The Hardtail Party Youtube channel put together a video of a recent family bikepacking trip with their two-year-old daughter, proving that it’s never too early to start bikepacking with kids. Watch the video here…

What started with a first family bikepacking trip back in 2020 has evolved into many family adventures for Steve and Tess of the Hardtail Party YouTube Channel. Their most recent trip involved a frame-mounted Mac-Ride seat for their two-year-old and a campout close to home. They shot some footage during the trip and put together a video that you can check out in full below. After watching it, scroll down for a quick recap from Steve and some tips for any families looking to make their own family-friendly bikepacking route.

  • Hardtail Party two year old bikepacking
  • Hardtail Party two year old bikepacking
  • Hardtail Party two year old bikepacking

Words by Steve/Hardtail Party (@hardtailparty)

From an early age, we have tried to instill a love and respect for the outdoors in our daughter. She’s still too young to ride bikes, and as much as we’d love cycling to be “her thing,” she hasn’t really caught the bug yet. What she does love, however, is spending time with family in the great outdoors. Daily, she’ll ask us when we’re going camping next. For this trip, we decided to strap her Mac-Ride onto a hardtail and share our love of bikepacking with her.

Seeing her enthusiasm and sense of wonder is infectious. Too often, we focus on the latest piece of gear, the perfect route, the perfect bike… None of those crossed Little Dusty’s mind even once on this trip. This is a reminder to just get out there, no matter how big or small your route or how dialed or lacking your rig is.

Rather than post the exact route for this trip, we encourage families to use the following tips to create a similar route in their area. Here are some tips:

  • Pick a forest service doubletrack road to keep grades and technical features simple.
  • Make sure your route leads to something exciting for kids – a pond, a stream, an overlook, a special rock formation.
  • Try to plan breaks or mini-explorations every 30-60 minutes.
  • Bring plenty of snacks. Snacks go a long way toward helping a kid find that extra motivation to continue on.
  • Pick a route that isn’t too bumpy or too difficult.
  • Keep the mileage low.
  • Learn from your little ones: they see the world with a sense of wonder and excitement that many of us have forgotten.
  • Decide on your ideal distance for the trip. For us, it was 10 miles. So we parked the truck 10 miles from our overlook. The fire road made for a smooth route with a mellow grade.
Hardtail Party two year old bikepacking
  • Hardtail Party two year old bikepacking
  • Hardtail Party two year old bikepacking

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