Sewickley boys, 7 and 4, bicycled more than 300 miles this summer with their dad
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A Sewickley resident and father of two young boys came up with a way to safely keep himself and his kids active during the coronavirus pandemic this summer — cycling.
From the beginning of July to mid-August, Barry Bunnell, 68, and his boys biked more than 300 miles on the Great Allegheny Passage and the Montour rail-trails.
The accomplishment wouldn’t seem like much if it wasn’t for the fact his children, Narayan and Neel, are 7 and 4, respectively. Neel’s bike isn’t even off training wheels yet.
Nevertheless, Bunnell bought a tagalong bike, which attaches to the back of his bicycle so Neel could participate. The tagalong allows the rider to pedal, he said.
“Every once in a while, I would ask him if he’s pedaling and sometimes he said, ‘No,’ ” Bunnell said.
The boys’ trek was done during several day trips, Bunnell said. Their original plan was to get to Washington, D.C., but they ended up just biking to Cumberland, Md. They averaged about 18 miles per day, which meant only advancing 9 miles on the journey because of the need to cycle back to the parked car, he said.
On some days, when she could, Bunnell’s wife, Divya Thadani, joined the family on rides. On those days, they would take turns driving the car ahead to another trailhead as the cyclists made their way on their bikes.
At one point, Narayan needed a new bicycle, Bunnell said. His older bike had 20-inch wheels, so he upgraded to 24-inch wheels, which allowed him to use skinnier tires.
The problem, Bunnell said, was finding a shop with bicycles in stock. That was the entire country’s problem, too, according to PeopleforBikes — a national bicycle advocacy group based in Boulder, Colo.
According to the organization’s data, bike sales are up 65% this year from 2019, placing a strain on shops’ inventories.
PeopleforBikes also reports significant gains, 47% in the past four weeks, in uses of rail-trails, such as the GAP and Montour trails.
“The great thing about the trails is that you can easily social distance,” Bunnell said. “Every time we passed another cyclist, we could move to the side of the trail and be well over 6 feet apart. You can’t always do that when on a sidewalk in town.”
Bunnell is convinced anyone, of any age, who is into cycling can do what he and his family did. He encouraged others who might be interested to take plenty of snacks and water, be prepared to learn about bike maintenance and, if riding with children, to be prepared to stop for play time at different spots along the trails.
“One of the things that slowed us down was the kids wanting to stop at each playground,” he said.
And the trails are easy for beginners.
“Even though the GAP gains 1,600 feet, it does it over a distance of 125 miles so the hill is barely noticeable. The last 24 miles is 1,800 feet downhill. That is a great ride and very easy,” Bunnell said.