We bought a Riese & Müller Load 75. We have quite a few gravel roads here and the suspension helps quite a bit there. I can also take the older one to kindergarden using a forest road and he doesn’t complain about the bumpiness :-). So far, I’m quite happy with it. Bought the dual battery thing and the range is quite good. I get about 100 km by just turboing everything :-).
When buying it, I wasn’t sure about the motor. Living in Germany the thing switches off at 25 kph, which is just a dumb speed (in the US it’s 32 kph, which is a lot better…). You can also buy a version that goes up to 45 kph, but you need a number plate and you can’t use a follow me bike thingy, that I want for the older kiddo. But that’s just legal stuff.
I really enjoy riding the thing, It doesn’t feel very boaty when you get used to it. After switching offices next year, I might get a second one with a 45 kph limit to replace one car and just use the bike for commuting and shopping.
It’s pretty good although the positioning makes things a little clunky (wider knees and a slightly reduced turning circle as the legs can hit the top tube if not careful).
I also had to buy a separate ahead stem adaptor which I didn’t realise I needed initially.
Yeah, I looked into that one. That is super nice! And super practical. I think we’ll be testing it with my in-laws in a few weeks, as they’re looking into getting a cargo bike since we’re getting one. Glad to see another cargo bike user on this forum. I’ve been wanting to get one for the last 5 or so years.
I may look into getting a front wheel electric assist kit for my cargo bike down the road, but I don’t think it will play nice with my CK violet hubs!!
Figured I would go here since I trust this community a lot more than the general internet. My wife and I are expecting our first child in May 2021, and would love some general resources the group here has on where to start and how to prepare. There’s a pretty daunting amount of advice out there, and being the internet most is thinly veiled advertising or bunk. Thanks and feel free to delete if this falls afoul of forum rules.
I think my only real suggestion would be to try to remember that you and your partner are people as well as parents, and that when possible you should still try and make time for each other and yourselves as well. That can be very difficult with a newborn, but long term if you can manage a date night once a fortnight or so and carve out a few hours in the week for you to train (and your partner does the same for something they enjoy) you will be happier, saner people and better parents as a result. It won’t always happen - babies are great at disrupting plans! - but with organisation and communication you should be able to do that a fair amount of the time. Good luck!!
My advice is to take as much advice as you can get and filter it with what you think suits your ethos. Anything which is too dogmatic will not work for everyone, there is no objectively right way to do things.
Look after each other and make sure you each get time for yourselves as very young children are all-consuming at the best of times.
Congratulations! My best advice is to be kind to yourself. You’ll find yourself wanting to juggle lots of balls in the air at the same time as a new Dad. It gets difficult at times but it truly is rewarding! Some practical advice:
When you first get home from the hospital see if some of your mates and/or family can cook up some healthy meals that you can defrost in the first two weeks. The last thing you want to do is think about having to cook a meal in the first few weeks.
Make sure you have an outlet. Even if it’s just a 30 minute walk around the block to unwind so that you’re able to find some stillness. I had an hour on Zwift each day and it allowed me to just tune out for a bit and get the endorphins flowing.
Enjoy every moment. Enjoy the unknown and figuring it out as you go. No one expects you to have all the answers or do everything perfectly. It’s actually quite funny to look back at all the learning you did as a parent! It used to take me about 10 minutes to change a nappy because I was so meticulous and wanted everything to be done perfectly. Now, wowee, I’m a nappy time trialist and whack that bad boy on in 7 seconds and who really knows what it’s going to catch these days …
Communicate really well with your partner about what you both need and how you’re both feeling. It’s a whirlwind so it’s important to have open communication because lack of sleep can inflate minor disagreements into arguments which is the last thing you need. We had a 5 minute check in conversation each day which was fantastic.
All the best! Always around if you have any questions moving forward. Happy to share stories!
First time dad here, as of 10 days ago, and haven’t touched the bike yet. We seem to be getting into more of a rhythm now so I’m thinking about adding SS workouts on a day-by-day basis, even if 30 - 45 minutes. I don’t want to commit to a plan just yet because it might add stress that I don’t need!
Congrats, to both you and your wife. This early stage, bub is sleeping so you may want to train during the sleep periods. Mix of low volume base and SS. Talk with SO and ask if it’s okay if I train when Bub is asleep, is there anything she needs first.
Ask if you can do a lunch somewhere, if your wife can drive and you ride there, often a good way for you both to get out and your child gets some outside stimulation.
I had my girls in there rockers next to the trainer, or on a blanket outside on the grass when I cleaned the bike. These things they have remembered or engrained into them, not sure but they love cleaning my bike and eventually at 2 they had their bikes with training wheels on books so they could train to.
All these things gives you training time and Mum some of her own time. Just know you may need to get off and see to them and get back on, which can be mentally difficult when your redlining during an effort but its what you need to do right.
Surprisingly nothing and yet everything has changed for me
Congratulations and here here. The line that I can relate most to was a colleague from work - “you’ll wonder what you did with all the time.”
When our not-so-little-anymore 15 month old was born I went out and rode really hard for short periods of time, 45-90mins as often as I could when I got my pink slip signed by the good lady dentist her indoors. I had come off the back of doing CeltMan and had loads of aerobic fitness, but really sharpened it up with the short hard rides. Net result - for a period while the weather was good I got as fast as I have ever been it didn’t last but trying to stick with it as best as I can.
We’re trying to get him to sleep regularly through the night now and largely wean him so I’m doing the night shift, it is hard work sometimes but we’re getting there. Homeworking has been a huge boon in this respect as if I feel I need to sleep I can carve out some time for a nap during the day and catch up with work after bedtime if necessary.
Totally agree on the work from home advantage. It has saved me 2 hours commuting a day and allows me to try and fit in an hour ride between meetings, during lunch, or right before/after picking up our 4 month old from daycare. If I wasn’t working from home, my fitness would be a wreck compared to now.
All that being said, the advice of picking a low volume plan and filling it in when you can is key advice. Hindsight being 20/20, I tried to ride too much in the first 2 months, and it was putting too much burden on the wife. These days, if it’s nice outside, we go for family walks/hikes, and I’ll push my workout to another day.
One more unsolicited thought: I still meal plan, but now I make portions for the wife as well. I spend 2-3 hours on Sunday in the kitchen, and we now have meals ready to go throughout the week.
I’ve only just seen this thread! Our second daughter arrived on the first day of lockdown here in the UK. It was so scary at the time as the hospital nearly didn’t let me back into the hospital the day after Erin was born (my wife had a C-section) because of uncertainty/outside contamination. That uncertainty, mixed with working from home has meant that since March, I have become super structured with my training, without any issues. I purchased a WHOOP tracker (others available!!) and I used that whilst listening to my body. My FTP has gone up 6 watts (I have been training for a while and i consider this increase to be really rewarding!!). The key? Be consistent with your plans and be honest with your partner (let her know when you plan to ride, rather than announce it 5mins before you get your bibs on). Ride if you can, and don’t beat yourself up when you have to be a dad. Daughters before bikes - every day of the year.
So, well, just a recap from myself since the daughter is now 16months old and my last post on training as a parent is almost 1 year old. So how do I look back at the goals I had and the tips I gave:
I said 1 year ago: be open about your planning and ambitions when to ride and give room for the other
Well, still is key. During the year I kind of ‘claimed’ the saterday morning. Since it was a bit of strange year with COVID and group rides were forbidden for a long time, I started my rides earlier than when training with the club (start 9:30). On saterday I normally took the ‘early shift’, so getting up between 5.45-6.30 depending on how late the little one woke up. I had some time with her, had breakfast and around 8am woke up my girlfriend so she could take over and I could prepare to go out around 8:30. The goal was always to be back around 12-12:30 to lunch together. This gave me a great opportunity for still a serious long ride, while also give gf the possibility to sleep a bit longer.
Other thing I changed compared to pre kid’s is to prepare my ride better the evening in advance. So that everything is really ready to go. So, just change of clothes an off you go to maximize day light opportunities.
During the year, the GF also recovered and wanted to sport again. I really tried to give her all the room for that and first picks on time slots during the week. I felt really happy that she was having fun in sports again!
Don’t be to harsh on yourself when you are tired as ***
We were quiet lucky that our daughter was a good night sleeper, so almost always I got around 7 hours a sleep after she was 5months old, but still this rule really counts. Don’t train if you don’t feel like you have energy for it.
enjoy the workouts you get!
Definetly true! In the beginning of the year I had quiet some XC marathon races on the schedule, so really tried to stay as good in shape as possible with lots of serious training, but still enjoying. Since almost everything got cancelled, I was a bit easier for myself, just #ridesolo. But found out, riding solo is very efficient, no coasting in groups, just pressure on the legs the whole training. Really had positive impact on my fitness, but also still enjoying just some rides a tempo. Also during the summer started to train with my mates again in small groups. But I managed to let them start earlier than normal (even 8am) and said: oke, we got 4 hours, we want to do 120km and also a stop for icecream of cake, so just pedal harder. Were great rides, really pushing in the front, recovering a bit in the wheels.
Don’t overestimate the time you have when the little one is sleeping.
Still holds true. She almost never sleeps longer than 1 hour in one go during the day, so it is really impossible to plan a training when she is sleeping in the morning or afternoon. So my trainer rides are still around 7;45pm, 8pm when she is a sleep. Or, when going out during the week, I normally leave around 7;7:30pm while the GF brings the little one to bed.
Overall, maybe partly due to COVID which gave me a bit more flexibility and less pressure on social activities it was a year with almost 9k km, which is still very good! Also weight is lower than ever. Due to the fact that average rides a shorter than other years, but intensity higher, I was still able to record PR’s on my powercurve, primairly within the range from 1.30min-5min. Even was able to go out for a 5 days bikepacking trip without the family! We had a 3 week holiday in Swiss with our three and was able to get some really nice MTB rides in! When riding with my mates, I can still seriously hurt the other guys and now when CX training (no racing unfortunately) is ongoing, I am still very capable.
So conclusion: cycling is still great as a parent! Although I miss a little bit in performance, I am still way better than I was expecting to be!
The gate is great! Wish I had thought of that. Our 2 year old has grabbed the chain on my bike at least 4 times and gotten grease on our couch pillows (which are white, I might add!).
Training is tough when you have young kids. Mainly from an availability of time perspective. I was set to do 1.5 hours on trainer today but that amount of free time is reallllly hard to come by (well 1.5 hours in one single block of time is). So I got up early and knocked out 30 minutes of the ride before anyone else was up, and then I’ll have to do the remaining hour during their nap time. This year I have been lucky to be able to work from home a good bit which has allowed me to ride the trainer.
Once I start back full time in the office I really don’t know how I’m going to be able to be consistent with training. I would have to get up at 4:30am to do an hour, then do the remaining 30 minutes around 9pm.
The past two years has been both fast and slow. In the moment, time often seems so slow. In hindsight, everything seems to have gone by in the blink of an eye.
The first year, especially in the beginning was a lot of adjustments. I eventually settled on lunch rides doing the Specialty > Enthusiast > Time Crunch 45 plan. It is kind of tucked away in an odd place so many probably don’t know they exist. Anyway, they are awesome! I highly recommend them. Worst case, do the Time Crunch 30 plan and if you have extra time/energy on certain days, bump the workout to the 45min version. After the plan, I continued on w/lunch rides doing my own thing. There were also outdoor weekend rides when the weather and twins permitted. My volume was way down w/only 1hr trainer rides and occasional outdoor rides. In the fall, I decided to start running again Why do such a thing? Well, I wanted to be outside more often and it also provided me a way to increase my total training volume. Running would be done at o’dark thirty before everyone woke up.
This past year was more of the same, running in the mornings and trainer rides during lunch. I only doubled up three days a week. Weekend would have a long run and a long ride. By fall, I was mostly running ~70-80km/week w/occasional lunch rides.
That brings us to 2021. I do plan on getting my bike volume back up while continuing to run. Twins will be getting strider/pushbikes this month as well!
Anyway, key points from the last two years:
Patience
Things will get easier as the kid(s) get older. There will still be issues/problems, but they will be different ones.
If you miss a workout, forget about it. You probably need the rest more than you need the workout.
Get up early and get your stuff done before the kid(s) and wife wake up. Yes, you will need to go to bed earlier and/or you will need to nap. I often nap when the twins nap.
Patience !!!
Do as much as possible to be supportive and of help to your wife.
Make sure your wife gets her own personal me time as well.
)
it didn’t last but trying to stick with it as best as I can.
Hence an update…
Why do such a thing? Well, I wanted to be outside more often and it also provided me a way to increase my total training volume. Running would be done at o’dark thirty before everyone woke up.
~70-80km/week w/occasional lunch rides.