enterprise if you’re not properly educated. Cycling on the road is a hazardous thing to do and so it is vital you have the proper knowledge and that your kids know the ins and outs.
First off, I would suggest you swallow the high way code and teach your kids the basics. This is an important step. If you are a driver, then chances are you are already very familiar with the code, but it might be a good idea to give it a quick re-read just to be on the safe side. You could even attempt to make it fun for your kids to learn the various signs and rules and hold quizzes with prizes. It’s a suggestion that might not work for everybody, but it doesn’t change the fact that kids should at least know the simple stuff within the Highway Code.
Another important step in the education of young (or old) cyclers is learning how to be safe on the road. For children in schools, about the ages of 9 or 10, it’s called Cycling Proficiency. Now, your children may have already done this, but if they haven’t, they should. You can even arrange for cycle training in schools or your work place; it might be a nice idea to get all your colleagues together to brush up on their cycling safety and knowledge.
Once you and your family have brushed up on your cycling knowledge, and your safe in the knowledge that your kids are going to be as safe as possible out on the road, it’s time to get out and enjoy your new found family time.
Other Benefits of Cycling
It’s important that your family stays healthy. Now, you can all eat the right things and not spend loads of hours wasting away in front of a TV, but without the proper exercise you will never be as fit as you might look. Cycling obviously makes perfect exercise. It’s reasonably strenuous as well as being brilliant fun, especially if you live in a nice area with lots of nature. Cycling bequeaths other benefits, though; for example if your place of work has a cycling scheme in place, you can get discounts on bikes and more. You can keep fit whilst traveling to work… plus you can miss the morning rush hour. If you haven’t got one in place, take a look here for information on getting started with a bike to work scheme.
Training Complete
Once you and your family have brushed up on your cycling knowledge, and your safe in the knowledge that your kids are going to be as safe as possible out on the road, it’s time to get out and enjoy your new found family time. Cycling will help you bond, get fitter, and see the country in a new way. You could cycle around the local forest, or nature reserve, and really get in touch with the world.
Get out and ride. See you on the other side.
