[Closed] What discipline for an 8 year old ?

As he gets older we reckon he'll choose what he enjoys the most

That's how we've played it, he's done tennis lessons, golf, swimming, cricket, etc, then we did 2 seasons of semi-serious football and now his 'thing' is cycling.

Apparently this weekend is the local village event, last year we had a meltdown pre-event as he took a strop for some reason and didn't want to ride it, it's a 5km event. He ended up then deciding to ride it about 5 mins late after the start and finished 2nd. When he found out it's this weekend he instantly jumped at the chance to go for the win instead lol. Sometimes you can try your best and make it all about the FUN, but they're blokes deep down and have a competitive spirit, so it looks like i'll be chasing him on the 5km and we're out for that. Then probably the Wessex CX series on Sunday.

My youngest had a complete melt down a local town-centre crit event last year. Massive wobbly and refused to race the 1-lap Go-Ride races (too many people). But then he announced at the last minute that he did want to race the proper Cat E race - so a 5 year old in the under 8s. He loved it. Plugging away solidly (on his own!) for 5 (longer) laps 🙂

[url= https://c8.staticflickr.com/1/499/19027390695_b055bb6605.jp g" target="_blank">https://c8.staticflickr.com/1/499/19027390695_b055bb6605.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/uZommg ]Ezra top corner[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/jon_b/ ]Jonathan Bateman[/url], on Flickr

I'm more surprised that Weeksy made it 20 miles than that an 8 year old did 😀 😉 😀

Weeksy- don't listen to the naysayers- it's only Jnr that counts and I think you're balancing it perfectly. You've exposed him to lots of opportunities in a non-forceful way and right here right now, this one has grabbed him a bit- good on you both!!
That it's something you are into is only a credit to your relationship. If it was rubbish- he'd probably hate cycling (and polishing motorbikes 😉 )

Today was very very interesting for the race. 5 miles with 4 significant climbs in there. Straight out of the gate, boom... we're in 2nd place following another kid from his school, well, technically not as the other lad has now moved up to senior school which makes him 11. First climb was tough, the pace they were both going was quite hard... The other lad pulled away, my lad closed back, then repeat. My boy is very much a Contador not a Froome, power, then rest, power, rest... as opposed to the Team Sky, limited power, maximum gains.... But i tell him to cruise a bit and he doesn't really listen.

We got to the top of that one all together and with i'm guessing at least a 1min gap to the next ones behind.. . Down the descent and along, we're all holding position... Hit the next climb... my lad has a heartbreak and meltdown... just too much too hard, breathing crazy and struggling... we eased off a lot and the other guy pulled away... about 50m lead over the crest and then a descent into the next part... My boy held station but it was too big a gap, the other lad pulled away, we're now about 4 miles in and we have i guess a 4-5 min lead on 3rd place so we take it easy, as we get to the last climb, the leader is just a smidgen before the end of the climb, my lad is toast.. really struggled on this climbs, it's about 100m length and a decent 9-10% climb. We had a little meltdown near the top, but fought through it and onto the last descent.. My lad flew down but it was too little too late. Through the village and into the park and it was all over.. 2nd place... He was shattered. That said, i'd worked pretty damn hard myself... on 90% of the ride i couldn't have gone much quicker, but a couple of times of course i could have.
2nd considering the age of the winner and some of the others was brilliant... We were a good 5mins ahead of 3rd place, so got to be happy with the result.

Emotionally my boy is in a good place and happy with 2nd.. he's proud of himself and his result.

It was a bit of a 'race' day/ride rather than a fun day/ride, but it went really well overall.

Were you riding along with him and shouting instructions or does "we" mean "he" and you were watching from the sidelines?

We did the ride together. It was out of the village up onto the Ridgeway, along 3 miles and back to village.

I wouldn't go as far as shouting instructions, we were chatting and I was guiding him with advice as I knew what was coming up next etc.

His comment as tea tonight was that he wasn't bothered about not winning, it wouldn't matter if he came last as it's all about me and him being out riding.

Couple of fairly big crashes today, partly due to loads of kids out there and partly due to the terrain, it's an airfield circuit and they start with about 75-100m sprint into the technical grass section. Couple of comings together and some screaming kids with gravel rash... ouch !

Front 20 are gridded on championship points, but only the under 12s count, the rest is a free for all.

It was a harder race to watch from than the last CX race as the course goes off into the scrublands, but when me and the boy rode it earlier it was brilliant, couple of swoopy bits, droppy bits, uppy bits and round and round bits.. then out over the runway and onto the other side which was a flatter technical section.

Due to the fact that the numbers are not grouped into say '500-599 is 12s, 600-699 is u10's...' etc you have absolutely no idea who's who and who your kid is racing against... Or not... You just watch and give encouragement when he goes past.

I did notice on the last lap he made some great overtakes against 3 kids who looked very like they were in his class... but it's hard to say.

He came back beaming and happy. "I had to stop once for a second daddy as i thought my heart may explode"... i laughed lots with him about that.

Another great morning racing though. Looking forward to XC Rampage next weekend now.

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6th out of 38 in the under 10s class. That's pretty darn impressive. I hate to bang on about him being out aged in his class, but he was only 8 in Aug.

Well that didn't quite go according to plan. Got there in plenty of time, the course was being run in reverse today which made the usual falling off obstacle a little easier actually, so no problems there in practice.

Lined, up, got ready to go and the race began... BOOM, it's a donkey of a start and he's got it all wrong.... lost loads of places and was back in about 15th place. He picked up a few places on the run into the woods. They pop out of the woods and i have to admit he took longer than i expected, but there's not many passing places in there. A couple of overtakes and he's back in the woods....He's lost a lot of ground though and it's quite clear today is not our day to be chasing podiums... He comes home in 8th place. Good thing is, he wasn't phased by that, it's all good and he's happy.

So happy in fact he asks if he can enter the U11's race which comes up next and we rush to get entered and paid, new number and off we go... they're off within 30s of him getting to get line and his start is slightly better... But not massively so... Instead of the 25+ riders who were in the U9's it's only 8 of them for this race and the pace is a LOT higher... The bigger faster 26" bikes along with the bigger faster kids and he's battling nearer the back than the front. It seemed a long 3 laps, with him battling and overtaking the kid in front/behind, he went for the overtake up the start finish and then went in longer grass and lost momentum, but then on the 2nd lap he went past the kid and gapped him, also pulling out a gap on the next rider... Coming home for a nice 6th place finish.

I was very pleased he'd gone out for the 2nd race as i think he was a little disappointed in Race1, so it did him really well to get out and crack on again. It's also helped by the fact he clearly enjoys it, so it's all good.

All in all, not quite the day we'd hoped for.... but a couple of good life lessons for him 🙂

He's now recovered and is back out playing with his mates.

I've cleaned, spannered and lubed his bike and we're all good for next time out.

Today brought a foggy start and a damp track at XC Rampage. We'd discussed tactics, which were "nail it off the start and ride like a crazy guy"

Lined up and BOOM ! he nailed the start, leading into the woods and leading the riders into the technical section.... First part of the job done, it's quite hard to pass in the woods section, so if you lead into it, the odds are, you'll be leading coming back out of it. The time passes quite slowly when you're waiting... then he pops into sight, where was 2nd.... oh, about 4-5 secs behind..... Good lead...

He then cruised a little on the grassy section, the 2 riders behind caught up about 2secs of it... but my lad was off and into the woods again in 1st still.

It was at some stage of the next few mins it all went wrong for him... As a parent, you get to know your kids crying and sobbing noise and we both looked at eachother as we heard a squeal and crying/sobbing.... The riders came out of the woods, but the boy was no-where in sight... Yup, he'd binned it..

He came out of the woods and was still riding, getting on with it despite the fact he was sobbing while riding... I think he finished 6th but we'll wait for results to confirm that.

Lots of tears after the race, he'd not crashed just the once, but twice.... No major injuries apart from a bit of bruising and a battered bit of emotions..

I made him smile at least with a Lego Minecraft toy for doing so well overall.... I was properly proud of him for getting back on and finishing ! Top performance.

That's the end of the series, so it's time to make some decisions as to what happens next. We won't decide that for a little while though as he's away on holiday for half term.

Weeksy - nice report. Hope gets a win.

You must be very proud 🙂

He got 5th. With 2 crashes, that's good!

Also had fastest lap of the race despite it being from a standing start

The big question is... What do we do next... Despite his crashing he still wants to ride and race... So i'm not going to stand in his way.

It seems they've changed the Wessex CX league a little now, so the classes are what i'd consider a bit more user friendly and the U10 and U12's are now split into 2 races... So he'll be racing against U10's which is good.

I'm worried that Gorricks may be a bit too much for him at this age ? A bit too technical.. He can do Swinley Blue, but i'm not sure i'd want to stick him on too many of the red routes.

It's only when you sometimes think about something you realise just how bad things are.

I was thinking after some of his recent crashes, "i wonder how the treads are on his tyres, maybe they're not the most suitable for wet muddy roots"

It was then when i eventually bought the tyres and they arrived i've realised just how unsuitable they are. There's really not much of a tread on there at all.

Sadly only the front fits as there's not enough clearance for the 2.1 on the rear, so i've ordered the same model in a 1.9 to see if that goes on.

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Still struggling with getting my lad into any sort of a cycling club down south.

We're on the waiting list at Palmer Park, but i have no idea how long that is...

We tried Hillingdon, but that's that over subscribed they've even closed the waiting list now.

It's a shame as he really loves the cycling and clearly has an apptitude in a power context, even if not always a 'staying on' context... Would be great to get him riding on a Velo circuit and bike just to see what happens.

We did some Zwift riding yesterday on his Islabike and he was putting out 1.8w/kg for a 5 min effort. HOwever i don't really know how that equates to other 8 year olds.

He's still up for CX racing, but as we're seeing outside, the weather isn't exactly inspiring for getting a young kid out riding.. I could persuade him to ride, but being cold and wet is more likely to put him off riding than inspire him.

Are you near QECP at all? We're at capacity right now, but I, and maybe some other mtb parents are hopefully doing the BC level 1 and 2 coaching courses next year so we will have room to expand then.

Edit - I remember where you are - not that near QECP! 😳

Not a million miles away Yak, certainly close enough to drive down for the right things.

Would you do a weekly club session? I can put you on the list if you want.

Sure, obviously it depends on timings as we're likely to be racing XC/CX on Sundays a fair bit next year, Sat morning is tough as he's got flute....

However, yes, potentially....

If you have a minute, throw me an email please (in profile) and we can discuss the details.

I'm not really sure where the longer term plans are leading us, ut he's still enjoying the cycling and wants to get out.... even Sunday in the lashing rain he could have easily been persuaded to play CX racing... but i was less inclined to make him 😀

Is your lad entering the Reindeer Dash on Dec 9th in Woking? Charlottesville rascals xc race

Not heard of it Natrix, but i'll certainly have a google.

Seems to be 10th 🙂

I'd highly recommend a local bmx club. The skills learnt on bike handling easily translate to any other bike.

Plus a lot of clubs are floodlit, run proper training sessions and bikes/kit need not be silly expensive.

Bmx ers make great mtb ers.

Worth looking at local clubs/tracks near you.

I raced a lot as a kid, I'm sure my parents enjoyed it more than me sometimes. I eventually gave it up and played football just for a change after 8 years or training and racing. Hence I'm pretty laid back with what my kids want to do, they can all ride but it's always social based riding.

Map of UK bmx tracks:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=z4JARLW3g6t0.kPhkdYnz-0xE

First night ride for my 8 year old tonight. Me and one of the lads are going out what is now our regular 30 miler for Fri evening, so we're taking my lad out for the first 6-7 miles as a gentle intro ride.

I've told him if he enjoys it and does well, we'll go longer next weekend.

Hi Weeksy,

What Wellgo pedals are those? My 8 yo could do with something better than the pedals which came with her Beinn 24, those look not to stupidly big and lethal! 🙂

Thanks.

Sorry for the delay. They're just V8 copies.

Could do with a few ideas today please all.

Spent the morning over at Brechfa Forest today... I was quite impressed. We only did the Blue and the Green routes as we had the small boy today, but they were pretty good i have to say. It's quite a 'rural' place, it's not true natural trails as they're semi man-made, but because of the terrain and the location, they feel quite natural too.

My lad struggled slightly with both the elevation and the rocky terrain and also mostly the cold, it was only showing 1deg so it was a bit on the wrong side of chilly.

You'd have laughed lots today, sitting on a tree stump with me putting my lads foot in my mouth full of sweaty sock so I could hot potato is back to life! He was getting all emotional about how cold his feet were, so I was rubbing them warm and doing the hot potato thing. Looking back now, it must have looked proper crazy.

He does get some looks though when we're doing this sort of stuff, its quite extreme for your average 8 year old.

At times, its hard and I forget just how tough some of the things I ask him to ride must be on a small wheel rigid bike with rim brakes!

So the question is... what do i do for him to make things better ? I know from all of our perspectives, Brechfa is fine on a nice FS bike... but imagine trying it on a 24" rigid LOL

He's still too small for even an XS adult bike, but if we keep doing tricky stuff, a bit of bounce would help i think.

Reading more, the Isla beinn has a 1" ahead steerer, can someone tell me what that means exactly please? Its not a term I've heard before.

But would imply these may fit ?

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.SR-Suntour-XCT-V4-V-80mm-Travel-26-x-1-Suspension-Fork-2016_89721.htm?sku=310360&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=google_shopping&gclid=Cj0KEQiAv4jDBRCC1IvzqqDnkYYBEiQA89utomzUCCZAHa-iv6Pyb_ZNOPF5Er7fU1BS6nmGolEPKwQaAssI8P8HAQ#

Give him a bmx; send him to the dirt jumps or the skate park. That way he'll learn how to ride a bike properly

davidtaylforth - Member
Give him a bmx; send him to the dirt jumps or the skate park. That way he'll learn how to ride a bike properly

I think by the fact he's winning xc races and racing Gorrick xc events we can assume he can ride a bike properly. But of course I get your point, however the world isn't quite that simple is it? How do you think it will go with him hitting a skate park without any reasonable tuition? I suspect A&E would be very soon after. Skate parks are smooth and the same lap after lap, whereas a trail center is different every inch with rocks, roots, leaves, mud, puddles.

We did look into bmx down here and there's a school /club in Andover, but I'm not sure why that seems to be the answer to some. Being a good jumper doesn't necessarily mean he's got all the right tools for xc or CX for example ? I'm curious as to why this seems a default answer for some?

I was going to take him on a day with Jedi, but in fairness I think its a bit early on for that.

I don't want to scare him away, pressure him out of loving riding, we bond massively with our riding and its all about fun for us, I'm not losing that.

Racing round a muddy field is just racing round a muddy field.

Time on the bike is what teaches you how to ride properly. This is generally easier with a bmx as it can be done from the front door.

Depends if he enjoys it that much? I mean BMX is a proper hobby, like skate boarding. Kids do it everyday. Does he care about riding a bike that much? Maybe he just enjoys doing it with you at the weekends?

I mean I guess you could get him full susser, but how often would he get to ride it? Just at the weekends with you? That's not really often enough to progress quickly.

It's easier to learn stuff when you're younger for sure, plus you heal quicker if you damage yourself.

Take Harry Main for example, I remember him shredding liverpool skatepark as a child, now he does things you wouldn't think possible on a bike. I don't think he'd be troubled by wet roots at a trail centre

So the question is... what do i do for him to make things better ? I know from all of our perspectives, Brechfa is fine on a nice FS bike... but imagine trying it on a 24" rigid LOL

Stop being tight and get him one of [url= http://carbonxscycles.com/ ]these[/url] 😀

Thanks for the reply DT.

Acessibility wise BMX is a LOT trickier than XC. Distance, time etc

I also am not convinced it's something you just 'jump on' at 8 years old without any experience and expect to get anything other than injured. For us, the nearest BMS training is Andover, which is a 3 hour round trip assuming 1 hour lesson, Newbury is a 9 mile trip, still 30 mins each way by the time you park etc. XC Riding is something he/we can do straight out of the door, it's instantly accessible to us and he seems to enjoy himself (when he's not cold)

Whilst yes he's racing round a muddy field, doing Brechfa/Swinley and Gorrick is a fair bit more than just racing round a field, it's techincal riding with terrain and inclines in both directions.

I do accept we need to work on his skill levels though, no argument there from me.

Worry about the warmth not the bike. Getting cold is a sure fire way to spoil enthusiasm. Get more appropriate clothing, tights waterproof socks and shoes etc. Aged 15 I was riding stuff on a rigid canti braked bike that I would be scared to walk down 20 years later 😳 so I sure aged 8 he'll be fine with what he has. Plus suspension (esp cheaper suspension) doesn't work well and adds weight.

Edit. Also he'll be too light to compress springs, even with air forks sub nine stone is hard to set up right

Agree on the warmth, bit of a schoolboy error of being underprepared as we were over in St DAvids at the MiL's, not at home, so we ended up slightly caught short... he had the tights and warm gloves, but the sock department was slightly lacking i have to say... I was impressed with his character 🙂

What shoes does he wear? I wind/waterproof my cycling shoes with careful application of duck tape. Makes a massive difference to foot temperature

I have just bought my lad a bmx, he doesn't need to go to a full on bmx track to have fun on it! The handling skills etc that he will build up by just dicking about on it (all day everyday since Christmas) will pay huge dividends at some point, if not screw it he has having a laugh on his bike!!!

I think it is amazing that he is out riding these trail centres but do think you should have thought ALOT more about the conditions before going out! It is ok to recognise after the fact and talk about buying a new bike but he still had a bloomin uncomfortable time, a couple of those and he may decide it is all a bit shyte!

airwalk skate with Wellgo v8

[url] http://www.hargrovescycles.co.uk/bikes/kids-bikes/cube-kid-240-black-2017-kids-bike-82100024.html [/url]

Just sorted one of these to give a quick opportunity so we have a suspension bike as a choice. We'll plan on taking both to Swinley at the same time for back to back tests.

Picked up the cube today and my lad was instantly happier, quicker and more confident on it than on the Isla around Swinley. So much so, he was even troubling a few grown ups. Not sure if its the suspension that's helped, the riser bars or the reach, but he's happier. He was flying down the big bermy blues towards the end of Blue.

Been debating what happens with the Isla now, do we keep it and use for xc rampage races? Keep it and use for CX? Don't really know. I think if I fit some fast small block rubber on for the xc races he'll still go fast enough but also have the confidence to tackle anything tricky too.
If he wants to take on CX I guess we could use the money from the Isla to put in for a dedicated CX bike.

At the moment, its winter, so its all about swinley fun for him and me.

Well thanks to an epic day at Forest of Dean (forest of Doom he calls it now) along with his new found confidence on the CUBE, we've now entered him for his first Enduro race

http://pedalabikeaway.co.uk/product/mini-enduro-races/

Thanks to Taff and his boy...

Should be an absolute blast for the boy i rekon.

Today was one of them days that just go down in history as epic... Epic beyond all comprehension.

We all hooked up for some fun on the trails at the forest of dean. My lad on his fairly new CUBE and me on the Parkwood. From the get-go my lad was cracking on and riding really well, Taff showing us some cool trails. We stopped at a little skills section with some northshore type drops and sections. Now they may not look as epic to you as they were to me and him, but as soon as the adults had ridden them my lad looks at me "can i do it daddy?".... Sheesh... it's 12-14" vertical drop and quite easy to bash your cranks on a small bike, go over the bars and be in a world of trouble.

We looked over it, discussed the riding style, bum back a bit, jump off it as you would a kerb, keeping pedals level... etc.. He attacked it... Woosh... no problem... "again again"..... So he did it 3-4 times.
Lots of laughs and jokes and he's having a ball.

His hill climbing is still great, but since getting the new bike his confidence has gone up by tonnes... he's now hitting stuff and i'm thinking "Damn, are you really doing that ! ! " Proud doesn't do any justice to how i felt.

We ended up at a Bombhole and Taff and his lad do it... my boy looks at me "ok?".... Why not... he's then launching the jump, trying to get his position right and get some air time... Just awesome...

We did Blues and Reds, reds are normally above his pay grade, but he absolutely made mincemeat of them... a couple of crashes on wet muddy roots didn't put him off, just attacking trails and as soon as he saw something he could launch off, he was on his way.... He did a proper tricky red around Spooky Woods with some Northshore and then a small (but scary for 8 years old i bet) rock garden like they barely even registered as techincal ! Just flying through it and cracking on with laughs...

After we'd finished he went out with Taffs lad, came back laughing "we did some more reds daddy...." sometimes all you can do is smile and feel the warm glow of happiness.

Brilliant day out and great to make a few new friends... Just epic !

Crust launching
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Fraction too late on the camera for my lad
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Well that's cool... That's his first entry in for Enduro this week, along with the first of the season for him in Southern XC series for Wasing (Aldermaston) in March. Hopefully now we're getting his skills sorted so it will all be down to his power and speed. Catagory is good too as it's U9's, which means he should be at the right end of the age group too. With XC Rampage he's going to be giving some 18months due to how they work it.

My lad's done a number of the FOD mini enduros great little races for many reasons.
They tend to do it per school year and sometimes if numbers are lower for a particular year will combine two years together. It's a time trail like proper enduros and the course is great, quite long, with two short sections with a slight incline where pedalling comes into play. It finishes in spooky woods after the northshore and rock garden section prior to that.
They do podiums afterwards near the centre. Great value and well organised.

Bloody hell I remember that bombhole from the 90s!

We may go nuts and hire this for race day...

[img] [/img]

It's only £30 for the morning and gives him better bouncy bits along with better brakes. Only minor issues are trigger shifters instead of grip shifters, he's used triggers, but preferred gripshift. 2nd consideration is whether a 14" frame will be too big for him or the right size... But we can try that on Saturday when we drop in there.

[VIDEO]

Well my lad struggled today out there, in simple terms, he just didn't have the power/performance, even from the very start he was struggling. We plodded on and tried some decent technical riding, but his heart just wasn't in it.

This is Swinleys little rock jump, which about 4/10 people who ride it don't do it, plenty skipped it when we were watching/practicing... But the boy just went for it, nailed it, nailed it, nailed it, lol. He then did tank traps about 6 times as he was struggling with a few bits, but the roots/rocked on some entry points he really did will with ! Attacking and nailing them.

All in all... a good/bad day... but we pulled the plug before he got unhappy and didn't enjoy it.

Enduring race day, forest of Dean! It's all exciting. My lad has his new KTM mx Jersey on for the race.

A few changes at the moment with plans as he's now been picked for tryout sessions and training with the royal philharmonic for his flute playing, the first one clashes with the southern xc series race at Wasing park. So he's going to have to skip the race. As much as his flute playing doesn't interest me, he's clearly a talented lad at it as he keeps getting upgrades, got given a new flute by his school etc, so I'm not one to hold him back.
Hopefully not too many other clashes after that.

But. Let's go have fun!

Have you a mtb club in the area?

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Soccer Dads rule OK 😆

My boy really enjoyed his day, couple of practice crashes and one in the race at Spooky Woods, but didn't dent his enjoyment of the event at all.

We didn't make the podium, but i didn't expect a podium finish in all honesty. So was just fun to be out there riding 🙂

Massive thanks to Taff and his boy.... Looked after us both brilliantly 🙂

After this weekend and my boy ending up stuck in the granny ring, partly through his shifter stopping working correctly and partly as he was being a bit, well, a bit 8.... So he forgot that he shouldn't be spinning like a loony and he should be using power too.

SO i thought i'd remove the shifting from the discussion and he'd go 1X

Many of the kids bikes these days are 1X and whilst it MAY give him an issue in some circumstances, i think he'll be just fine with it. What i didn't expect was the MASSIVE weight difference.

I've removed 1.5kf from the bike and only added back in 450gr ! So we're 1kg lighter than before starting the work.

Just waiting on a new chain to arrive and we'll be good to go 🙂

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The good thing is that this may save me spending £650 on a Whyte 403 for him !

Chain all done, ready for testing when he gets back from deepest darkest Wales 🙂

Weeksy..you are near Thatcham right? We should meet up sometime. My lad is only 6 but it might be good for him to see how a slightly older boy does it....I'll even let you sit on a proper motorbike if your good!!

Yup, not a million miles from Thatcham, 15 mins or so. We're free lots, so just lob me a mail/message etc 🙂
One sunny weekend you could come over here if you like, the boys can play on the green as they do every weekend, lots of cycling/scootering, we've got 7 kids in the close varying in ages from 5-9.

Weeksy..you are near Thatcham right? We should meet up sometime. My lad is only 6 but it might be good for him to see how a slightly older boy does it....I'll even let you sit on a proper motorbike if your good!!

I've got a 7yr old who'd love to ride with some other kids if either of you venture over towards Swinley...

Unless he has a race (or the weather looks astoundingly better on a Saturday) we are usually at Swinley Sunday's - we usually do the blue-red loop or variations from it repeating a few favourite runs and stopping for a sandwich lunch at some point

If anyone wanting to ride with kids drops me a pm we can swap mobiles and meet at the bike hut or trail head?

Last week we stopped here and rode it about 15 times.... whilst he practiced the drop-offs (and keeping his front wheel up)

Then also looped around Red 25 3 times
(Warning shaky but just to give you an idea of the riding - I left a long gap because if he comes off I don't want to land on top of him)

Swinley next weekend with them?

Sunday is rugby for a few more weeks but then will be free.

We'll be free next weekend ... Saturday is possible as well at the moment.
In a couple of weeks I'll be working a few weekends.. 🙁

We were at Bedgebury, Kent yesterday for a under 8's XC and then did a few runs of a more technical run with one of the other families and he had so much fun we forgot to go back for the presentation and he had to go and collect his medal after the presentation. We had to call it a day early as we'd not taken any jacket and it got cold and started raining.... (jacket forgotten due to trying to get 7yr old into car in order to do 1.5 hr drive before 9:30 am for registration ... )

Today we only did an hour or so at Swinley ....

Sat about 11am work then?

I'm having an internal debate, along with a discussion with Mrs Weeksy regarding the cycling thing.

Yesterday me and the lad went out, bit of a generic XC/Ridgeway ride... As always he got a little competitive and the "I'll race you to..." which i always oblige him with a bit of a race and push him a bit 🙂

But the debate currently is regarding what do we do in the grand scheme of things... Do we do a fair bit more racing, or do we just stick mostly to messing about? He's a quick lad and last year in XC Rampage was often running away with the races before throwing it into the floor (which we've hopefully resolved with some skills, bike changes etc).
Recently he did an XC race, which had 3-4 of his usual adversaries in the field but this time he was off the pace... I'm inclined to think it was a lack of training... but he's only 8 ! Training brings a certain level of seriousness, both in a training context and in a racing context. I'm 50-50 on wether we should train more, race more, ride more... Or whether we just accept it and say head to Swinley for a mess about instead.

From chatting to him, he certainly enjoys the racing, but i just don't know what way to proceed with it. If i bring up the suggestion of the race this weekend, he will without doubt be up for it... but equally he'd be up for heading to Swinley, riding and then climbing in the castle lol.

I'll tell you my story, read across as you see fit.

Was there a year or two ago with my daughter / basketball (she's 11 now, was 9 at the time). She is really very good - her club coach is also assistant at England / GB, head coach for the SE region, etc., and that's her feedback so it's not just parent opinion. Her technical ability is such that she can do most of the skills that are 'required' for Reg/Nat girls from the U14/16 age group, so stuff like shooting form, lay ups, dribbling both hands, crossovers, jab steps, stutter steps, eurosteps, etc.

But playing against other U10's - most of her peer group aren't of the same level; and against boys she was suffering (sadly) from not getting passed to because 'she's a girl' and doesn't have the maturity to deal with it or overcome it. She could just about manage at girls U12 level, although girls being girls some are young women at that age and the difference shows in strength, height and speed. As a result she got very disillusioned and end result is that she has fallen out of the program. She still plays socially down at the skate park a bit, or in the back yard with me, but that's all we do - play for fun.

At first I agonized that 'losing' a year would be a big set back, but actually I realized I was in danger of being that pushy Dad we all hate and if she lost all enjoyment then she'd quit completely. So we accepted it. And another coach from another age group 'applauded' us for it. She's an ex- Danish International, so clearly good enough and she didn't even start playing until she was 12. She pointed out that if she's already technically U14/16 standard of skills, she's already years ahead of her game, and the experience of game situations is something you never truly master, but that it would come quickly when she restarted.

She'll be a true U12 next year, and will also be able to play at school when she goes up to secondary next year, and it's looking like she wants back in next year.

Like I said - read across. My 2p - let him be a child, but keep him active in the sport in the way he wants to be. He has years yet before he needs to be 'serious' about it, and the kids that beat him currently because their Dad insists they do turbo sessions every night will be the ones that burn their bib shorts as soon as they're old enough to stand up to their parents because they've been forced to do it.

Recently he did an XC race, which had 3-4 of his usual adversaries in the field but this time he was off the pace... I'm inclined to think it was a lack of training... but he's only 8 ! Training brings a certain level of seriousness, both in a training context and in a racing context. I'm 50-50 on wether we should train more, race more, ride more... Or whether we just accept it and say head to Swinley for a mess about instead.

The difference seems to be duration which is totally different to having fun on a family ride so training specifically for a 10-15 minute event is obviously different to a 4 hour ride and some fun.

I think the social aspect at races can also be really good and he really likes riding with other kids as well as with me. I'm not superfit but obviously he can't realistically compete against me and he'll push much harder when another kid is available.

[b]So my plan at the moment is as much fun as possible but then to take some time out whilst doing family rides for 10-15 minute laps on less technical trails and also to take time out to do fun/technical stuff on the same ride.[/b]

I don't really like the idea of [b]just [/b]doing competition and training for competition at their age...

Open for Gorrick this weekend but 8.55am start seems like a challenge (assuming they are OK letting my 7yr old in the 8-11 age group)

Like I said - read across. My 2p - let him be a child, but keep him active in the sport in the way he wants to be. He has years yet before he needs to be 'serious' about it, and the kids that beat him currently because their Dad insists they do turbo sessions every night will be the ones that burn their bib shorts as soon as they're old enough to stand up to their parents because they've been forced to do it.

He got back after a race on Saturday and [b]insisted [/b]on going on the turbo's.... I probably shouldn't have let him but it was a deal if he did his homework...and I wanted him to do his homework Saturday so it wasn't hanging over riding Sunday...

For me at least Weeksy might say different this is a bit about how supportive we are with the racing... my kid has done nothing but want to race since he saw the Solent Pirates at Swinley... 2 years ago and its been more me holding him off until this year than anything.

The rest I all agree with, it's important to let them be a kid and being pushy more likely to turn them off than improve them. I just feel at the moment I'm putting brakes on and it's a question of how much to put the brakes on when he wants to race.

I guess the question is, do you want him to place better or does he??

If it's coming from him, then you need to be ready to apply the brakes a bit as Stevextc says but if it's not- i.e. he enjoys racing but isn't bothered where he finishes then the decision is up to you isn't it.

You can show him what he needs to do to get fitter and let him decide how much he wants to do.

We obviously don't have an issue with Freddie yet but it will come, probably in horse riding I expect, so we've talked about it a lot and that's going to be our guide I think- does he want it for himself or just to appease us.

I've mentioned before my friend from up north with the kid who's a sponsored MX rider.
The little guy is obsessed and has been for years- he caught him watching DVD's of an old race the night after he'd been racing.
When told to turn it off his reply was "but Dad, I need to improve on my lines for next week!"

The other sticking point in my thoughts about it, is far more successful athletes have been heavily involved in their sport since childhood than not.
So you need to decide what potential he has too and where it lies. If devoting hours each week riding his bike costs him being a world class musician then it may be time wasted?

If you think he's good then you could get a coach to assess him?

I see a few of the kids in his class in the full Lycra, i also saw them when i went to a CX race with Crosshair, i think every event i attend even to spectate they're there LOL.
But that's the worrying aspect for me, is it the be all and end all.... If it then becomes a chore is it worth all the hassle... the answer is of course NO.

But i don't want to sit there in 3-4 years and think "damn, i should have pushed him harder"..

If devoting hours each week riding his bike costs him being a world class musician then it may be time wasted?

If you think he's good then you could get a coach to assess him?

This bit is where we have a minor conflict of interests between me and Mrs Weeksy.
My lad is doing a concert with the Royal Philharmonic at the Hexagon in a few weeks time, people are actually paying £7.50 a ticket to watch him/them. I get the impression from his flute tutors that he's not quite a world beater for his age, but pretty talented.
The conflict came up because he does flute on Weds and Sat, but Sat he has the option of the Reading Velo club, which may have spaces, we've been waiting for 6 months for some to come up for him. But we can't do both as they're at the same time.

I don't think he's a great rider techincally... in fact i'm 100% sure in a technical context there are many many riders out there better, but he's a strong and powerful little fella and when he's on form, or training better depending how you look at it, he's very quick for his age group.

weeksy - have you got a club nearby? I know you were asking about our lot a while back, but being QECP based are we a bit too far away? If not, come along! I know you see my 2 racing a lot, but really there's lots who come to club nights but never race. It's just a fun skills and social club night for a lot of kids really - they all get on well together, enjoy learning things and pushing themselves on the trails. None of it feels like 'training' - more a fun evening out.

ah - posted before you posted yours about Reading velo...

I see a few of the kids in his class in the full Lycra, i also saw them when i went to a CX race with Crosshair, i think every event i attend even to spectate they're there LOL.
But that's the worrying aspect for me, is it the be all and end all.... If it then becomes a chore is it worth all the hassle... the answer is of course NO.

But i don't want to sit there in 3-4 years and think "damn, i should have pushed him harder"..

The thing is, in many cases, the obsession will be coming from the kids!!
I'd never really encountered it in my upbringing but when Sally was working at the Prep school there were one or two kids there who were scarily focussed for their age!!! The parents didn't have your dilemma- those kids were gonna do it even if they had to run away from home and do it themselves!!!

I know you were asking about our lot a while back, but being QECP based are we a bit too far away?

Problem with your one came not from distance, but again, was Saturdays... so the conflict.

We were going to come one weekend but your lass cancelled due to the weather, i then didn't hear anything back at all from her regarding it.
I'm still more than up for the evening ones you guys had running, i'm out of work by 3pm each day so easy to make the jaunt down.

The thing is, in many cases, the obsession will be coming from the kids!!
I'd never really encountered it in my upbringing but when Sally was working at the Prep school there were one or two kids there who were scarily focussed for their age!!! The parents didn't have your dilemma- those kids were gonna do it even if they had to run away from home and do it themselves!!!

Never going to get that from my boy... he's far too laid back. The only sodding thing he's that crazy about is Pokemon 🙂
If i suggest a ride/race he'll jump at it... there's no question he enjoys is and always seems to have fun at the events and the riding.. but he's not the sort of kid who'll be the pushy one in that context about it (wrong terminology i know, but i think you get what i mean)

Ok - I'll look into it.

I didn't mean to say that you should discourage them in any way - quite the opposite. If they want to race, compete, take up world level origami - your role as a parent is to support them in that. But remember first and foremost these are (small) children we are talking about - not even early teenagers yet - and be prepared that one or two bad experiences and they might suddenly decide they don't want to do it at all. At that point don't make my mistake and 'force' the issue, be ready to step back and then be ready to go again as and when they want to.

And above all - you (we) had your chance to turn pro 30 years ago. You didn't because you weren't good enough and didn't try hard enough. But as tempting as it is to now live your dreams through your kids - you can't; it's their life and their choice to make. Yes, world beaters like the Williams sisters were on court for hours and hours at the age of 5, but how many other kids did the same, never got anywhere, and missed out on being kids as a result.

I didn't mean to say that you should discourage them in any way - quite the opposite. If they want to race, compete, take up world level origami - your role as a parent is to support them in that. But remember first and foremost these are (small) children we are talking about - not even early teenagers yet - and be prepared that one or two bad experiences and they might suddenly decide they don't want to do it at all. At that point don't make my mistake and 'force' the issue, be ready to step back and then be ready to go again as and when they want to.

And above all - you (we) had your chance to turn pro 30 years ago. You didn't because you weren't good enough and didn't try hard enough.

Sort of ... but albeit different sports than cycling but [b]what I remember[/b] my parents not supporting me... I'm sure there is a big gap between what I remember and reality but my memories are being beholden to other parents to get me to competitions and races.
Perhaps I'm over compensating....

But as tempting as it is to now live your dreams through your kids - you can't; it's their life and their choice to make. Yes, world beaters like the Williams sisters were on court for hours and hours at the age of 5, but how many other kids did the same, never got anywhere, and missed out on being kids as a result.

Funny you mention that.... I forget the name but their was a girl who went to Oxbridge at 11 (or thereabouts) who was [b]also [/b]a top tennis player and ended up running away to become a prostitute.

what I remember my parents not supporting me...

Again - if they want to, make it your job to be as supportive as you need to be, no more, no less.

There may come a time when you have to up it a bit, to force them out of the door on a sunday morning for a four hour steady recovery ride when they don't want to go. Or to give up a late night with your mates because you have to take them to the swimming pool at 5am. But that'll be when you know it's serious, not as an eight year old.

.And above all - you (we) had your chance to turn pro 30 years ago. You didn't because you weren't good enough and didn't try hard enough. But as tempting as it is to now live your dreams through your kids - you can't; it's their life and their choice to make. Yes, world beaters like the Williams sisters were on court for hours and hours at the age of 5, but how many other kids did the same, never got anywhere, and missed out on being kids as a result

Absolutely. Hence my posts on here. I'm trying to gauge from you guys who've experienced children before what is the best plan, or not plan etc.

I watched a movie about the junior TDF, I think they were all late teens, cracking cyclists, out of the top 10, I think it was only Pinot who's name any of us would recognise now from racing. None of the rest ever made it as cyclists.

I want to give my lad the best childhood possible, it just so happens he likes cycling too.
I got a mail from Yak's school and we'll be heading down to QECP for some fun.

Steve; I only met you once but you seemed pretty level headed and that at this age it's just supposed to be fun.

Be there for whatever he wants to do - if he likes racing let him, in the meantime just go riding; from other threads it'll do you good too. Spend some time going at his pace, ride difficult stuff again and again and get better at it. And spend some time seeing if he can keep up with you, just going a bit faster than he naturally would. It's not training but it'll be broadly equivalent to sweet spot training if you gauge it right, and'll just be racing Dad to him.

It'll only be a few years before he'll be pacing you while you try and keep up.

In his dreams 😆

I'm not past it yet. The days he tries to win is the day he face plants

Weeksy, I guess it depends on your definition of 'best childhood' doesn't it. Being allowed to indulge in a passion for cycling and get pushed and challenged beyond your boundaries and obtain a massive sense of self-pride, determination and discipline could be equally as good as being allowed to do whatever you fancied that particular weekend- even if it sometimes meant riding when he initially didn't feel like it.
The guys from the TdF documentary may not have made pro cyclists but it doesn't mean that Cycling didn't impact their life for the better.

My wife and I probably had the two polar extremes. Her father was a Marine General with a passion for running. Family holidays were spent in midge infested Scottish bogs on Orienteering competitions.

Mine were spent daydreaming around the farm doing as I fancied (usually not a lot) but definitely not being pushed and driven to achieve my potential.

The end result? She is way more determined than I am. Way more focussed, driven, passionate and single minded.
Now obviously she hates orienteering- and would rather do anything else than that on a spare day but I don't think it's fair to say it was a waste of time.

I suppose what I'm trying to get at is, life skills are transferable. Whether he carries on XC racing a month, a year, a decade or becomes a British gold medalist at it, that is not a reflection of what it's given him.

Also, it's all quality time together too. If you want him to be a chilled, friendly, kind, generous, relaxed kind of guy like you then perhaps firing him up to be a cut-throat racer isn't such a good idea anyway 😉

I'm not past it yet. The days he tries to win is the day he face plants