The Next Bike

I had a meeting with John Caletti the owner and builder behind Caletti Cycles in my garage. I gave John a deposit to start the process of building my next bike: a custom 29“ rigid belt drive single speed. The result will be very similar to his impressive Buckethead single speed that he built for himself last summer. This bike will be steel, rigid (no suspension) and only one gear but this is no retro bike. We will be using state of the art components like the belt drive, disc brakes and Chris King components. Why would I willing to pay good money for essentially a high end kids bike? I’m a technical rider and mountain biking technology has made it too easy to ride challenging terrain on my local trails. The only dimensions left to challenge me are bigger drops and more speed, speed, speed. 

I love tearing around the trails on my full springers but I have to ride a lot faster in order to find the technical challenges I desire. I get similar challenges by getting on my single speed and riding these same trails but I tend to ride with more nuance at lower speeds. Recently, a bunch of my riding buddies have been getting 29ers and I really like the riding characteristics of the bigger wheels. Putting the big wheels on a single speed seems like a great idea.

John and I spent a few hours talking about the bike fit. We looked at several of my bikes and determined what properties I like or do not like. He put many of the bikes on a wind trainer while I rode and he measured various dimensions and angles. Bike fit is probably the best reason to get a custom bike. Many of the bike fames we buy are decent compromises between fit, cost and performance and we make up for short comings by adjusting the components. In a custom process the frame is designed around the rider and the property sized components are added to the bike as part of the design. John used to work at the Spokesman - which is the place to get a professional bike fit in Santa Cruz county so he understands the relationship between rider and bike dimensions.

It was really awesome process. John is very detail oriented and understands the relationships between bike dimensions and ride characteristics. I want a bike that can handle quickly, a great climber and can descend with confidence. This bike will be used mostly on the local single track so I want a bike that can carve turns and roll over roots and rock gardens with ease. Later that afternoon, John created a design based on the data he gathered.

The process is going to take a few months and I’m already feeling anxious about riding it.

A Sea Otter went to Santa Cruz to ride the wicked trails

A Sea Otter went to Santa Cruz to ride the wicked trails. After an afternoon of swoopy redwood single track, big drops and killer berms he noticed that his fork was leaking oil. So he heads back into town and takes it into ABS for service.

Chris looks at the fork and says to the Otter: "The fork needs to be serviced and it should take an hour or so. You should check out downtown for a bit and it will be ready when you come back."

The Sea Otter goes downtown and notices Marinis candy and ice cream store. He buys a triple scoop of vanilla chocolate chip in a sugar cone and in true sea otter style he lies on his back and devours the ice cream getting it all over his face and belly. The ice cream was quite refreshing on such a hot summer day and he heads back to ABS to pick up his bike.

Back at the shop, Chris tells the Otter that his fork is ready. "What was the matter with the fork?", asks the Otter. Chris says: "It looks like you've blown a seal."

"No, it's just ice cream."

Thanks to Alex for the origin of the joke and Gary for the Photoshop work.

Chain Guide Adaptation for the Trail-A-Bike

We have a 7-speed trail-a-bike and since Jade learned how to shift we have been experiencing the occasional dropped chain. The problem is that the combination of a bumpy climb and Jade's down shifting will cause the chain will pop off the front ring and get caught between the ring and the chain guard. When that happens, I loose my "auxiliary motor" and have to tow 70 lbs of bike and child up the hill.

All summer I have been trying to figure out a solution short of purchasing a commercial chain guide system - which is about the same price as the trail a bike. Specialized has the Hotrock 20" which includes a low cost OEM chain guide. I tried to get one in the after market but Specialized or any other vendor offers it.

A couple of months ago, I bought a used Hotrock 20" but the bike is a little too big for Jade. With a little engineering, I moved the chain guide to the trail-a-bike and now we have a great solution for dropped chains! We're going to test this out this weekend.

A chain guide on a trail-a-bike is pretty bad ass!

Mr Toad goes to Washington

I was in Washington, DC recently for a bike conference/summit/lobby session. It was my first time in DC and I learned a lot about the political process and American history. My new hero is Thomas Jefferson. His presence and influence is everywhere.

I stayed with a family in nearby Virginia and took the Metro (subway) and the Slug Line (car pool hitch-hiking) into the city. The family is involved with Trips for Kids - a non-profit group who gives disadvantaged children opportunities to go mountain biking.

I felt very comfortable in DC since everyone in the city loves to talk about politics and big issues. I met some great people, rubbed elbows with the players in the bike advocacy scene and even had the chance to see dozens of museums and monuments.

The highlight of the trip: meeting with Senator Barbara Boxer's staff to discuss mountain bikers concerns with the California Wilderness Heritage Act 2006 - which will designate 2.4 M acres of land in CA as Wilderness area (meaning no bikes). High stakes, big responsibility, nice suit.

It was an incredible trip and it's not the last time I'll be going to DC. In fact, I can't wait to go next year!

More commentary and pictures here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/lick.the.toad/BikeSummitInDC2007

Mountain Biking with your Preschooler

Jade has outgrown the Wee-Ride and has graduated to an Adams Trail-a-Bike. Our last mountain bike ride with the Wee-Ride was the Flume Trail up at Lake Tahoe in August.

We got the Trail-A-Bike for her 4th birthday and she was a little too small for it. We started with the top of the line Alloy 7 model - it has 7 gears and lighter that the other models. We could justify the expense since it will be used for many years to come. I'm a bike geek so I customized it to improve the components and ergonomics. We put on narrower bars, a smaller seat, Grip Shift and pedal blocks. I taped the shifter to the goose neck bar so she can't use it - perhaps I'll teach her how to shift next spring. The new components helped out quite a bit and even dropped the weight of the bike by a pound.

We have been enjoying riding as a family in and around the Santa Cruz area since September. Jade-O looks like a mountain biker - only smaller. She has her own CamelBack, gloves, glasses, windproof jacket and lycra shorts. Our rides are a little slower with the Trail-a-Bike compared with the Wee-Ride and we have to stop for A-frames. Every ride gets better all the time as Jade's endurance, skills and strength improves. The video shows a ride that we did at the beginning of December.



Mountain biking parents should consider taking their kids out for a ride. It's a great way to enjoy the open space with your kids. For us every weekend is Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day.

A mountain bike for the snow!

Here on the central California coast, we can ride year round without worrying about snow. For others, the winter snow covers their favorite riding spots and they may have to put the bike away for the winter and take up another sport. Now we have the Ktrak. Check out the video by clicking on the What the heck is Ktrack link.

Leave it to the crafty Canucks in BC to figure out a way to ride all year round. This just demonstrates that BC riders are pushing the sport in new directions.

This device raises all sorts of access and advocacy issues. How do you advocate to get these machines on the chair lifts? At least there is a possibility of actually riding up the mountain.

The Ktrak redefines the term "freeriding".

Podcasts about Mountain Biking

I drive to work over the challenging Highway 17 and it's a 45 minute commute to work. My commute takes me over the Santa Cruz Mountains which separates the Central Coast from the Bay Area radio markets. I listen to NPR a lot and it has always been frustrating that I cannot listen to the same program for my entire commute. This changed when I got an iPod which has allowed me to listen to podcasts. It has been enriching and enlightening my commute ever since.

Most of the time I listen to the same old NPR and Tech podcasts. But a couple of months ago I sought out some mountain biking specific podcasts. There are a number of mtb specific podcasts listed on iTunes. Most of them are dead.

MTBCast

This one is from the South East. It's hosted by Joe Polk who is affiliated with the Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association. Joe seems like he has a lot of experience with broadcasting and knows how to put together a good show. This is a really good podcast that contains racing and product news. There is definitely a focus on local (south east) news and events. It seems like the South East and SORBA have a really healthy mountain bike scene down there.

The enhanced version has pictures that change during the broadcast. For example, in Episode 37. He talks about Broadie's new bikes. As he talks about the entire line of bikes, the picture changes to show the model. When he talks about Chris Kings new pink anodized components we see a picture. When I listen to this show through iTunes, I pop up the album art/video viewer.

Crooked Cog

This is a very good podcast hosted by Tim Grahl. Very slick and professional - a quite commercial. Tim is quite good and well informed. I listened to the Marla Streb episode and he keeps it moving and interesting. His Interbike 2006 coverage was top notch. He seems to edit out the pauses and perhaps he compresses the time on the audio since it seems to move quite well. Lots of information in short time.

This podcast is also "enhanced" for video/photo podcasts. For example, when he plugs his sponsors we see the banner, during the Marla Streb interview, we see Marla's picture. I really like these enhanced podcasts!

YourMTB.com

This originates from the mind of Walker Thompson from Colorado. This one is more of a vanity project and Walker tends to talk about his experiences and perspective and tends to ramble a bit. I definitely get the sense that Walker is passionate about the sport. I really liked the episode in which he talks to Mark Eller from IMBA but it's clear that he doesn't have the level of broadcast experience as Joe Polk from mtbcast.com or as comprehensive and slick as Crooked Cog.

Walker is the "Enthusiast in Chief" and is building a community of mountain bikers at yourmtb.com. The web site is pretty slick (uses Drupal) and is backed by the Enthusiast Group which is a network of blogs/media which is focused on outdoor sports and recreation.

After a while, I stopped subscribing to this one.

There are a few others out there you may want to check out. I don't subscribe to them all but I'll check out an episode or two. Specialized has a podcast and I downloaded the interview with Ariande Scott. It was dead for a while and the server was pretty slow but I just checked it out again and they just updated it (with a faster server). Maybe I'll re-subscibe to this one.

MTBcast is a great example of a grassroots regional podcast. I wish we had a forum like that for Northern California. Crooked Cog is a great all around podcast for mountain biking info. Great interviews and great coverage of the mountain bike industry. If you are going to subscribe to a single mountain biking podcast then I would recommend the Crooked Cog.

NorCal Bike Ambassador - Annadel State Park

Early wakeup but I had a casual start. The goal was to ride at Annadel State Park for a couple of hours and leave by 11 am. I started to break down camp while watching a couple of young chix and biker dude get started. Nice. The wheels of the single speed were rolling at 9:30 am.

I wound my way clockwise around Spring Lake following the route we did yesterday and cut over into Annadel via dirt trail. Climbed the Spring Creek trail to Lake Ilsanjoe and passed a bunch of hikers. Mostly strolling retirees and jogging milfs. It's Monday in Santa Rosa - Milf city.

I wanted to ride Live Oak to North Burma trail but I followed Lake trail too far and wound up climbing Richardson and passing an older couple. We stopped and chatted at the junction of South Burma and I decided to climb it. It's a challenging trail on a single speed but very pretty and heavily forested with some rocks and picnic tables. I followed this trail over the peak and through Buick meadow. Then I took the Marsh trail back to the Lake Ilsanjo.

There were a few swimmers at the lake. Some old guys were having a morning swim across the lake. A trio of young college women was splashing in the water. I went for a nice refreshing post ride swim and the water was really warm.

It was 11 am and I planned to be back at camp before noon. I took the Rough Go trail back to the park entrance. Rough Go is quite rocky, technical and exposed. It reminded me of Rockville. This trail used to be a fireroad but it became decommissioned. Rough Go was narrowed by placing rocks and obstacles to create choke points which was done as part of a 1998 trail building grant. The result is a narrow, twisty technical trail which increases the challenges and reduces speeds. I'm really impressed that this type of trail is legal in a California State Park. Along the trail, I rode by open meadows and orchards. I passed a few hikers who were impressed that I could ride that type of terrian. I think they would have been more impressed if the realized that I was on a single speed - if they even knew what a single speed is.

Back at camp the chix and biker dude are packing up. I take a shower behind the MBOSC banner and one of the chix was watching from her car. Could be the single one. I finished packing up and was out of the site by 12:30 pm.

I went to the Santa Rosa AAA to pick up some maps for the next phase. Was served by another fine example of a Santa Rosa milf. She was a well dressed, manicured married blonde about 42-45 years old with a push up bra and nice skin. She was very friendly and spent a lot of time helping me with directions and maps. She never asked to see my AAA card.

I spent about 1/2 an hour in the AAA parking lot taking the lower dash of the Subaru apart. It's the only way to get to the fuse box for the rear 12 volt accessory socket. This rear socket just doesn't work. This circuit is connected to the seat heaters which also doesn't work so I figured it was probably the fuse. I took apart the lower dash to get to the fuse and it was fine. Hmmmm.. Must be a loose connection. I'll save it for another day. At least the jumper battery that I brought has a 12 volt DC outlet and I have a 75 watt power inverter so I can keep my electronic devices juiced.

Pastrami reuban at Togos for lunch, went to Kragen for spare 20 amp fuses then off to Albertsons for breakfast groceries like bagels and cream cheese. In the parking lot a nice 20 something with large breasts was loading groceries in the car in front of me. I noticed her because I heard her talking to her small dog in the car and I thought she was addressing me. She was wearing a loose green top draped over a skin tight black tan top. Her neckline was low and her breasts were D cup or bigger. She had a Chinese calligraphy tattoo on her left shoulder ("Beef with broccoli?") . I was a little confused trying to get back to the Hwy 12 so I asked her for directions. She was really helpful and leaned over the map so I plumbed the depths of her cleavage with my eyes. Cheap thrills.

Left the Santa Rosa Albertson's at about 2:30 pm. Arrrgg! I forgot to buy yogurt and beer. Idiot. I took Calistoga Road to Petrified Forrest and caught the 29 way to Boggs Mountain listening to classic rock all the way. I have mp3 rips of the early Led Zeppelin albums from the first British vinyl pressings. Each mp3 is an entire album side and it's a real treat when they come up in the shuffle. The live version of "Dazed and Confused" pushes me over the edge and I cranked it and rocked out. I imagine that the milfs of Santa Rosa were rocking in the back seats to that one back in the day.

NorCal Bike Ambassador - Santa Rosa

Arrived at Spring Lake campground in Santa Rosa at 3:45 pm. I got campsite 17, which was a nice spot at the far end of the campground. I had a view over looking a large family from Idaho located near the washrooms. They had arrived after me in their RVs full of kids. I set up camp and got the trail bike ready. Ken Wells arrived at about 4:35 pm and we rode the bike paths of Spring Lake to the adjacent Annadel State Park.

Ken is the President of the Sonoma County Trails Council and an experienced mountain bike advocate. He was involved in the early days of ROMP and IMBA. He works in waste management/planning for Sonoma County so he knows how to navigate the administrivia of big government. He gave me some maps and some information about Sonoma County trails including a great trail user map of parks in the county that they had just produced. The bike advocates seem to have a great relationship with county and state parks.

We hit the trails at about 5pm and started clockwise around Spring Lake, we rode Canyon trail to Marsh Trail past Buick Meadow and around the Ledon Marsh. They have Red Legged frogs at the marsh. We rode down Ridge trail and I was grining from ear to ear. We doubled back onto Marsh and rode along the south end of Lake Ilsenjo. The Spring Creek trail was very pretty - completely shaded with trees - but there were quite a few hikers. We wound our way back to the campsite arriving at 7 pm.

We parted ways and agreed to meet for dinner in an hour. It was a great ride and a great introduction to Annadel. There were some familiar elements in Annadel to trails that I have ridden including Wilder's Enchanted Loop (Ridge trail) and the dry rocky terrain of Santa Teresa.

The campground offered hot showers but charged $1.50 in quarters for 5 minutes. The website didn't mention that there were pay showers. Screw that nonsense! I was going to use my new solar shower at my campsite. Finding a spot for the shower was a small challenge. There weren't too many useful trees and the campsites were packed together. Fortunately, the campground wasn't busy since it was a Sunday night. I strung up the MBOSC banner between a couple of trees as a modesty screen in front of the Idaho family. The screen wasn't perfect but would spare the kids from the trauma of full frontal nudity from a sweaty, dirty mountain biker taking a shower. The screen protected the kids but the lady in the campsite beside me could probably see my ass if she wanted to.

I took the single speed to meet Ken on a busy street near the park with plenty of restaurants. It was a small challenge to find one open since many of them were closed on Sunday night. We found our way to the Texas BBQ where I had a 1/3 lb burger with slaw and mint chip ice cream in a sugar cone for $9.17. Ken and I talked about advocacy and his history of activism. He's a good resource.

I had to ride the road in the dark to get back to the Spring Creek Campground. I forgot to bring lights (not even a blinky light) and I got a little lost in the suburbs of Santa Rosa with the monster homes and well-groomed gardening. Back at the campsite, the Idaho family had a fire and way too much light. The kids were going to bed in the RVs. I finished off the Blueberry and tried the King Kush. John Coltrane was on the iPod and I sipped 10 year old Laphroaig out of a flask that I bought from my brother back in Toronto for CD$20. I was kicking back and loving life while looking at the stars. Looking at the Idaho family made me miss my own and I would love to bring them to this campground for riding and playing in this area.

I went into the cocoon in the back of the car at 11 pm and drifted off to the easy sounds Sarah McLaughlin. This was an awesome start to this trip.

NorCal Bike Ambassador - On the road

I took a couple of weeks off work to visit family in Canada for the first week and then go to the World Mountain Conference in Whistler the next week. Unfortunately, I couldn't make the logistics work for the Whistler trip so instead I decided to embark on a solo camping/ mountain biking adventure in Northern California. My wife and child were going to stay in Ontario with my parents and I would pick them up at SFO at the end of my trip. I contacted bike advocates that I had previously met and arranged a couple of rides. I called this adventure "The mountain biking Ambassador" trip. It was a great opportunity to see new places, new rides and get to know other advocates.

I packed up Ubi the Subaru with camping gear, the Marin Attack trail bike and an On-One Inbred single speed. Having a trail bike and a single speed gave me a wide variety of riding options. Ubi was left at my Aunt and Uncles place in East Palo Alto while we were in Toronto visiting family.

The trip from Toronto back to California was an all day affair. My brother drove me from his place in the beaches of Toronto to the Scarborough suburbs where my Grandmother lived and my Aunts and Uncle were staying. We drove a rented car down to Buffalo, had lunch near the airport and flew to SFO via Washington, DC. We arrived at San Francisco airport at midnight and I was finally in bed at my Aunt and Uncles place in East Palo Alto at 2 am. Not a great start for a bike trip but that's part of the adventure of travel.

I didn't get a great night of sleep due to a number of factors and I slow getting started in the morning. The TV was tuned to the World Cup and I was reminded of the WC mania in Toronto with flags from all countries attached to cars. Here in the Bay Area, it doesn't seem to be on the radar. I did a couple of trips to buy groceries food and an iPod mount for the car. It should have been one trip but my headspace wasn't really in the game.

I finally left my Aunt and Uncle's place at 1:30 pm and I was on the road. My destination was Santa Rosa. Ubi felt a little slow and unstable probably the wind and the poor weight distribution. Traffic though San Francisco was slow but not too bad. I crossed a mental threshold driving over the Golden Gate Bridge to the Marin headlands that signaled to me that I was heading into Northern California for an adventure.

Another Sea Otter Classic is in the can

The rain capped off the end of the 2006 Sea Otter Classic on an otherwise unexpected sunny event.

This is the first year that Team Wrong Way took over the volunteer coordination for course marshalling the dual slalom event. Michael and Jain Light had been doing the DS coordination for a very long time and they felt it was time to pass the torch. Michael contacted Henthorn and myself and we took the oportuntity to coordinate the volunteers. I have been arriving at the Sea Otter at 7 am on Thurs, Fri and Saturday to hang out on the swale all day. Free lunch, free race entry and hanging out on the hill with a view of the entire venue, a good view of the short track mtb and the best view of the dual slalom event. Not a bad gig.

For me, the California IMBA summit on Friday was the highlight of the event. After so many years of being a schwag 'ho at the Otter, my focus has shifted to advocacy and I'm more interested in trail politics and building relationships with like minded advocates, sympathetic industry types, land managers and resource ecologists. These people interest me much more than the titanium and carbon fibre goodness that permeates the expo.

I decided to blow off my race. I was registered in sport single speed but I haven't been training nor did I pre-ride the course. Three days of hiking up and down the swale was totally exhausting. My legs were tingling when I arrived home on Saturday night and I was in no condition to wake up early to race.

Instead, I spent a leisurely day at the Otter with my family. The big attraction for us was the Easter Egg hunt, the bouncy castle, cheering on the XC finishers and talking with advocates at the IMBA booth. We rode the Tracer and the Marin with his and her Fox Talas RLCs up front. People were impressed with Jade's seat setup on the Tracer. We were using it as a $3000 baby stroller since it's the best way to get around the event. The afternoon rain was just enough to make us leave rather than hang out and spectate at the mountain cross.

Good times, good weather and great people. Defintely one this was one of the better Sea Otters for me.

Whew! I'm glad it's over. I can't wait until next year.

Brokeback Mountain Biking

Jill Kitner does trail work on the Sea Otter dual slalom course with the course designer Keith DeFiebre looking on in the background. So the picture isn't a Mike Gin masterpiece satire of the movie poster but it's a real shot and I like the irony.

Six weeks of unrelenting rain turned the Laguna Seca swale into a swampy mess. The dual slalom course couldn't hold up to the seep from the hill and the berms trapped the water and turned into "pigs wallows". Many shoes were lost in the pit during the amateur race. Bikes were eaten and we were entertained with mud wrestling - which is wrestling the bikes from the mud.

The pros handled the wallows much better. Before the qualifiers, Cedric Gracia grabbed a shovel and took trail work into his own hands. Jill Kitner grabbed the shovel before the finals. Watching the male and female racers in the world holding shovels was precious to a long time trail worker like myself. I should have taken more pictures. This is Eric Carter dragging his bike past the pigs wallow.


It was an amazing day of racing. The riders did their best dealing with the mud by hammering through the muck. At the end of the day Brian Lopes edged out Cedric to win the pro men category.

Real Mountain Biking with your Toddler

Mountain biking with your toddler is a great way to share the outdoors with your children in a fun and healthy way. My wife and I are active mountain bikers and we have been off road riding with our daughter since she was a year old (she's 3.5 now). We do real mountain biking with our little girl around Santa Cruz and the SF Bay Area but we have taken trips around Tahoe and other parts of California.

With a little preparation, the correct bike setup and a passion for the outdoors and adventure you can explore the trails with your child.

The Child

Many people have asked us how old a child should be to start riding. It's important that the childs neck is strong enough to support her the weight of her head with a helmet. We bought her a helmet when she was 6 months old. We recommend Giro helmets. Not only do these helmets fit well, are high quality and look cool but they have a helmet trade up program for kids called "Grow with Giro". Also, Giro is based in Santa Cruz so it's great to support a local company.

In the beginning, we would all wear our helmets around the house so she would get comfortable with it. I never used to wear a helmet around town but after our daughter, I wore one just to demonstrate to her that it's normal to wear a helmet while riding a bike. Now wearing a helmet on road or off is now a habit.

We started riding with a used Burley trailer when our daughter was 8 months old. We rode all over town, Westcliff Drive and out to Wilder Ranch but not off road. We didn't like the Burley since it wasn't manuverable and it situated her head too close to car exhaust. We also didn't like fact that we couldn't see or hear our child. Back there she seemed more like luggage than a passenger.

The Seat

We got a center mounted child seat at 9 or 10 months old and started riding around town. She loved it! She was so small that her feet didn't reach the bottom of the foot wells. So we placed a couple of water bottles under her feet.

The child seat we use is called a Centric Safe Haven and retails for about $100. I think it was renamed to Wee Ride. The setup consists of a large steel crossbar which attaches between the headset and the seatpost. The saddle attaches to the crossbar with a single large bolt - this makes the bike easy to transport.

This seat came with a 3 point harness which attached at the back but we bought extra straps and buckles to create a 5 point harness which helped in keeping her on the bike when off-road riding. We also installed a CamelBak chest strap to keep the shoulder straps in place.

This center mounted child seat design is superior in so many ways to a rear mounted seat in comfort, convenience and safety:

• Having the child situated in front of you allows you to talk with your child during the ride. It also makes it easier to feed her. She can reach the hose of the CamelBak so she can drink when she needs to.
• Despite the fact that there is no "roll cage" like a rear mounted seat it is much safer because of the stability. Having the child in the center of the bike doesn't have as much of an impact of moving the center of gravity. In a rear mounted seat, all the weight is on the back wheel which makes the bike feel light up front.
  
• If you manage to get yourself in a situation, you can easily get off the back of the bike in a hurry - something you cannot do with a rear mount.
• If you crash on the bike, your arms become a protective roll cage for the child. If you go down then by instinct you will not let go of the bars and take the bruises on your arms to protect your child. My wife and I have had 3 slow speed spills out of the countless times we have been mountain biking. These spills were controlled and could have easily been avoided if we had walked instead of ridden. In each situation, we never let go of the bars and our daughter has been safe.
• There is a single threaded bolt which holds the child seat to the crossbar. This bolt has a large knurled head for finger tightening. This makes it easy to remove the seat when transporting the bike.

I highly recommend the seat to anyone (off road or not). It's a great design.

The Bike

We bought two bars and installed one on a townie bike for cruising, errands and commuting (my Wife and child bike commute to pre-school) and the other on a dedicated mountain bike. Having two bike mounts makes it convenient to switch the seat between the two bikes.

Our main toddler mountain bike is a 2001 Intense Tracer. The Tracer is a cross country full suspension bike with 4" of rear travel and a 120 mm Rock Shox Psylo Race up front. This is quite a plush and comfortable bike. The bike has a set of hydraulic disc brakes - which are pretty standard on good mountain bikes these days. Having good brakes is important if you do fast downhill riding since the child and seat will add a non-trivial amount of additional weight.

I installed a short stem (80 mm x 15 deg rise) and the widest highest bars we can find (Azonic double wall 28" wide with 2.5" rise). Having a short high stem and high wide bars allows the maximum amount of clearance for the child's helmet and your chin and chest. Depending on the size of your child, you may not need this setup. We put the Azonic bar on last summer because our daughter was growing and we kept bumping our chin on her helmet.

I swapped out the clipless SPD pedals and used platform pedals and lowered my saddle a bit for more control. You may have to ride a little bowl legged and the platforms allow you to move your feet more. Having platforms allows you to "tripod" and give you additional confidence when navigating a rock garden.

The Rides

The early rides were short. We started with 15-30 minutes of riding and then we would stop for a picnic. We would always bring snacks and perhaps a small toy. Talking and singing with your child makes it a lot of fun. The point of the short rides is to get the child used to riding and to show her how much fun biking can be.

We did our first mountain bike ride with our daughter at Waddell Creek in Big Basin just after her first birthday. Waddell Creek is a great place to take kids or beginners mountain biking. It's a gentle fire road climb through a forest where you can lock up your bikes. We parked our bikes, strapped on the Baby Bjorn and hiked up to Berry Creek Falls for a picnic.

My wife and I used to race cross country and downhill so we are definitely advanced riders. We ride with our daughter most days around town and off-road at least once a week (less in the winter months). We have ridden on terrain with 8" drops, rock gardens, fast downhill and some A-frames. I've stopped riding the A-frames now that our daughter is 32 lbs - too tippy. Believe it or not we have ridden with our daughter at the North Star mountain bike park. In fact, we may be the first family to ride part of "Sticks and Stones" - a double black diamond run - with a child seat.

Our daughter loves mountain biking. Like her mother and father, she has a preference for tight and twisty singletrack in lush redwood forests and sweet downhill trails. She doesn't care much for the long exposed fireroad climbs. Sometimes she gets cranky about them - like her father.

You don't have to be an advanced rider to go mountain biking with your toddler. Non-technical singletrack and fire roads would be adequate for novice, intermediate or cautious parents. Know the terrain and trails that you will be riding. Watch the weather, bring adequate food, water and tools. Ride within your limits. Most of all, enjoy the time you spend on the trails with your children.