Terrain Considerations

Smooth is the rule for initial riding with a young child. Avoid those potholes and rugged trails until your child is old enough to take directions (3 years of age or older), then start him/her on a trailercycle or a tandem seat behind you or his/her own bike!

Regardless of your baby transport choice, your bicycle will become heavier and potentially wider, plus you'll have precious cargo to look out for.

Characteristics of trails suitable for early family outings include paved trails, wide trails, and trails with two lanes. Find a trail using the search engine at the top right of this window or see the recommendations below.

insert icons Favoring trails over city streets means avoiding dangerous motorized traffic, but nevertheless be aware that trails are often busy with their own human-powered traffic. Here are the rules of the trail to be aware of:

• Non-humans rule. If you come upon any animal, including a horse, while riding, slow and change your position to give ample space to the animal to get past you. Animals are unpredictable and will not always yield to you.
• Stay to the right with other forward-facing traffic as if you were driving on a street.
• Faster traffic passes on the left, then returns to the right. This is also a rule of cars, as if you were driving on the street.
• Be predictable. With traffic potentially ahead and behind, it's important to select a line and pace of travel, and stick to it.
• Communicate with others. Non-verbal communication is key for communicating a change in pace, direction, passing, and so on. Use body language, eye contact, and verbal cues to tell others of your intentions, so sharing the trail is easier. Popular terms include:
  • Rider up: Indicates another bike rider is ahead of you, in your group. Tell a biker that is overtaking you (in the same direction as you) this so (s)he can anticipate passing another bike.
  • Rider back: Indicates another bike rider is behind you, in your group. Tell a biker that is passing you (going in the opposite direction as you) this so (s)he can anticipate passing another bike.
• Uphill traffic gets priority over downhill traffic, as it's far easier to start from a stop, going downhill, than it is going uphill. If passing on a hill, remember this.
• Rules can be broken when safety is an issue, but ideally they are broken at slow speeds. For instance, when riding with my son on a narrow path on a steep hill, I decided to ride on the left side of the path, as it was farthest from the downhill side of the hill and safest if we were to stop and tip to the side. However, while I was riding on the left side of the hill, I made plenty of room for others, reduced my speed in case I needed to stop suddenly, and announced my presence at blind turns.
• Avoid big bumps, jumps, and sudden stops with baby. Remember that your child cannot generally anticipate big changes in motion, moving off of the seat or bracing him/herself.

Recommendations for Biking

Biking solo can be done on some of the trails at StrollerHikes.com, as indicated by the Biking with baby in an approved baby transport method as described above is indicated by the For more information about recommended trails, use the Trail Comparison Chart and look for the following icon: .

Alternatively, look for a trail geographically using the Interactive Map and look for the bike-with-baby icon in that trail's description.