Ice Cream at the Fruity Cow was a highlight of the trip.

Find a sizeable parking lot with a slight slope to it. My son wanted to practice in our driveway, and that was OK for about a dozen attempts, but he soon needed more space to practice in.

Start at the highest point of the parking lot. Have the child coast downhill, on his own, without assitance. His feet should be off the ground, but fairly near the ground so that he can stop from falling. The bicycle should not have training wheels. You can even take the pedals off the bicycle for this part, although it is not necessary. The goal here is to have the child learn to balance on the bicycle while it coasts downhill. If the bicycle has a hand brake, he can also practice using the handbrake to stop. It is helpful if there is grass at the end of the parking lot, so that the child can roll into the grass to stop.

After going downhill solo at least a dozen times, I then would meet the child at the bottom of the slope, and assist the child in pedaling back to the start point. This assistance involves holding the child by the shoulders, not holding the bicycle. The child applies power to the pedals to move the bicycle; you are only there to assist with balance, and only on the uphill portion of the practice. As you feel the child balancing on his own, move your arms away from the child so that he’s balancing on his own, but your arms are there to provide reassurance.

Using this method, my son was riding within a day. We bought the bicycle in the morning, and he was riding by 7pm. We did take a few breaks during the practice, to minimize his frustration level. Also, I think that by taking a break from something, it allows the brain to process the thing, so that he got better when he returned to the task.

Untitled from Kenneth Zirkel on Vimeo.

For reference, here is my Flickr set of my EBBP photos these views are mostly of the EBBP traveling from Haines State park to the playground in Warren.

The East Bay Bicycle Path leads from its southern terminus in Colt State Park in Bristol (actually, it starts slightly south of Colt State Park) and stops just short of Providence, Rhode Island. In-between are several parks, two playgrounds, three ice creameries (plus a Del’s), one bike shop, two picturesque wooden bridges, and lots of fun. (These statistics are all off the top of my head, and very much subject to error!). I’ve done the whole EBBP from top to bottom, and I return several times a year.

Start: Haines State Park

For me, Haines Memorial State Park (Google Map GPS: 41.753718,-71.347989; park along Metropolitan Park Drive) in Barrington, Rhode Island is the usual beginning point for my rides. From there, I’ll either head North or South. The rides described here all begin at Haines State Park, and all measurements are distances from Haines. Haines State Park has bathrooms in a circular building just north of the parking spot at Matropolitan park Drive.

Northern section

Heading North from Haines State Park you will fairly quickly come upon the Vintner Avenue playground (Google Map; GPS:41.756379,-71.350558), a relatively smallish neighborhood playground. It’s really too soon to make a stop, but you can promise your small children that you will stop on your way back, after ice cream. A few miles uproad you’ll encounter Dairy Bee (open seasonally; Google Map GPS: 41.771821,-71.362375), and for years this was our small-child route: Haines to Dairy Bee and back; 1.5 miles each way, 3.0 miles round trip (Google Map).

North of Dairy Bee

Continue north of Dairy Bee and you’ll leave behind amenities, for a mostly quiet and scenic ride along the Providence River. You’ll have a view of a lighthouse and Squantum Club. There are several stretches where you’ll have water on both sides of you, and the path terminates at the Veterans Memorial Parkway, from which point it’s a small hop to the bike path on the Washington Bridge to Providence. The bike path on the Washington Bridge will be intermittently closed for renovations until it is re-opened with a grand new plan.

South of Haines State Park

Our typical ride will begin at Haines State Park and go south. From there, you can set a destination at any number of interesting points, depending on the stamina level of your party; either the Fruity Cow (4.4 miles from Haines), the Warren town beach and playground (5 miles from Haines; GPS: 41.722883,-71.284683), or go all the way to Colt State Park (8.1 miles from Haines; GPS: 41.681839,-71.301076).

Leaving Haines State Park, traveling south, is a very sweet ride. After 1.9 miles you come to Brickyard Pond (GPS: 41.737424,-71.32174), which is a nice point for a snack and a rest, and to look at the ducks and swans. Shortly after Brickyard Pond is an intersection with a shopping mall, grocery store, and, to the left of the southbound rider, the Daily Scoop (GPS: 41.738181,-71.305712), which is good but pricey. Save your appetite for the Fruity Cow at mile 4.4. Between Daily Scoop and Fruity Cow, there are two beautiful wooden bridges, which cross the Barrington River and Warren River, respectively. The Fruity Cow 4.4 miles from Haines is my favorite EBBP stop. New owners bought it a few years back, came up with the family-friendly “fruity cow” theme, installed a “bike-up” window, and offered a smoothies and ice cream menu. Very cyclist-friendly. Also, there are bathrooms available at the Warren fire station across the street.

Just south of the Fruity Cow there’s a bike shop and then a convenience store, where you can buy drinks, snacks, and sandwiches. Next to the convenience store you’ll see a bandshell park; go through (or around) the park and you’ll discover a playground and small beach (5 miles from Haines; GPS: 41.722883,-71.284683). The playground is great for small children. There is no fee.

Past the playground is a challenging part of the ride; probably best for experienced children, and we often will turn around and head back from here. There are several miles of “wild” undeveloped land (including an Audubon sanctuary and visitor center which is definitely worth a visit (roughly at the 6 mile mark; there’s a footpath from the EBBP to the Audubon center. GPS: 41.710706,-71.280523).

A few miles later you come to the Colt State Park entry driveway. Turn right to take it to Barrington town beach, which admits cyclists for free, and you can take a swim. Just south of that is Colt State Park itself (8.1 miles from Haines; GPS: 41.681839,-71.301076), a huge public park with bike trails, rocks to climb on, a jetty, picnic areas, bathrooms (open seasonally), and usually lots of people waking dogs, flying kites, and having fun.

The EBBP ends shortly past Colt State Park, but it’s something of an anticlimax. If you’ve missed Colt State Park, turn around, it’s not far behind you.

Anyway, I digress. As we were getting ready, we got a call from Daughter’s friend, who was looking for something to do. So she came along for the ride. Son rode on the trail-a-bike, and poor Wife, who was not feeling well, stayed home. We managed ten miles today, and of course stopped at our favorite ice cream spot and playground. More photos of the bike ride here, and a couple of videos on Flickr.

1. Double spotlight on front handlebars (unfortunately, only one works at the moment)
2. Three Hokeyspokes on the front wheel
3. Christmas Light set around the main triangle
4. Reflective safety vest
5. Rear blinky lights on helmet, seatpost, and vest