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PBR Tallboy
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Best Kid friendly trail for a beginner
07/28/14 at 3:48pm
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My 5 y/o daughter wants to ride with dad! So excited, but hesitant at the same time. She is a strong athlete, but one fall too soon would probably derail the entire operation. So far she will ride the gravel roads at WWC, and I am thinking of taking her on the access roads/double track out there just to try out. With the small 16" wheels I am afraid the roots on the green trail will be too much. I know there are THTB who have crossed this bridge already. What do y'all suggest I start? Oh yeah and my other fear is her bike only has coaster brakes. I bought her a 20" bike with hand brakes, but its too big for her yet.
  
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Re: Best Kid friendly trail for a beginner
Reply #1 - 07/28/14 at 4:47pm
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Jetton - has a great little trail for kids.  My youngest are 6 now but they were riding it at 4 on bikes with 12 inch wheels (one of them was still on training wheels).  The trailhead is a little hard to find (its across the street from the park entrance) and crossing the 4 lane road with little kids on bikes can be scary.  The trail is short so we usually do a loop and then we ride back over to the park and hit the playground for lunch.  The kids love it... 

The first time we went on the trail a guy on a unicycle passed us...we were all impressed.
  
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Re: Best Kid friendly trail for a beginner
Reply #2 - 07/28/14 at 4:49pm
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I've been taking my GF's 12yo daughter out, I found a deal on an XS Hardrock Sport and got it for her birthday after having taken her out on a rental at USNWC, and she's cleaned the Green trail once now. We ran into a dad with his 4yo on one of those trips, so I think that the Green trail could be ridden on those little wheels, but I understand about being worried about a fall discouraging her. I'm unsure where to take mine once she gets the Green trail dialed and starts to get bored.
  
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Re: Best Kid friendly trail for a beginner
Reply #3 - 07/28/14 at 5:38pm
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Being in davidson you may not want to take the drive, but I have taken my son since he was big enough to ride a 16" bike to Eagle Point here in Salisbury.  There are small up and down hills and some roots, but nothing really intimidating for kids.  They trails are wide enough for the game lands man on his golf cart to ride through, so you don't have to worry about it being too tight.  I had to pedal beside my son and "help" him up the hills when he first started, but he is now 7 on a 20" Hotrock and rides the entire trail system no problem.  I would recommend it to anyone interested in getting their kids started in mtn biking.  Its woods enough to make it feel like a real mtn bike trail, but passive enough not to scare beginners.
« Last Edit: 07/28/14 at 5:39pm by flynbryan19 »  
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Re: Best Kid friendly trail for a beginner
Reply #4 - 07/28/14 at 5:55pm
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My 3 year old rides the main loop at Beatty with me, and has done several of the other trails. 

Probably the best for a small kid is Sherman Branch. You can go down the fire road from the entrance and take a right every time you get to an intersection, and it'll give you about 3 miles of somewhat easy trail with minimal roots.  Seems like a shame to skip that first half mile though, so we've also started at the normal entrance and rode until we hit the first fire road out.

I took him to USNWC Saturday and we did the lake loop. He seemed to love it, lots of scenery (and rocks to collect  Grin), but it's very rooty and took a toll on him by the end.
  
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Re: Best Kid friendly trail for a beginner
Reply #5 - 07/28/14 at 6:49pm
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Hmm I didn't even think about those middle segments of Sherman being easy and easy to get to. Lots of good ideas here thanks to everyone for sharing.
  
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Re: Best Kid friendly trail for a beginner
Reply #6 - 07/28/14 at 7:50pm
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SirNotAppearing wrote on 07/28/14 at 5:55pm:
My 3 year old rides the main loop at Beatty with me, and has done several of the other trails. 

Probably the best for a small kid is Sherman Branch. You can go down the fire road from the entrance and take a right every time you get to an intersection, and it'll give you about 3 miles of somewhat easy trail with minimal roots.  Seems like a shame to skip that first half mile though, so we've also started at the normal entrance and rode until we hit the first fire road out.

I took him to USNWC Saturday and we did the lake loop. He seemed to love it, lots of scenery (and rocks to collect  Grin), but it's very rooty and took a toll on him by the end.


Your 3 year old did Beatty?!  That's really impressive... at three my kid couldn't have walked it much less ride it.  Great job!

I would be very hesitant taking a five year old girl on 16" bike to Sherman for her first time trail riding.  That's usually too much for adults to handle for their first time.  I think your kid is by far the exception as far as riding skills and is altering your perception on what is normal for a youngin' lol.  No offense or anything, I sure wish my 5 year old could ride that well. Smiley
  
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Re: Best Kid friendly trail for a beginner
Reply #7 - 07/28/14 at 8:34pm
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ludey wrote on 07/28/14 at 7:50pm:


Your 3 year old did Beatty?!  That's really impressive... at three my kid couldn't have walked it much less ride it.  Great job!

I would be very hesitant taking a five year old girl on 16" bike to Sherman for her first time trail riding.  That's usually too much for adults to handle for their first time.  I think your kid is by far the exception as far as riding skills and is altering your perception on what is normal for a youngin' lol.  No offense or anything, I sure wish my 5 year old could ride that well. Smiley


Yeah, he gets lots of attention when we're on the trail, and he may be an exception. But I think it depends more on the kid's interest and determination than skill level. I got him a Strider when he turned two, and he was obsessed. He was barely speaking but he'd wake up saying "bicycle," ready to ride at 5:30 in the morning. Now if he's on the Strider I ride with him. But I still run behind him on his pedal bike and help him through the trickier stuff, or push him up hills. 

It just takes patience. Three miles at USNWC took almost 2 hours. But that also includes time to throw rocks in the lake, collect broken pedal reflectors, and inspect every bug along the way.
  
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Re: Best Kid friendly trail for a beginner
Reply #8 - 07/28/14 at 8:48pm
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Awesome! I asked my daughter if I should run with her instead, she insisted I ride a bike. Kinda funny. Going to Jetton this evening, I will check back in tomorrow!
  
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Re: Best Kid friendly trail for a beginner
Reply #9 - 07/28/14 at 9:11pm
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Poston had a kids loop on the other side of the parking lot from the main trailhead.
  
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Re: Best Kid friendly trail for a beginner
Reply #10 - 07/29/14 at 11:53am
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OK so Jetton is purrrrfect for little kids! Its a really pretty trail props to whomever designed it. She definitely needs hand brakes, she dragged her feet downhill trying to slow down!
  
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Re: Best Kid friendly trail for a beginner
Reply #11 - 07/29/14 at 3:18pm
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I second the Sherman right turn route suggested. Great for most all beginners.
  
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