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Activites for the younger set?

xp8103

New member
We're making our first rally this summer in Bloomsberg. We're bringing out 12 year old son with us who has some but not much riding experience. It's POSSIBLE that he'll have earned a dirt bike by then and have more riding experience. He got his first taste last summer on a 125 and spent a week riding now and then. It was a great introduction. So is there something geared for the younger set?
 
It wasn't ours.... And even if he does manage to earn one by the summer, he'll be riding on the back of our 1100 on the trip.
 
My 13 year old son, Eric will be coming with me, so perhaps the boys can meet up and chat for a while. Eric has many thousands of miles under his belt, having ridden with me since he was 7. He's never ridden alone, as dirt bikes are difficult to ride here on Long Island, with very few (if any) legal places to ride them. We'll try and find you in the crowd.
 
I think that would be great. My son has probably a thousand miles under his belt as a passenger although he's not thrilled with riding back there anymore as he wants to ride his own! This trip will be his longest single. We did the Frost Nutz rally in VT last spring and that was a good 250 mile trip plus the weekend riding thru the Green Mountains on the back of the 1100RS (which he LOVED by the way!)
 
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For Alex, once he gets on he's fine. So fine in fact, that he finds himself dozing off from time to time. We have a little signal for each other now but now that my wife and I have bike to bike comm via a Scala Rider set, I'm going to get one for my son as well. Of course, he'll likely then get chatty... :)
 
We've spent the last 4 years riding around Southwest Vermont with our friends from Backroads Magazine. Always stay at The Gray Ghost Inn in West Dover, VT and have a blast. Its about 7-1/2 hours from here, but well worth the trip for the fantastic roads, beautiful scenery, and historic places to visit. Last August we did about 2500 miles down to NC and TN to experience the Tail of the Dragon (5 or 6 times!), The Cherohala Skyway, plus many other amazing roads. Did 3 days down and basically two days back, with just over 500 miles being the longest day. This year, we're planning an early Spring trip to visit Niagara Falls en route to see a friend in Ontario; we're also going to spend three days riding in and around Lincoln, NH meeting some friends at the White Mountain Hotel, on Route 3; as far as Bloomsburg, we'll be at the Comfort Inn in New Columbia, PA from 7/21 through 7/24. Eric is the best riding buddy I could have ever asked for; doesn't complain, doesn't get tired, rides through the best and worst weather that comes along. The miles sure seem to give him a healthy appetite, though! Look for the boy and the bike once you're there. P.S. Seems Eric and Alex have similar taste in gear! Guess you found Babybiker.com too!
 

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Now that the boy fits into larger clothes, he's gone "neon" to try and keep us both safe from the cages out there.

Here's what you'll see if you're behind us .....
 

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i remember when my daughter liked to ride with me...

sadly those days are gone :cry

now she is too cool to ride motorcycles.
 
Yes. We did a BabyBiker order and he'll likely get one more season out of his jacket. The pants won't fly tho unfortunately. He has a nice mesh jacket I picked up for him last summer. It's actually a woman's size small but it fit him well. I'm hoping that he'll get one more season out of that as well. We're going to make a trek to Whitehorse Press soon so I can have him try on some gear until we find some pants that fit. He's been getting 2 years out of a helmet and he's due for another one.

We're staying at the Mt. Olympus dorms. We'll have to plan on an official meeting. I'd love to bend your ear as we want to hit up Long Island this summer via the Block Island ferry.
 
Look forward to meeting up in PA and chatting. I think you'll be pretty disappointed riding around Long Island. I live here, and dread the local riding, but to each his own. I'm sure we'll talk before then. BTW, Eric outgrew his BabyBiker gear this season, even with the zippered extensions, but it makes a great hand-me-down to my next three passengers (Samanatha-10; Brandi-9; and Laci-6). The Neon coat is a mesh one with a zip in/zip out liner-FirstGear Women's small from New Enough (now MotorcycleGear.com). Pants are real hard to find, since he's tall and skinny like me, and any ones we tried, the knee pads were down by his shinbones, and they really don't fit right at all. We ended up buying a pair of Kevlar-lined Draggin' Jeans off Craigslist for $20 (great find-thank you!); bought a set of knee armour from BikeBandit; and paid a tailor $40 to disassemble and re-build him riding pants. They should last a while, and I'm comfortable knowing he's protected, just in case. He has enough helmets to last a while. We just bought two through ADVRiders, one being a Nolan N100E flip-up in a size small for just $80. Looks good as new, and should fit him by the Summer. I suggest you try there looking for hardly worn women's gear. Its worked out great for us.
 
To: sdpc2

I'm sure Eric will outgrow me, but I hope he keeps the love of riding always. With any luck, when I get too old and feeble to ride, he'll bungee me on the back of his bike and drag my sorry carcass around the country to repay the favor.

PS-Any time you get lonely, and want to borrow the boy, our weekend rates are very reasonable. We can meet you at Bob's Diner in Brewster for some artery hardening eggs, bacon & sausage, cruise around the Titicus Reservoir (love Titicus River Road!), and make a day of it in your neck of the woods. Just feed the kid once in a while, and make sure he does his homework. The offer stands open......
 
I have a pair of tourmaster pants that I had shortened from the knees. My son is more stocky than tall. He's still at 12 years old about 6 or 7 inches shorter than I am so I'm not sure the pants will work for him yet but I'm going to have him try them.

My boss rides a Shadow and did the LI tour last summer. I've never been out there and just want to sight see.
 
I also found this tidbit in the Rally link:

"Will there be organized activities for my kids?

There will be a children's center for kids 5-12 with a variety of fun activities. There will also be a teen center with appropriate activities. Check the Rally program for times and locations of these activities throughout the Rally. Please don't forget about CAMP GEARS for young riders that are able to arrive early at the rally."
 
For the children

The Children's Museum in Bloomsburg www.the-childrens-museum.org matter of fact its closer to the rally site than the University. :whistle

Knoebels Amusement Park........very cool.....the owners are family oriented and told Six Flags and Disney they are not selling. Free admission..... one just pays for the rides, there is a spring fed swining pool, and a nice museum on site. http://www.knoebels.com/

Red Deer Farm, this is were one can see European Elk www.reddeeratrollinghillsfarm.com after the tour you can buy meat for your campfire dinner.

Ricketts Glen State Park features wonderful water falls and this place almost became a National Park, it didn't either because of WW 2 or the Great Depression. If you are way out of shape the lower falls off of State Route 118 is worth the trip. http://www.rickettsglen.info/multimedia.html

Take a nice road trip to Jim Thorpe and ride on the train excursion up the Leigh Gorge http://jimthorpe.org/trains.php. You can also rent mountain bikes and the tour operator will take you up into the mountains from a scenic down hill route. Or go white water rafting. While in town check out the old Jail....... its haunted and has great history. www.theoldjailmuseum.com

If you decide to take a day ride to Hermys BMW for Dad www.hermys.com you can go south a bit then west to Roadside America www.roadsideamericainc.com . On the way back to the rally site you can cut up through Minersville to Ashland and see Centralia or cut a bit west of there and return on Route 125 for Dad. While in the Hermy's area you can go and see Cabelas
www.cabelas.com/retail-stores-hamburg.shtml or if you like a short hike and a vista along the Appelachian Trail go and see Hawk Mountain.
www.hawkmountain.org

Two nearby coal mining tours Ashland www.pioneertunnel.com or the one in Lansford www.no9mine.com . All great riding for Dad to get there.

Plot your to do list and I will give you the roads to take to get there.
 
We are planning to have both a teen center and a children's center with activities for the younger folks. Also, don't forget Camp GEARS for young riders. In addition to the local attractions that Chris mentioned, there will be some rally activities that focus on local history and culture that might be fun for families with children. Also, my stepdaughters began volunteering at rallies at perhaps 7 or 8 years of age and have really enjoyed it. We are trying to make this rally particularly family friendly and Bloomsburg is a beautiful town to just walk around and enjoy.
 
T&D's Cats of the world

One place not mentioned yet that I can find and kind of a hidden Gem is an exotic Animal Sanctuary called T&D's Cats of the world. Basically it is a zoo, but all the animals, including lions, tigers, and bears, used to be people's pets. They are located in the town of Penn's Creek, about an hour or so west of Bloomsburg. Their website is www.tdscats.com. The ride out there is beautiful, and there are plenty of ways to get there. A plus is if you take rt 487 back to Bloomsburg is that you'll go by Knoebels amusement park. They are open for tours during the week and open to walk around on your own on Saturday and Sunday. Definitely worth the 10 bucks in my opinion.
 
Little League Museum and Complex

For the youngsters in us all: the Little League Museum and Sport Complex is a short ride away in South Williamsport.

While the LL World Series is not until mid-August. The Museum and Complex are open to visitors.

The link to their Museum info. page:

http://www.littleleague.org/learn/museum.htm

Also, just a few minutes south of the LL complex is Clyde Peelings Reptile Land on US Rte 15 in Allenwood, PA.

http://www.reptiland.com/

Both of these may be worthy of a visit.

KennyO
 
Hey rocketman,

sorry that i didn't see your response before today.... but it did make for a good laugh.

If you want to bring him up for a ride, i'd be glad to let him jump on the back of my bike. Or if he really wants a different experience, he can try my wife's sidecar!

Leah still has no interest, so we don't push her. She has been in the sidecar, and on the back, as well as to a few rally's. She'd rather be on her computer... :doh

To: sdpc2

I'm sure Eric will outgrow me, but I hope he keeps the love of riding always. With any luck, when I get too old and feeble to ride, he'll bungee me on the back of his bike and drag my sorry carcass around the country to repay the favor.

PS-Any time you get lonely, and want to borrow the boy, our weekend rates are very reasonable. We can meet you at Bob's Diner in Brewster for some artery hardening eggs, bacon & sausage, cruise around the Titicus Reservoir (love Titicus River Road!), and make a day of it in your neck of the woods. Just feed the kid once in a while, and make sure he does his homework. The offer stands open......
 
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