KolemKolem with kids? Get ready at home, then just pedal
A family bike trip around Lipno can be a fantastic day. Bikes on the car, kids excited, a snack in the backpack and several hours of shared adventure ahead of you. But the KolemKolem journey doesn't start only on the cycle path. It starts at home and continues at the moment you put the kids into the car.
That's exactly where it pays to spend a few minutes on preparation. According to materials from the Bezpečnost má zelenou project by Kooperativa, up to 60% of parents make mistakes when using child car seats. Most often it is loose or twisted belts, strapping the child in over a thick jacket, a badly adjusted headrest or an unsuitable choice of seat.
So it's not enough to simply sit the child down and click the belt. Check that the seat is properly secured, that the headrest is adjusted and that the belts are tightened. With ISOFIX seats it pays to check the correct attachment and, depending on the type, the support leg as well. Kooperativa recommends verifying the belt tightness also with a simple check of the space between the belt and the child's chest. For the youngest children, rear-facing travel is also important.
And then comes the second part of a safe journey – the kids themselves.
Every parent knows it. “I'm thirsty.” “My stuffed animal fell.” “Are we there yet?” And sometimes it's exactly at a moment like this that the driver starts looking for a bottle, reaching to the back or turning around. But even a short loss of attention can be a problem.
So get the kids ready for the trip before you set off. Tell them where you're going and what awaits you. Give them a drink so that they can reach it safely, prepare a favorite toy and keep everything you need within reach. If you want to see the child while driving, a rear-view mirror designed for exactly this purpose can help. And when something can't be solved safely while driving? Just stop. As Kooperativa also reminds us: safety is not a race against time!
By the way, in a crash simulation at a speed of just 30 km/h, extreme g-forces of up to around 50 G can occur. Even a seemingly short trip to Lipno therefore deserves the same attention as a long vacation across half of Europe.
Car parked. Now let's hit the bikes!
At Lipno, the more pleasant part begins. Open KolemKolem.info, choose a route according to the age of your kids, their fitness and how many kilometers you want to manage that day, and you can set off.
Before the start, one more quick family check: helmets fit, bikes are in order, brakes brake, tires have the correct pressure, the backpack holds a drink, something to eat, a light extra layer and basic equipment for a small repair. If you're carrying a smaller child in a bike seat or a trailer, also check before the trip that it is properly secured.
And what if something does go wrong after all? Save the number of our SOS transport +420 732 497 277 before you go. Thanks to the support of Kooperativa, we can be near cyclists in the Lipno region even at a moment when the trip doesn't go quite to plan.
So buckle up, check, plan... and then off you go on your bikes around Lipno!
More about the Bezpečnost má zelenou project.
