Would you let your 12 year old ride his bike up Wisconsin Ave/Rockville Pike?

[Anonymous]

I'm going to start this by saying that I'm on the "free range" end of the spectrum, so if you aren't a better way to think of this might be "do you think a child who is ready for X is ready to ride their bike up Wisconsin Ave.?"

We live South of NIH, and my son is signed up for an activity North of NIH. The activity requires him to get there once a week before I arrive home from work. There's a bus that leaves from walking distance from my house, to quite close to the activity, and that's definitely within my comfort level for him, he's gotten pretty good at public transportation this summer.

However, when we were mapping out the route for the bus we both realized that the total distance from my front door to the place is about 3 miles. Which lead to my son asking "3 miles, I can just ride my bike right?" At first I said yes, but then when we looked on the map we realized that there's really no way to get around NIH that doesn't involve riding on either Wisconsin Ave, or Old Georgetown for most of the way. Old Georgetown would add a lot of distance, and frankly I'm not sure it's really any better.

So, my question is, does anyone think this is a safe alternative? Do I make a 12 year old ride on the sidewalk? (the sidewalk there always seems empty) In the street?

Alternatively, he has proposed me taking the money I would spend on the bus, and buying him either a longboard (like a skateboard, but longer and made for traveling as opposed to tricks) or a scooter that's taller and sturdier than his razor scooter, and having him travel that way. Realistically, I'm not sure how fast one travels on those things, and whether that makes 3 miles realistic.


Thoughts?

[Anonymous]

Bus. Why risk it? This is after school, correct? After-school traffic is as nuts or nuttier than rush hour traffic.

So, that's the question. Why risk it? He can read on the bus. He can observe on the bus.

[Anonymous]

I don't know your 12 year old, but yes, I would let mine ride his bike but I'd require him to use the sidewalk. My 12 year old is a seasoned trail rider and has been using his bike for transportation for years. This would be a new level for him, but I'd do it with him a handful of times first to practice and decide on a route before I sent him alone. And then he'd have to text me to let me know he arrived.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bus. Why risk it? This is after school, correct? After-school traffic is as nuts or nuttier than rush hour traffic.

So, that's the question. Why risk it? He can read on the bus. He can observe on the bus.

Because the logistics of the bus are complicated. He'd need to ride to walk about 1/2 mile to the metro, wait, catch the bus, get off, walk again . . .

Riding his bike seems faster, so unless there's a significant safety difference I think he'd rather do that.

I'm not really convinced that one is safer than the other, which is why I want opinions.

[Anonymous]

Mom of three here: I would try the route out with an adult first during the actual time he needs to ride his bike.I think riding on the sidewalk would be a lot safer. He would just need to be considerate of pedestrians. I would not have a problem with a responsible 12 year old biking this route if it was vetted beforehand.

[Anonymous]

Only if he didn't ever have to be on the street surface of Rockville Pike.

I would apply the same standard to myself - *I* wouldn't ride on Rockville Pike. The traffic is too heavy/erratic.

[Anonymous]

How far north of NIH? There's a stretch of 355 right before Grosvenor with ZERO sidewalk option - no connecting side streets, nothing. I think it's soon after Pooks Hill, where 355 passes over the Beltway. Found this out the hard way on a run. Trolley trail is the alternative, but much less direct.
Definitely try the ride yourself ahead of time.
Bike nut DH says he wouldn't want a tween riding up that chunk of the Pike in the roadway -steep hill and no shoulder. He would send him on the Trolley Trail instead.

[Anonymous]

OP here, it's before Pook's Hill.

I'm pretty sure there's sidewalk the whole way, but he'd have to switch sides at least once. We live West of 355 and the activity is West, but at least one portion there's only a sidewalk on the East. He could cross over in the tunnel of the Capital Crescent trail, but he'd have to cross on the surface to get back.

Is crossing 355 included in the perception that the surface isn't safe? Or did you mean biking in the road, along with traffic.

I don't know about the trolley trail, where exactly is it? It might be a good option, but I don't know where it is. Does it go behind Bethesda Naval?

[Anonymous]

The trolley doesn't go where you need him to go. He can take a path that skirts NIH and comes out in the nighborhood that borders NIH on the Old Georgetown side. He goes up Old Georgetown and then cuts into the neighborhood jsut past Ceder lane and he can go through that neighborhood. He can take the Crestent Trail and come out in East Bethesda and cut up Rosedale and cross at the light there and go down Battery to pick up the path.

confused? go have an adventure with him and ride it. He can also put his bike on the front of the ride on bus.

[Anonymous]

What do the other kids do? Then do that.

[Anonymous]

Most of the other kids seem to have a parent available to drive them.

[Anonymous]

I have driven up Wisconsin Avenue pretty often and I rarely see people on bikes. There's road work going on there, too, because so many more people will be coming to work at the hospital in September.

Riding the bike to Metro sounds like a better option to me, and riding the bus is a valuable skill, too. Good luck, OP.

[Anonymous]

More info on the Trolley Trail here: [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Bethesda_Trail[url]. I've lived here forever and had never heard of it until a couple of months ago.

[Anonymous]

NO

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know your 12 year old, but yes, I would let mine ride his bike but I'd require him to use the sidewalk. My 12 year old is a seasoned trail rider and has been using his bike for transportation for years. This would be a new level for him, but I'd do it with him a handful of times first to practice and decide on a route before I sent him alone. And then he'd have to text me to let me know he arrived.

If you had the arrangement to text when he arrived, how long before you'd get concerned if he didn't text? And what would you do at that point, if you got no response to your text? I'm not trying to start something, but this kind of "not knowing" would really cause me to worry. He could be anywhere by the time you texted again, made a call, or drove to the area.