WeeRide Carrier, and the fun of bicycling with your child

Life has been a little hectic & stressful lately, but we have managed to have a pretty good time! Summer has been creeping in, even though admittedly the nights here haven't felt too summery yet - almost down in the 40s! I'm not complaining, though. Warm days & cold nights are perfectly fine with me.

So, since it's been nice, I try to take our Little Spooky out somewhere every day that I am home from work. A few Sundays ago, we took our new bike seat out for it's first ride. It's a WeeRide Kangaroo Carrier, and boy, is it awesome! My friend has one for her little boy, and we borrowed her bike a few times to use it. After that, we had to get one for ourselves. I was lucky enough to find one completely by chance at the local superstore, out of the box for just $25. Here's our ride:



You can sort of see the WeeRide (it's yellow & blue) in this photo, but I will have to get a better photo of us actually on the bike sometime. Since it sits between your legs, I feel more in control & safe. I like having him right in front of me, because we can talk about what we see while we ride, and I can also steer with one hand and hug him with the other :) Here's a photo of a child in the Kangaroo Carrier from the company's web site, www.weeride.com



Admittedly, the styling of the seat causes you to adjust the way you'd normally ride your bike - you have to pedal with your legs spread apart a bit. But, I agree with the site's FAQ section that addresses this issue. It basically says that a modified pedal stroke is worth sharing the fun of riding with your child. And, it's not like you're going on a major ride with a toddler or anything. It's for fun! Usually he's good for 30 min to an hour, and then he wants to get off and play.


At any rate, there's my satisfied mom endorsement for the WeeRide. If I can offer you two tips, here they are -

-First, understand the way the seat mounts to your bike. I've found that my women's bike has a top bar (the top of the triangle that makes the bike frame) that is too low and slanted. A men's bike is better styled to use this carrier, since they usually have high, level top bars. Also, I had to purchase longer bolts to mount the hardware to my bike, because the top tube was too thick to use the factory bolts it came with.

-Second, I fee like the yellow & blue carrier I have is lacking in padding. Being a crafty person, I may try to fashion some cushioning for the back of the seat. If you're not crafty, I would recommend springing for the Kangaroo LTD, which is much more plush.

And now, a few photos from our most recent bicycling excursion!


This playground is on the bike trail at our city's park.


I took this one of us with a 10 sec timer! Talk about a dash.


We took a whole backpack full of snacks - including pink marshmallows!




Well, that's it for now. If anyone reading this has a WeeRide carrier, I'd love to share photos & stories!