For those of you who road trip with your kids (mine is 11 years old), how many miles do you typically cover in a day? I use a BackRider harness to keep him strapped to me in case he were to fall asleep. He regularly rides short trips (~30 miles), and we did our first overnighter last summer. We covered ~200 miles each way. He was exhausted by the time we got to our destination, but did great in the saddle. He was in great spirits the whole time. We use a two-way comm to bullshit to avoid boredom, which isn't much of a risk because he loves riding as much as I do. Whenever we go somewhere, it's "Can we take the bike?!?"

I'm planning on taking him on a 4 day trip this summer, and I want to plan the route to cover as many miles as possible without wearing him out to the point that he's not having fun. My thoughts are 200-250 miles per day MAX based on how he did last time, but I'd appreciate feedback from those of you with more experience riding 2-up with your spawn.

Thanks!

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2018 Road Glide Special

 

We spend a lot of time river running...canoe, kayak, raft. In that, shorter is fine. You can always stretch out a trip, but once 'are we there yet' or falling asleep comes, not a lot you can do.

Utah, big state but lots to see. I would suggests close destinations to start. Your 200 miles would probably be good if broken into shorter segments. At that age, my kid was good for an hour...hour and a half. Now pushing 14, he is good. Like your kid, he loves it.

My suggest is hit some great destinations as much as plan to cover lot of miles. Stretch stops frequently. Do not have to be long. Bring him a camera to watch for and take pics.

Kudos to you for the effort to include and not leaving him behind. Going to ask my kid and chime in again if he tells me anything....

 

My first long road trip with my daughter was when she was 10. We rode from Utah County to Billings, MT wth an overnight stop in Cooke City. She was a trooper! We left late, got to Cooke City WAY late and froze our butts off in Yellowstone. But the next day, riding over Beartooth made it all worth it.

On the return trip, we woke up early after being up late and she struggled to stay awake for a while. I didn't have BackRider harness of which you speak. Sounds awesome. We stopped in Livingston and bought a tie down strap. Getting off the bike and eating some swedish fish woke her up and she was fine for the rest of the ride to Idaho Falls that day.

Since then, she has joined me on numerous long rides, including a 48/10 Ironbutt (she made the video in my signature) and a 50CC.

My other kids have also joined me and they all do at least as well as the adult passengers. They love getting out. They take lots of pictures and it's fun for them to see new places (even if they do order spaghetti at every restaurant).

 

Thanks for the replies and advice. I'm feeling more comfortable about a longer trip. The idea of putting them in charge of the camera is a good one. I've planned a ride for June to ride through Bryce Canyon, Escalante, Glen Canyon, with a ride on the ferry from Halls Crossing to Bullfrog mixed in. This weekend we're going to do a shorty through Valley of Fire to Hoover damn. Going to trailer the bike down to Mesquite so he doesn't turn into an otterpop on the way South. I'll post pics and a report.

The BackRider harness is awesome. We only use it on rides longer than 20-30 miles, but it gives me a greater sense of security about him nodding off and slipping to one side or the other. He's only dozed off once, and all I felt was his helmet hit my back. His upper body didn't move an inch. Highly recommend it for youngin's.

Thanks again.

 

I'd love to take my daughter on a road trip, but my wife would be a nervous wreck the entire time we're gone. I suppose if anything happened I'd never forgive myself either.

 

I never encourage people to ride with their kids. That's a personal choice. That said, there is inherent danger in almost every outdoor activity kids do. Growing up, several of my friends had serious accidents. One died in a dirt bike crash in the sand dunes, another had a serious brain injury that left him disabled. Both wearing helmets. When I was 13, another friend broke his neck cliff diving at Lake Powell. If you plan your routes carefully and ride defensively, you can decrease risk quite a bit. I've made some amazing memories with my son like the pics below, and he has the same love for riding I do. He'd rather be on the bike than play XBox, which is pretty rare these days.

 

Nice pics. I can imagine the fun you guys had. I'm going to have to give it some serious thought.

 

What a great example you're setting. Our kids need to know that they're important to us, and that we enjoy spending time with them. Those are some great pics.

I've done some great trips, but it's hard to beat the one where I got my daughter on the back and said, "You tell me where to turn and I'll go that way." We ended up camping at Wasatch Mountain State Park.

 

That's a great idea. I'll have to try that on one of our future trips. When we do day rides, I usually let him chose which loop we take, but he'd probably love picking out a overnighter.

 

I have a couple I ride with and she is very petite...not much bigger than an 11 year old. I've noticed her dozing off and almost falling off the back seat. I've suggested she use bungees or quick release straps to tie herself to the bike but I'll have to tell them about that harness....