Overnight on the C&O with a 4 year old

[Racingguy04]

I've been itching to get out for some bike packing, and my wife has been working every third weekend leaving me unattended with the kiddo (dangerous at the best of times) So I decided that next time she had to work, I'd take him out for a bit of an adventure. We did a couple of day rides with the tag-along bike and when the weekend came, we were off.

We started at big slackwater boat ramp and camped at horseshoe bend campsite for a total of about 5 miles ridden each day, but it's a start. The C&O is a nice flat trail with river views and lots of amenities like water pumps and port-a-poties, though it doesn't feel nearly as wild as the colorado trail where I've done most of my bikepacking, nor is the riding nearly as interesting. But for a first trip, things went pretty well and I think we can work up to bigger days and longer trips, especially if he'd pedal a bit once in a while

[Racingguy04]

He seemed to get tired as we got close to the car on the second day, but the promise of a snow cone managed to get us the rest of the way home.

[baquah]

Sounds pretty dangerous and pretty fun . I've been asking a 2 year old if he wants to go camp in our Fourmile Recreation Area backyard (yes! of course! yes!), but the logical brain thinks maybe I'm jumping the gun a little bit. The limiting factors are how long he can sit in a trailer and how long I can pull said trailer up dirt roads. Mom is going to be working a farmers' market starting next weekend, so we might sneak out for a test run pretty soon. Worst case, we have a 30 minute screamy ride back home, right?

[Racingguy04]

Go for it, we did a few shorter test runs to get a feel for things, and we honestly didn't ride too long, but I figure it's a start and a place to build from. As long as they're mostly having fun, they'll keep coming back for more. Next time I plan to take more to do in the campsite, and tastier food options. A deck of cards and some mac and cheese would go a long way, I think.