CHIPS OFF THE OLD BLOCK
Ride to escape from the family, or escape with them? It’s the existential question many of us ask ourselves as our lives unfold, as well as the sequel to a story I wrote for these pages some years ago about sharing the love for riding with your better half, and my own experiences of doing so. If your relationship survived that – as mine has – it’s entirely possible that this partnership has now become a collective, and you’re facing the prospect of going through the whole process again with kids. So assuming you want to get out riding with them, what are the secrets to turning mountain biking into something the whole family can enjoy?
When my boy Oswald arrived back in 2012, I was dreaming of the bike-based dad’n’lad glory days to come before we’d even left the maternity ward. His sister, Florence, arrived a couple of years later, and there are now four of us, a cellar full of kit and the realisation the Trent family is fully committed to a life with bikes at the core.
It’s early days so far, but various rites of passage have already been observed, from Alpine trips to Oswald’s first major off and trip to A&E. Like father, like son there. Given that, the expense, the four sets of stinking kit and all the rest, am I
