Don't think that you can do a long-distance bicycle ride with your kids? Think again! With proper planning and a flexible mind-set, the whole family can experience the fun of biking on rail-trails.
Last spring, my husband, two boys (ages 10 and 6) and I set out for Missouri wine country to resume a family goal—biking the entire 225-mile Katy Trail, the longest developed rail-trail in the country built on the former corridor of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad. Already, our family had bicycled 21 miles of the Katy, beginning at the eastern start point in St. Charles, Missouri. For this excursion, our first of the spring season, we planned to cover a 25-mile section over two days with an overnight at a bed-and-breakfast along the way.
Our children are good cyclists, having ridden on two-wheelers without trainers since age four, and riding an average of 10–15 miles per week.
