[Mountain Medic]

another brian and I rode the flume trail from Spooner to Tunnel creek Rd last week. Our kids 3 and 3 1/2 rode with us on our wee-ride seats. Overall a great ride.

My daughter and I camped out at Donner while anotherbrian and his son met us the next day to ride the Flume.

My daughter recently went to 2 wheels exclusively. Here she is in the camp tearing it up.

anotherbrian and I and our kids pre-ride poser shot at the bike shop.

Kids hydrating up!

anotherbrian and his son.

His son saying, "I wanna go fast!"

Me and mine

A little break at the top of the hill

Checking out the views of Marlette lake

At Marlette navigating around the water..

Swim anyone?

POV shot

Singletrack

Sierra Sandbox

Nice view

pano

ab and son

happy riders

self portrait

The fireroad down Tunnel Creek Rd had waterbars that were perfect jumps. I think everyone heard our kids screaming with joy as we bombed down that. A little loose with sand in some spots...

All I heard when I slowed down was "Daddy, go faster!!!"

More pictures here

 

[BrandonMiller]

Pretty impressive, that climb was enough for me and I didn't have a kid attached to my bike!

 

[Cary]

Seriously sweet ride.

 

[anotherbrian]

New record set?

I know Mark Davidson has some pics of he/wife/daughter riding the Flume, so Mountain Medic and I certainly weren't the first to do it ... but unless someone posts pics proving otherwise, I'll claim we've set the record for largest Wee-Ride on the trail.

I was keen to do this ride before it got too late in the season and my son had outgrown the seat (I'm sure he is cramped in it now, but he didn't complain). I posted a thread here earlier in the month looking for others to join, and got a few responses. It worked out wonderfully riding with MM ... the kids got along very well, and I think the pace and companionship of having the two kids helped prevent any mid-ride meltdowns (and when my son ran out of Goldfish mid-ride, MM's daughter had some to share).

I could easily lose 40# myself, but hauling that much additional dead weight (okay, live weight -- my son kept trying to turn around to watch the butterflies, or see why we were going so slow) up the fireroad climb to Marlette caused me to sputter out mid-way on the last steep pitch -- it turned out to be harder to push than pedal, sigh.

The ride down Tunnel Creek Rd was a blast ... yeah, bit of sand to slow down for, but you'd be amazed how quickly a rider + kid + heavy bike can get back up to speed.

It's definitely a ride I'd like to do again with other Wee-Riders. The pace can stay mellow, and it is likely a very new experience for the kids. There were others in the last thread who were interested, but needed to plan longer out ... if anyone is up for going, I'd like to start planning.

 

[Cary]

Any idea on how many miles and how much climbing elevation there was on the ride? I am planning on riding the flume late summer with a buddy that is not in great shape you guys have me thinking, it might we worth riding it on the tandem with my 4yo. How bad would it be on a rigid with V-brakes?

 

[Mountain Medic]

I believe the elevation is about 1100 feet of climbing. Mileage is about 14 miles give or take 1.
The climb is in the beginning. Pretty steep at the end of the climb

 

[BrandonMiller]

depends on if you drop down to the road at the end.. don't do it. (well unless you plan on shuttling back)

If you do I did 26 miles and about 3000' of climbing..

 

[anotherbrian]

Here is the profile from my GPS from prior rides.

Drop down the road. Do it. Just have a car/shuttle waiting for you.

 

[Entrenador]

That's awesome. My buddy's about to buy a kiddie seat for his, and the local shop folks say that the WeeRide is flimsy. This flies in the face of what you guys and Dan'ger have shown. Maybe the shop folks haven't done the installation properly???

 

[slide mon]

Awesome ride! I remember Dan'ger showing me his Wee Ride last year. (Hmmm, that didn't sound so good.) Anyway, I checked the specs and my 2 year old was already bumping up against the limit so I passed, but she didn't really gain much weight this year, just got taller. I'm definitely looking for more ways to get her out on the trails but think we missed the boat on the wee ride at this point.

-slide

 

[mrtoadsc]

Congratulations!

I know Mark Davidson has some pics of he/wife/daughter riding the Flume, so Mountain Medic and I certainly weren't the first to do it ... but unless someone posts pics proving otherwise, I'll claim we've set the record for largest Wee-Ride on the trail.

Congratulations! I think you have the record! I really enjoyed the pics and I'm glad that other parents are enjoying the flume trail with their kids.

My wife, daughter and I graduated from the Wee-ride to a trail-a-bike and now our little girl is riding her own Specialized Hot Rock on the Santa Cruz trails. I'm impressed so see a lot more parents riding with their young kids on upper campus.

Here's to a long mountain biking career with your kids! :thumbsup:

--Mark

 

[Dan'ger]

Awesome ride! I remember Dan'ger showing me his Wee Ride last year. (Hmmm, that didn't sound so good.) Anyway, I checked the specs and my 2 year old was already bumping up against the limit so I passed, but she didn't really gain much weight this year, just got taller. I'm definitely looking for more ways to get her out on the trails but think we missed the boat on the wee ride at this point.

-slide

And I'll be showing you my Wee Ride again on Saturday

Any shop grom that tells someone that the Wee Ride is flimsy either has never seen one or has conflicting interests since they don't sell them. There is nothing flimsy about them.

It still stands that parents need to use some caution when riding with their kids, regardless of type of seat or trailer. Riding anything more than smooth, flat, paved trails is not something that a true noobie biker / noobie parent should take on but can easily be done by an experienced rider and the joint experience of rider and Wee passenger.

Mark turned me onto the Wee Ride in an article he wrote for a NorCamba newsletter a few years ago. My daughter and I have been riding together for over a year. Pretty soon, she'll be fighting with her brother for rights to the Wee Ride since he's almost big enough.

If you guys do another Flume Wee Ride trip, I will try hard to make it. It looked like alot of fun!

 

[piaadoll]

OMG! those pics are sooooooooo adorable!! thanks for sharing!!

 

[Zen_Turtle]

Very nice pics.
since you had a GPS could you post the GPX file or a link to motion based for this trail.
I also have a Wee-Ride for my 3 yrs old. We went to Alviso a couple weeks ago but I would look forward to try something in your area in the summer.

 

[Dan'ger]

Very nice pics.
since you had a GPS could you post the GPX file or a link to motion based for this trail.
I also have a Wee-Ride for my 3 yrs old. We went to Alviso a couple weeks ago but I would look forward to try something in your area in the summer.

Wow! Did she actually fall asleep? Mine puts her head down occasionally but hasn't ever slept.

 

[Zen_Turtle]

Wow! Did she actually fall asleep? Mine puts her head down occasionally but hasn't ever slept.

I know, amazing. She took a 20mins nap. That's a pretty flat and groomed fire road though.