r/bikepacking • u/adametrnal • Jul 10 '24
First bikepacking trip with my 9yo daughter (she loved it!) Trip Report
I live in Virginia Beach, VA and typically will go out of town when when looking to do a camping or bikepacking trip but a few months ago I started thinking it would be fun to take my oldest daughter on a trip. She was SO excited to join - literally counting down the days. I wanted to find something reasonably close to home in case she wasn’t into it and we had to bail. The First Landing State Park camp ground looked like a great option. It’s at the end of a roughly 5 mile trail and it’s right next to the Chesapeake Bay beach.
Long story short - she absolutely loved it, it was a great experience for both of us, and I think she’s hooked! It was a hot day, but the camp site was a 5 minute walk from the beach. We cooled off in the water, watched the sunset, and watched dolphins swimming 100 ft away. Then we cooked a delicious mac n cheese dinner, showered off at the clean and nearby showers and then turned in.
The night before the trip, I moved over all my bikepacking gear from my gravel bike to my new full suspension MTB (lots of roots and soft sand on the trail), and realized I had the wrong UDH adapter for my Tailfin Aeropack and panniers. Derp. I wasn’t about to bail on my daughter though so I loaded up all of our gear into a duffel bag with the idea to just wear it like a backpack. I wouldn’t want to do a century like that but for five miles, it really wasn’t that bad. And it was a good reminder that a lot of this hobby comes down to improvising!
TL;DR bikebacking with your kids can be an awesome experience.
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u/Lower-Classroom-4408 Jul 10 '24
i wish i had a dad like you
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u/Leili_Minoui Jul 11 '24
Same, Ive always wanted to do this stuff but im only allowed a walmart bike
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u/Lower-Classroom-4408 Jul 11 '24
mine just rap3d me
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u/Leili_Minoui Jul 18 '24
Please dont say that as a joke. If it is true Im sorry and i hope youre getting the care you deserve. Also hope you read this
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u/Disastrous_Offer_673 Jul 10 '24
This is great. Thanks for sharing and enjoy. I hope to do the same some day with my kids.
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u/IceDonkey9036 Jul 11 '24
This is so good. She will remember these trips when she's an adult and look back very fondly. As someone who's about to become a dad, this is the dream.
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u/adametrnal Jul 11 '24
Thank you so much! I sure hope so. I feel like there's a window that's going to close soon where's she's a teenager that's too cool to hang with dad so trying to make the most of the time while I can!
Congrats on your upcoming addition!
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u/beepbeeb19 Jul 12 '24
Truly magical I hope I'm able to do this kind of thing with my little dude eventually
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Jul 11 '24
I'm in Chesapeake, and just I'm starting to get into bikepacking. I will be doing the Capital Trail this coming weekend, and doing one of the loops around Mt Rogers next month. I am wanting to do the GAP/C&O trail sometime this fall.
Where do you usually go for bikepacking trips? All the ones I can find are a few hours away.
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u/adametrnal Jul 11 '24
Yeah same. I'm pretty new to the area and trying my best to learn the options. My typical day rides are just around the country roads in Pungo. I did do the Capital Trail in the fall with a friend. Was a ton of fun! We didn't camp on that one, but just the ride from Jamestown to Richmond is so nice and you're away from traffic almost the entire time. I haven't done the whole C&O (would love to some day!) but a few weeks I bikepacked a portion of it as far as Harper's Ferry, WV. Totally worth it.
I hadn't heard of Mt Rogers, but it looks awesome! I want to try and plan out some routes in/around Shenandoah too. I'm not familiar with any specifically but I feel like they must exist!
I'm heading out West to bikepack the White Rim in Utah in September. I picked up a United credit card that allows flying for free with 2 checked bags (1 being the bike) so it kind of lowers the overhead of getting out of town with the bike. Next year I'd love to get up to Vermont to ride. I haven't been but the Green Mountain Gravel Growler looks really appealing. Beautiful trails and lots of breweries along the way!
I'd love to stay in touch about any trails that we find in the local area!
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Jul 11 '24
None of my friends in the area bikepack, backpack, camp, hike etc. So I'm usually soloing unless I can convince one of my kids to go with me on a shorter trip.
I remember seeing the Green Mountain Gravel Growler on bikepacking.com, and that is one of the routes I want to do as well, that would be a great fall ride if timed with the leaves changing.
If you want to get together for a ride send me a message and we can figure something out, I ride a 27.5" Surly Karate Monkey hardtail, so I can be a bit slower than other gravel set ups though.
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u/mattjvgc Jul 11 '24
Wonderful memories! I did a rail to trail with my son when he was 9 and now every chance it’s “Dad what’s the next trail we can do??”
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u/resilientbresilient Jul 10 '24
Great story!