Sunday, June 28, 2009

Pooping on the Greenway

Riding with young children is tough. Keeping them happy is half the battle. I have to always work in a break with a playground, bring plenty of water and snacks, and most importantly ride somewhere with adequate restrooms. When I took the boys to Hamden for ride up the New Haven - Northhampton Rail Trail, aka the Faminington Canal Trail never did I expect Brodie to say, "I have to poop!"
Fortunately there is a public bathroom at Brooksvale that is open from May to September. The last ride we did at Middlebury was the same. In fact, now that I think about it, our previous ride at Monroe required poop break, too!

What does that mean for all you fathers and mothers who want to take their kids riding? Make sure you plan on a trail with adequate restroom facilities. Housatonic RR Monroe section, Middlebury, and the Farmington Canal are the three Greenways in my area that meet all the requirements. As for the Trumbull section of the Housatonic RR Greenway, there is no playground and I don't recall whether there are facilities at Old Mine Park. Otherwise you need to prepare by bringing a plastic bag and some wipes.

Here is the view from the restrooms. That red barn you see off in the distance is the approximate location of the jungle gym. We rode back to the play area, had more snacks and played on the various apparatuses. Brodie wanted to see the rabbits.

There was one rabbit that wanted attention. Brodie wanted to get into the cage and snuggle with him.



Trying for a good spot on the bike for a Brodie Cam but that darn Trail-a-Bike get's in the way. I need to see what he is doing while we are riding. What I might try to do is put a little rack on the trail-a-bike and then mount the camera there.

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