Tag-a-long Fun

I didn't think we'd manage a 'family bike ride' this year! While the boys are safely up on two wheels and can manage ten miles or so of peddling without (too much) complaining, our four year old daughter is far from being able to manage that. For her - a half an hour toddle around the local park with stabilisers intact is as much as she could manage by herself. This of course frustrated the boys no end - being held back by their "silly, little" sister (sic). Some neighbours recommended the tag-a-long to us - which they use to overcome a similar scenario in their household. It clamps simply and easily onto the back of the parents' bike via a quick-release bolt - onto a bracket which remains permanently on the seat-post.

In theory the 4-year-old on the back has a set of pedals with which to contribute to the effort required in dragging all the extra weight up hills and into wind! In practice her effort was intermittent (expressed charitably!) and on our return she is the only one who doesn't look slightly weary!

In Perth we are fortunate to be situated right on one of SUSTRANS national cycle routes which enables us to get right through the town, along by the river and into some lovely countryside. Today we cycled along the banks of the Tay, through the North Inch, round the back of Muirton and up to the confluence of the Almond and Tay rivers. Here the cycle-path follows the delightful path of the Almond out of the town and along to the village of Almondbank. A small hill separates this village from Pitcairngreen, a pleasant place to stop for a drink, some crisps and ice-cream in the afternoon sun before turning to cycle home by the same route.