Bikepacking singletrack with little kids

[Slim]

We finally got out to try bikepacking with our daughters, aged 1.5 and 4.5.

Ready for singletrack

We did a quick overnight in an area we are familiar with from day rides. We rode out from the parking lot around 5:00, rode for about an hour and set up the tent near a lake. Unfortunately it was to marshy around the edges to swim. I cooked dinner while my wife and girls stayed in the tent to be free from the mosquitoes which were out in force. then they suited up and ate their supper.

Dinner with the mosquitoes

In the morning we continued the rest of the loop, with a stop to pick raspberries, back to the car where we had lunch.

Wild raspberries!

We used a Tout Terrain tag-a-long for my 4 year old and a Tout Terrain Singletrailer for my toddler. These have real rear suspension using Rockshox air shocks and so allow us to ride actual mtb trails with the girls, not just atv trails.

We use a Golite Hex 3 which has plenty of room inside the mesh inner for 4 pads next to each other as well as gear around you, the sides of the inner do sag a lot though. We don't use a pole, instead hanging it from a branch or a cord between two trees.

In the trailer we had an Ursack with dinners, breakfast, cups, spoons as well as a Jetboil Sol Ti and a small drybag with clothes, these all fit under the seat/her feet. Otherwise we had the tent mesh inner in my backpack, the outer in my wife's and a handlebar bag with clothes/sleeping gear each. We used 2 full length Neoairs and one short one and a size S Thermarest UL. Since it was forecast to be warm we used light fleece blankets.

We didn't need all the capacity of the small toptube/handle bar bags we had, so could have left some of those home. Because of the trailers we couldn't use a seatbag, at least not a larger bikepacking one, could have used a small tube-and-tool type. We had plenty of capacity, even for a longer trip or one in colder weather we could have gotten it all in their easily. This set-up still allowed us to ride fairly technical trials at close to normal speed, and our backpacks were light for comfort in the saddle.

The kids had a blast, as expected, since they love biking and camping. The trail we picked was just right for us, since it doesn't have a lot of climbing, but lots of fun berms and whoop-dee-do's that I and the girls enjoy.

[Done]

You guys are an absolute inspiration. Your kids will look back at this years from now, and realize how incredibly cool their childhood and parents were. Kudos for bringing a life of adventure to the next generation!

[29ftw]

Awesome! 

I would love to take my 4.5 and 6.5 yo on an overnight - just need to find the right loop (both are on bikes w/o trng wheels)

[Area54]

It's great isn't it! Our pet monkey is a veteran (almost 7 now), with many overnighters and multi dayers since 12 months old.

I notice your eldest has on kneepads, check out some of the gaiters and sock protectors from Moxie Gear, I bought some for the monkey and she's prepped for off-track walk and HAB. Popular with the AR crowd.

Bush tucker is awesome, so many nectar flowers to suck, fruits and berries to pick and plant materials to make stuff from.

Irreplaceable memories. The family that plays together, stays together 

[Slim]

@29ftw: could you put the youngest on a tag-along that should help a fair bit and then indeed, to find something smooth, short and interesting.

@area54: thanks for the link, I'll have a look. Always hard to find good kids gear.
Could you please translate from the Australian: I knew bushtucker = wild foods but what is off-track hiking?
I assume it doesn't mean the same same it does as when I say it, namely being lost   and who are the AR crowd and what do you do when you HAB?

For people with kids, here is a great article if you haven't seen it yet:

http://aaronteasdale.blogspot.com/2011/11/one-family-goes-big.html

[Area54]

You've got the bush tucker right, off track is when you are navigating and travelling where no track/trail exists - bushwacking might be the equivalent. HAB - hike a bike - carrying bike over obstacles, harsh/steep/unrideable terrain or walking only trails (National parks) AR - adventure racing

[Slim]

Aha, not as exotic as I thought. i am, unfortunately familiar with hike-a-bike locomotion. ;-)

[verslowrdr]

We just did bikepacking trip #2 with our 6yo, and posted pics/trip reports on MTBR's bikepacking forum.

Years ago my dad very accurately described kids: "They're like an army- they move on their stomach". Seems like as long as you have enough food for the short people and are patient with their pacing requirements, they'll do quite a lot.

[Slim]

Nice trip. Love the pink fishing rod, and you actually cought a good fish with it?

Post up your trip report on here too. we need to get more family stuff out to encourage other parents and learn from each other.
 

[intheways]

Cool report!  We're hoping to do our first trip with our 2yo this weekend.

Any more details on the Tout-terrain trailer and tag-along?  I've been eyeing those since our daughter was born.

[Slim]

What would you like to know about the trailer or the tag-a-long?

[intheways]

Just general experience with them.  I have a Tout-terrain Boulevard that I use for commuting and touring and absolutely love it.  I suppose the trailers are just as nice.

[Slim]

It mostly works great. You can ride pretty fast on fairly rough terrain and the suspension will soak it up. It will track to the inside of a corner in a hairpin turn. It rides best on fast swoopy fast trails, even very rocky. Biggest issues are big log-overs, tight hairpins and skinnies. The trailer really protects the child very well. On the tag-a-long they have to learn to level their pedals and are far more exposed.

 I did the following mods to ours:

The rebound and platform damping on the Singletrailer was to high. (30 lbs kid instead of adult that the shock was made for), replaced w/ lighter weight suspension fluid and reduced nitrogen charge to make it more supple.

The rear wheel of the pulling bike would buzz the front of the trailer or the tag-a-long when going over a log or similar. The trailer didn't have enough ground clearance, when riding between two rocks. Replaced the pulling arms with new longer  ones with more of and upward arc to clear the rear tire of the bike.

The cranks on the tag-a-long were way to long, 155mm for someone who is 3" tall! By that logic I'd have 320mm cranks! This also lead to many pedal strikes and an in-ability to keep her pedals level. I Put 135mm on(shortest I could find) and metal pedals with toeclips. The straps on the toeclips are loose, but they keep her feet from sliding off the front or sides.

Added padding over the shock and on the handle bar of the tag-a-long

Added a chest clip(from a carseat) to the shoulder straps of the trailer.

[LiiT]

awesome thanks fer sharin   I got two lil ones and im ready to do likewise

[intheways]

It mostly works great. You can ride pretty fast on fairly rough terrain and the suspension will soak it up. It will track to the inside of a corner in a hairpin turn. It rides best on fast swoopy fast trails, even very rocky. Biggest issues are big log-overs, tight hairpins and skinnies. The trailer really protects the child very well. On the tag-a-long they have to learn to level their pedals and are far more exposed.

 I did the following mods to ours:

The rebound and platform damping on the Singletrailer was to high. (30 lbs kid instead of adult that the shock was made for), replaced w/ lighter weight suspension fluid and reduced nitrogen charge to make it more supple.

The rear wheel of the pulling bike would buzz the front of the trailer or the tag-a-long when going over a log or similar. The trailer didn't have enough ground clearance, when riding between two rocks. Replaced the pulling arms with new longer  ones with more of and upward arc to clear the rear tire of the bike.

The cranks on the tag-a-long were way to long, 155mm for someone who is 3" tall! By that logic I'd have 320mm cranks! This also lead to many pedal strikes and an in-ability to keep her pedals level. I Put 135mm on(shortest I could find) and metal pedals with toeclips. The straps on the toeclips are loose, but they keep her feet from sliding off the front or sides.

Added padding over the shock and on the handle bar of the tag-a-long

Added a chest clip(from a carseat) to the shoulder straps of the trailer.

Thanks for the details!  I like how you think.  Did you buy the trailers from PBW?

[Slim]

I bought the trailer from Peter White Cycles in the US, the Tag-a-long we bought in Europe. If you are interested in buying one it's by far the best option. Look at the prices in Europe, and then realize that that includes around 20% VAT, which you can ask to have refunded after exporting it.

I managed to fit the tag-a-long inside 2 standard suitcases, with all my normal lugage, so avoided any airline fees.