Is using a whole genre of riding cheating?
Cooper's Best Ride(s) of the Year
In years past, my "ride of the year" would have been some grand day(s) rambling the mountains, some incredible trail far from home, or some new experience like a multi-day gravel stage race. This year, I pedaled somewhere in the neighborhood of 4,600 kilometers and 90,000 vertical meters. That's down a bit over previous years, due to a combination of work, injury, and life in general. Things ebb and flow, and I'm fine with it. I also didn't ride many new areas, many new trails, or travel much. I did a lot of Utility Riding; sweating out in the woods in familiar places near home usually during naptime, and enjoying it. I don't thrive on routine but it's pretty hard to complain about mountain biking when your backyard has this websites eponymous moniker; Vancouver's North Shore.
Undisclosed locations, lack of actual trail, and a week of arguing over internet photos about whether or not something was doable used to be commonplace. Photo: Blaise Ratcliffe
Not a trail in sight, but at least we made it back to camp by dark - don't cross that line, it's an international border... (The Transition Spur was, and is, a fantastic bike for rides like this. My full review here.)
Horse trails are either great or awful to ride - at least they'll often take you wonderful places. This steel steed was a wild ride, and now hangs on the wall in my garage.
That ride total doesn't include cargo bike miles (it has a motor), or any of the time on my Evil Faction II where a lot of the time I'm about to write about was spent. That's right, the ride of the year for me... was Dadcountry riding.
Snacks are key. Always more snacks. And always the right gear: Patagonia makes some amazing kids clothing, and A refers to his Keen shoes affectionately as "MY FAST SHOES"
For the uninitiated, "dadcountry" is my poor portmanteau and play on the endless marketization of riding genres; cross-country, downcountry, Shorecountry... why not dadcountry to describe the unique experiences that are 50% teaching a small person to ride bikes, and 50% learning about patience and how to ride with a small person. Momcountry practitioners will note dadcountry is a gendered term, but that's a product of me being a dad, and "parentcountry" not exactly rolling off the tongue. Whatever you and your child's gender, the important part here is getting out on two wheels.
And get out we did this year. A spent most of his time on the Kids Ride Shotgun Dirt Hero. Based on the comments section, several days after that piece went live, "we" added a rear brake. And it was definitely too early; he still mostly braked with his feet, when he did use the brake it was a total lightswitch, and all it really did was bring a rear tire to an early death. But there was no real downside either, and several months on I'm noticing huge improvements in how he's modulating the singular stopper out on the trails.
Light on. Light off. Light on. Light off.
The Crown Gem 12" tire is ubiquitous among 'decent' strider bikes, and the only game in town. Both front and rear have developed big wobbles, but overall they're pretty good at what they do.
But in 2023, a lot of our dadcountry riding isn't on trails - it's at outdoor pumptracks and the North Shore Bike Park, a new indoor facility with pumptracks, jumps, and a park/street section. We spend a couple rainy days a month here; the weather is always the same, and there are food options aplenty.
It's hard for me to believe how recent this photo was, considering what he's riding now. Photo: Deniz Merdano
A's progression has been wild to be a part of. In a year, he's gone from needing a boost over most bumps on the greenest pumptrack we've got, to dropping in from the gate on the BMX track with the "big BIG kids", and riding a lot more mountain bike trails.
Suddenly, we're here. And it's kinda scary... for me.
He certainly doesn't need help on this part of the track anymore - which frees me up to work on my own riding a bit.
We moved closer to the pumptrack, and are both eagerly looking forward to longer days.
Thank goodness Paw Patrol shoes have lights on them.
All this time at pumptracks and the BMX track hasn't been bad for Dad's riding, either. The Evil Faction II is fit for purpose here and I'm significantly more comfortable on jumps than I have been in recent memory. I've improved the gearing by swapping down to a 23t sprocket, but otherwise nothing has changed since I initially wrote about it.
Thanks to the NS Bike Park time, I'm gently venturing back into park and street: quarter pipes are slowly coming back to me; maybe 2023 brings spines back. It's been a while.
I've improved the gearing by swapping down to a 23t sprocket, but otherwise nothing has changed.
This riding is very rewarding. Watching A progress each and every session gives me inspiration to try and do the same. Repetition is the name of the game; over and over and over again, and then slowly bigger and bigger. If you've never spent time on a dirt jumper - or like me, you had one eons ago, finally wiped the dust off and sold it - the NS Bike Park has a full rental fleet. You'll discover two things; firstly that your mountain biking skills don't really translate to the jumps. But your jumping practice will translate the other way to the trails.
Overall in some ways, this feels like a bit of a cop out.
"What's your best ride of the year?"
"ALL OF THEM [with A]!"
But that's it - it's all been a wild ride, and I can't wait to see what 2024 brings. More jumps. More trails. More snacks. More bike friends! Maybe pedals? We'll see!
We've found it's convenient (if not always easy) to use a shotgun style seat on a mountain bike coupled with some Voile straps and a backpack to get to trailheads, and back to donuts.
Bikes are better with friends.
Boys, c'mon. Do some maintenance and get that log out of the way.
A is still learning the basics of trail maintenance - the biggest challenge is getting to and from the worksite now that he's heavy enough carrying him sucks.
Time to fill that bucket back up!
Post-Script
So, here's what happened. I wrote everything above. And then daycare closed for the holidays, we went for a ride, and it took the 2023 Ride of the Year cake* by miles. We went for a ride on High School League - a blue square trail at the base of Mt Seymour. Unsurprisingly, this isn't a big ride for me and my 170mm We Are One Arrival is akin to bringing an Iowa Class Battleship to a fistfight... but if you're 3' tall and on 12" wheels,it's a bit of a different beast.
*sprinkle donuts at United Strangers are our staple aprés snacks
I hope he learns to love these damp dark days as much as I do.
He's learned that uphill isn't as fun as downhill, but it's a necessary component of the experience. (Someone is going to point out this isn't High School... it's Roadside Attraction. It was the only good, recent climb picture I had.)
Stopping for snacks at the top is a primary motivator, as well as reminders about how much fun the downhill parts are. Generally after a few moments of "It's so haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaard." I can motivate him to the next corner, tree, or rock and keep the proverbial train rolling.
WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
You don't really notice these features on a 29'er with 170mm of travel.
Discretion is the better part of valor - learning how to leave features for another day is at least as important as learning to huck.
Comments
mrbrett
1 week ago
I’m a little envious of all the great pics you have of riding with your kids - mine are all sweaty lens unfocussed selfies! I’m on the verge of my youngest outgrowing the MacRide we have cycled through two kids and it will be hard to let go.
At almost seven years of having some sort of a copilot, the day I take those notched headset spacers off it will be a sad one. Surely other people have said “enjoy it while you can” and I’d echo that, because that time really flies.
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Cooper Quinn
1 week ago
There's a mix of three cameras in there: Sony a6400, Sony RX100VI, and cell phone.
I can't believe you're still using a shotgun seat at 7! I feel like I'm already running out of room to fit my kid on there!
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mrbrett
1 week ago
Ah better cameras. I get it. Maybe time to add my Sony alpha to the pack, instead of its nearly forever home on my desk. I’m afraid of breaking it but should be maybe more afraid of not using it.
I’m kinda cheating on the seven years of MacRide/dadcountry front: that’s over two kids. Though my tall and lanky (then) six year old did once sit into a shuttle lap in Golden that I left with a fat lip.
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Cooper Quinn
1 week ago
I won't reveal which photos were taken with which, but but some of my personal faves in this piece were cell phone pics. The trick is to try and find settings to turn down the sharpening/clarity that generally gets (over) applied.
I do also recommend looking at the newer ultracompacts like the RX100, or I had a Canon G5XII for a while I really liked. They're a really nice bridge; WAY better than cell phones, real zooms, and very small/light.
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Znarf
1 week, 1 day ago
As a dad of a two year and two months (eight weeks are night and day in terms of new abilites) old son (whose name also starts A) this will make my article of the year 2024. :)
We also live close to a lovely (though mostly unsanctioned) trail system and I clocked loads of rides here in 2023.
We started to ride our Shotgun seat on hiking trails and the pump track on a tiny strider and it is so much fun.
And challenging in many ways. Bar Mitts and Goggles have been a game changer.
He‘s still a bit too short for a bigger strider, but I‘ve been visiting the Shotgun Dirt Hero for a while.
Could you recommend what inseam/height is necessary for the Dirt Hero? Would you leave the brake off to start with?
cheers
Franz
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Cooper Quinn
1 week ago
Tackling things in reverse order - I'd leave the brake off at first for sure, but I think I was hoping for some queue that he was "ready" which was probably never coming. Add it before you think you probably should - this aligns with comments from the KRS Dirt Hero article here on NSMB.
Inseam wise... I feel ya. A is smallish; we initially had an Early Rider, and I took the seat off and replaced it with foam, and then later found a 3d print saddle file that popped on and was quite neat, and gained an inch and a half of clearance or so. I don't actually know what inseam/height we were dealing with then, or when we got the KRS, though. But you could definitely just take the seat off the KRS - to start with kids are really just walking around with a bike, not actually sitting.
Cold hands are definitely a challenge, especially on the shotgun seat. The best *tiny* kids gloves I've found are ZippyRoos, but they don't make anything terribly warm. But they're real gloves, with cool patterns, that are well made and have held up.
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Unkas
1 week ago
Chiming in on the Dirt Hero here. We finally pulled the trigger in November after a few months of trying to convince myself it's a total overkill, and that it's actually me wanting this cool looking turbo balancer more than my little one needing it. Their December sale convinced me. My daughter just turned three and is pretty tall. We've been doing ok with Zippyroos for the Drit Hero rides, and some generic Amazon scooter pogies for the shotgun seat. Any doubts I might've still had about the Dirt Hero promptly disappeared already during the unboxing. The joy and stoke alone would've been worth it. We live in a pretty nasty winter climate (read, rain, often sideways, 8 days out of the week) so she started riding the thing around the house for the first couple days and you could already tell we were onto something special. But what happened next totally blew my expectations out of the water. We took it to our go-to small town skatepark, which she's been riding quite a bit on her old brakeless 12-inch Norco balance bike, and the level of confidence and speeds she hit on that very first ride were something to behold. It's been almost two months now and I can honestly say this might be the best purchase (bike or otherwise) I've made in my life. She's been riding that thing almost every day, and she is so stoked to take it out any day, any weather. She now confidently rides short green single-tracks (with me scouting ahead) and it's incredible the distances she is able to cover (for a 3-yr old). And the other day she just hit her first blue flow trail - with dad helping her down a few steeper sections of course :) The fun of downhills and skids seems to be enough to make her not mind pushing uphill at all. I'm waiting to hit the wall at some point, but so far, so very good, so keeping the fingers crossed. I realize our experience might not be universal or apply to other kids, but, honestly, I'd buy this thing again in a heartbeat.
Oh, and the ghetto backpack carrier for the Dirt Hero looks so dorky but so works, and totally opens up the option of longer rides.
I guess the thing I'm most grateful for in the outgoing and incoming year is to be parenting in the age of all these cool outdoor parenting gadgets.
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Cooper Quinn
1 week ago
I love how much stoke there is in this comment!
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Andy Eunson
1 week ago
When I see tots on bikes I have hope for the future. I see small groups here in Whistler in the summer. The kids all seem super happy. There will come a time when you and A will be riding at the same pace. That time will last two weeks. Then he won’t want to be caught dead riding with dad.
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Cooper Quinn
1 week ago
Absolutely. I'm looking forward to - and also dreading - this day.
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Deniz Merdano
1 week ago
Rentcountry... Cmon Coop. You know better...
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Cooper Quinn
1 week ago
Its not a housing project.
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Bryce Borlick
3 days, 10 hours ago
Already working on trails, love it
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Znarf
1 week ago
Thanks for the info, very much appreciated!
I am a bit torn right now. I bought an Elvent 12“ Strider bike on a sale a year back. I swapped in some nice kids handlebars a Syntace 30mm stem and my son can ride it now.
It has almost exactly the same geometry as the KRS, but high volume street tires right now. Only thing missing are the knobby tires and the brake.
It is magnesium and incredibly light. Sub 3kg right now.
BUT I can’t mount a brake.
He’s interested in some singletrack riding, but the slick tires don’t work for that. I am sure he’ll come out with us, as my wife and I are both bikers.
I could buy the Vee crown gem tires and end up with a comparable strider to the KRS. But without a brake.
I could also give the current bike to some „roadie“ friends and buy the KRS with the brake.
I can’t really estimate if a brake is a „game changer“ or not.
I’d expect he could ride only rather mellow grades even WITH a brake.
But if the brake was a night and day difference/ would open up a whole level of rideable terrain I’d shell out for the KRS with brake without hesitation.
Trying the one we have already is possible, but the tires would be 40€, which I could also throw toward the KRS…
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Cooper Quinn
1 week ago
Honestly I'd probably keep your powder dry, and save the extra money for a better pedal bike in a year or two? Like sure, there's steeper situations where maybe he wouldn't ride them w/o a brake but.... eh... not worth a WHOLE BIKE upgrade I don't think, unless you just have cash burning a hole in your pocket. You can also go to a pedal bike earlier (assuming he can get the standover) and just pull the pedals and/or drivetrain off to start.
The tire upgrade is worthwhile, though. A quickly outstripped the capabilities of the Vee Speedsters on his previous run bike.
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Znarf
1 week ago
Hey Cooper!
Thanks very much! Your insight is fantastic!
I'll order up some knobby tires and we'll have some fun in the forest. Small bike without crankset and drivetrain is a great idea as well. It's just astonishing how time is fleeting / rapid the changes are with little kids.
I remember him mumbling and crawling through our apartment and now he's running, telling stories and directing me over specific rocks and roots. So far he's loving technical climbs and always encouraging me to go faster :)
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Cooper Quinn
1 week ago
Totally - the progression is insane!
I think gear for staying warm/dry and snacks is more important that bike specifics - you're already on it with weight and recycling Parent's Bike's Old Nice Parts. Fun will be had.
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Velocipedestrian
2 days, 3 hours ago
We removed the cranks, left the square taper BB in place and bolted some table leg feet onto the spindle. This gave the rider pegs for speed coasting.
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Znarf
2 days ago
Cool! Thanks for the help!
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AlanB
5 days, 17 hours ago
Love the pic of the rear wheel. That's got to be the biggest possible rotor diameter to wheel size ratio! On an adult bike that would be like running 15" rotors!!!
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Cooper Quinn
5 days, 9 hours ago
And its a 140mm rotor!
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Shrockie
1 day, 19 hours ago
Love all of these pics! It's so great to get kids stoked on bikes early. The hand brake is so confidence inspiring, it's a shame that many brands overlook them. Our guy never had to learn hand brakes and always felt safe riding since his push bike had a brake. Have fun out there!
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Cooper Quinn
1 day, 12 hours ago
Excluding the odd (and totally normal/healthy) catastrophic meltdown, we're really well at that last part!
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