Please tell me that this extra work I’m putting in by pulling a bike trailer with a 25 pound kid in it is going to pay some dividends for me!!
I pretty much pull my daughter on ever weekday ride (2-3) for a good hour to hour and a half which includes some pretty hilly sections. It’s on my aluminum road bike which is heavier than my P2C and I don’t treat it as a leisure ride by any means. I’m pretty much getting after it. Obviously, my long rides are done on my own.
Has anyone seen any significant gain in this type of training? The weather just broke here a couple of weeks ago so I there hasn’t been enough time yet to see any benefit, but I was just wondering what, if any, benefit others have seen out there?
Pulling a trailer with a kid up a hill is the same as riding up a steeper hill. It will certainly help you later. On the flats no so much difference, but when you ditch the kid and head up the hill you will be doing the same as loosing 25 lbs. Ask some people on here what a 25 lb weight loss did to their climbing abilities.
I’m doing a lot of my runs with a BOB stroller this year. He gets a good nap in and I get a killer workout. The only downsides I find are places I can run, but that’s not a big deal for me.
Please tell me that this extra work I’m putting in by pulling a bike trailer with a 25 pound kid in it is going to pay some dividends for me!!
As a previous poster said (in as many words) …
Other than being the world’s greatest dad to your daughter does anything else matter?
Actually I also would think you’d gain strength from the hill work. I have a trailer, a 2yo daughter and a 5yo son. I wish I got out as much as you do spending time with the kids. Alas my son lacks the ability to keep up (he’s really only just learnt to ride upright) and mum, whilst having a bike with tow hitch bar for son, lacks the fitness and desire.
I have never pulled a kid, but did a 2 month loaded bike tour, with a similar amount of extra weight on the bike. When I finished the tour and got back on my regular bike, steep hills that used to wreck me felt like little bumps in the road. It definitely made me a stronger biker.
depends if the trailer tires are using latex tubes or butyl tubes…
if you can pull a trailer with a kid for an hour and a half at YOUR training effort, then the only thing you are missing is the sound of the wind in your ears from going faster.
if you are bike racing in your future, you might want to get some cornering in with out the trailer though. i’m guessing you don’t scrape pedals at the moment with the trailer attached… or maybe you do, and your kid loves that.
Pulling a trailer with a kid up a hill is the same as riding up a steeper hill. It will certainly help you later.
True.
On the flats, no so much difference.
Not exactly. Maybe the effect is less than on hills, but if the trailer is standard-sized or big, it can and does add a lot of drag. So that also makes you work harder, which will also help you later.
PS. I’ve done a fair amount of child trailer pulling, so I’m speaking from personal experience … :^)
depends if the trailer tires are using latex tubes or butyl tubes… quote]
Already put in an order for a pair of Zipp 808’s (firecrest of course) for the kid’s trailer! LOL
No, spending time with my daughter is obviously the greatest gift, and her loving both the Bob stroller and the bike trailer makes it even better. She is almost 2 and freaks out if she sees me doing anything with the bike trailer in our house. She feels like she’s about to get left out of a ride!
Running with a bob stroller witout being able to use your arms to run is killer too. She actually did a 21 mile training run with me in the Bob before NYC marathon last year.
On the flats, no so much difference.
Not exactly. Maybe the effect is less than on hills, but if the trailer is standard-sized or big, it can and does add a lot of drag. So that also makes you work harder, which will also help you later.
Correct, I was only thinking weight. A trailer with a big square sun shield is like pulling a parachute behind you.
Its not just 25 pounds. How much does the trailer weigh? I know those things aren’t made of carbon, you could easily be doing 75lbs extra than your normal weight! Hills will feel like a breeze when you unlatch the trailer.
It’s not only worth it, but the look on a roadies face when you pass them pulling a kid in a trailer is priceless… As others have said, it makes a huge difference when you go to do some training/racing and you don’t have them there, the speed bump you get is great and on top of that you get to spend time with your kid(s). I would do a destination run with our older 2 when I was using the buggy a lot for training. I would ride for an hour, go to a park have a picnic, play on the equipment there for a good couple of hours, and then ride home. When I played my cards right, I would catch them at nap time for both ways
Haha… it was most CERTAINLY a roadie a passed, although I guess he ceased being one at that moment. To be fair, he was going easy, and I was hauling ass (was going about 35kph). But the look on his face when I blew by him
I can only imagine. LOL. I use a older Trek Fuel as my Burley puller. Not much chance in hell of catching anyone. My wife (who does not ride much at all) decided to take a long family bike ride. She had her giant TCR sans kids and I had my mountain bike, Burley, and 70 pounds of kids. 40 miles of frustration for both us us. I will running in the red way too much and she had to hold back to such an extent…
