Father and Son ride

Father and Son ride

By MiniPips

My Son Tom and I are pretty lucky to have spent a lot of time over the last few years having some great adventures together. We usually travel by bike, and as the years have passed, the rides have got progressively longer and harder.

><br> <em>Tom completes the coast-2-coast aged 7</em></p> <p>I want to take you back to Tom’s first proper ride. The one that planted the seed.</p> <p>Tom had been riding a bike without stablisers for about a year. He didn’t have a fancy bike, instead he rode a hand me down from a friend. Tom’s bike handling skills were poor, so an off road route was a must.</p> <p>We drove out to Dowlow at the Northern end of the Tissington trail on a lovely warm summers day. There was no plan as to how far we would ride. The trail though had a number of “goals” in the form of cafes, pubs and ice cream shops. Our first stop was after only 3 _ miles.</p> <p>Cake at Parsley Hay visitor centre maybe wasn’t a necessity, but was quickly consumed before we continued our journey South.</p> <p>I carried a couple of bottles of water, and jelly babies to supplement the wayside offerings.</p> <p>At Tissington 13 _ miles in we had ice cream as well as some other snacks. Spirits were high. I offered the option of turning round and returning back to the car. The alternative being another 4 miles to the end of the trail at Ashbourne where we could get a proper meal at a cafe. Tom wanted to ride to the end.</p> <p></p>

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