A first family bike ride is over in an hour. Someone needs a wee at the 2 km mark, and the turnaround happens wherever the ice cream is. It is also the ride you will talk about for years, and the one nobody thought to record. This is how to plan a first family bike ride that a child can finish, and how to record it so you keep the exact line you rode.
Pick a ride a child can finish
The route decides the day. For a first ride with a child who has just lost the training wheels, 5 to 8 km on a flat, sealed path is plenty. A rail trail or a foreshore path works because there are no cars and no real hills. There is usually somewhere to stop halfway. In Melbourne the Bay Trail between St Kilda and Brighton does the job; near Newcastle the Fernleigh Track runs on an old rail line and is flat for 15 km, so you can turn around whenever you like.
Two things make the difference between a good first ride and a short one. Pick an out-and-back, so the way home is a path everyone has already ridden. And decide the turnaround point before you leave, then make it something: a playground, a jetty, a shop with a freezer. A destination gives a six-year-old a reason to keep pedalling that a distance never will.
Go early. Paths are emptier before 9 am and the wind is usually down. A ride that finishes by mid-morning leaves the rest of the day for being tired.
Set up the recording before you leave the house
You want the ride recorded as a GPS track, because a track is the thing you can keep. A photo shows one moment; the track shows the whole route, the wobble at the start, the loop around the playground, the stop at the jetty, the wrong turn in the car park.
Any app that records a ride and exports a GPX file will do. Strava is the common choice and the free account records rides. Strava accounts are for people aged 13 and over, so for a family ride one adult records for everyone. Garmin and Apple watches record too; a Garmin syncs to Garmin Connect, an Apple Watch keeps the ride in Apple Health. Komoot and Ride with GPS both record on a phone and export.
Do the setup the night before, on the couch:
- Install the app and sign in. If it is Strava, check that location access is set to "always" so it keeps recording with the phone in a pocket.
- Charge the phone. A one-hour ride uses little battery, but a phone that starts at 20 per cent will not survive the photos.
- Do a 2 minute test around the block and check the app drew a line. Finding out at the jetty that it never started is the common failure.
Record it on one account
One person presses start at the car, and that is the whole job. Put the phone in a zipped pocket or a top-tube bag (a loose basket will eject it on the first kerb) and forget about it. There is no need to pause at stops; the app counts moving time separately, so ten minutes at the playground shows up in the pace and leaves the line alone.
The person recording should be the one who rides at the back. That way the track includes every detour a child makes, and the detours are what you will want on the poster.
Take one photo at the turnaround with everyone in it. You will want it next to the poster.
When you are back at the car, stop the recording and save the ride. Give it a name you will recognise later. "Morning Ride" is what the app suggests; "First ride, all four of us" is what you will search for in a year.
Get the ride off your phone
There are two ways to get the recording into a poster, and one of them needs no file at all.
Connect Strava. On our activity poster page, choose Connect with Strava and pick the ride from your list. We read that one ride and nothing else, and our access is revoked when you add the poster to your cart or leave the page.
Or export a GPX file. Every app can hand you the ride as a GPX file, which is a small standard file holding the GPS points in order. On Strava, exporting only works on the website, so open the ride at strava.com in a browser, click the three dots on the ride page, and choose Export GPX. Garmin Connect has an export under the gear icon on the activity; Apple Watch rides need a small helper app such as RunGap or HealthFit to save the file. The step-by-step export guide covers each app, including where the file lands on a phone.
Turn the ride into a poster
With the ride connected or the file uploaded, the activity designer draws the exact track you recorded. We never smooth or simplify it, so the loop around the playground stays in. The distance and the date print beneath the line, and the moving time if you want it. The title is yours; "OUR FIRST RIDE" with the date underneath is one that works.
Pick a style and a colour. The Line style on paper is the plainest and suits a short route; Strata ripples bands out from the line and fills the sheet more. If you are not sure, the style mixer shows every style and layout on one route so you can compare them before you commit.
The poster prints to order in Australia on 200 gsm enhanced matte art paper, giclée at 300 dpi, in sizes from A4 to A1. Framed prints arrive ready to hang. A4 unframed is A$59, dispatched within 2 to 4 business days.
Hang it at a height the child can see. The second ride is usually longer, and it helps to have the first one on the wall to compare against.
Questions people ask
Can my child record on their own Strava account?
Strava's minimum age is 13. Under that, one adult records the ride, and the poster is for the family either way.
We stopped a lot. Will the poster show that?
The line shows where you went, not how fast. Stops appear as moving time that is shorter than the elapsed time, and only the moving time prints.
Does it work with a Garmin or an Apple Watch?
Yes. Export the ride as a GPX file and upload it on the activity page. Garmin Connect exports from the website; Apple Watch rides need a helper app to save the file. The export guide has the steps for each.
How long a ride is worth printing?
Any length. A 4 km loop around a lake prints as clearly as a 40 km road ride, because the poster fits the route to the sheet.