We went on vacation last week to McHenry County in Illinois. Grace is now 4 years old, and she loves going out on the bike with me using a Burley Piccolo (a tag-a-long) that has six gears and attaches to my bike frame through a special rack behind the seatpost. Last Monday, she had a busy day hiking with Jen and I through Moraine Hills (I carried her on my shoulders for the last mile) and playing in the pool. That evening I wanted to go for a ride myself, but she begged to go, and I relented. So we got in the car and drove to a point on a bike path, hooked up the tag-a-long and off we went.
We headed through Glacier Park, which is a very beautiful area with a limestone and dirt path and minimal car crossings. The ride is very straight and uniform, the sun was hanging low in the sky, and the evening was warm. After about 3 miles, she started to feel like a loose sack of potatoes back there, so I asked her if she was OK and if she wanted some water. I didn’t get a reply, but I could see that she was sitting up in the rear-view mirror, and occasionally she looked from side to side, so I continued to the end of Glacier Park. At a road crossing there, I stopped and turned around fully: Grace was fast asleep, and yet gripping the handlebars tightly. While I stood there contemplating this turn of events, she gently swayed to one side and the righted herself, all with her eyes firmly closed.
So I did what any loving father would do in that situation, 4 miles from the car on a bike: I took out the water bottle and gave her two good squirts. Grace woke up startled an said, “Daddy, why did you squirt me?” I explained that it wasn’t really a good idea to fall asleep on the tag-a-long, and we really didn’t have any other options other than the bike for getting back before dark. So I turned around and we sang “Wheels on the Bus” all the way home to make sure she stayed awake.
I can totally see my daughter (also a Grace) doing the same thing – she’s three. Her twin sister on the other hand, I can’t see her sitting still long enough to stay on one of those things. I really have to get a couple of those tag-a-longs for our bikes. Hopefully they’re easy to put on and take off.
Most of the tag-a-longs I see mount to the seatpost and have a single bolt or quick-release mechanism to get them on/off. I inherited a Burley Piccolo, and the mounting system is a little more involved – you have to install a special rack over the rear wheel – but once it is done the Piccolo mounts to the rack with just one large bolt.
Give it a try – my Grace is also very fidgety and usually can’t sit still, but when she’s on the tag-a-long she is able to direct the energy into pedaling and actually concentrate.