The Sandwich Generation Riding Two or Three Wheel Bicycles: 5 Health, Safety, and Fun Tips

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WOOHOO! It’s officially summer today. Though, as I’ve mentioned before, the unseasonably hot weather beat the calendar by a long shot everywhere my far-flung Sandwich Generation family lives! It seems to have been a year of extreme winter and extreme summer with a hint of comfy spring in between. How about you?

Thanks to the early warmth, we’ve been enjoying outdoors fitness fun for seniors, boomers, and kids alike and it’s definitely been great. But, as the temps are rising, and the weather warnings and alerts are landing in my AT&T cell phone, I realized it would be good to mention some important health and safety tips:

1. Cell Phones for Senior Citizens are like a safety buddy – Make sure that when you or your elderly parent are off riding two or three wheel bicycles that you take a cell phone with you in case of an emergency. I have always highly recommended the buddy system – for everyone from my youngest grandkids to my most elderly parents and grandparents. That’s not always an option for the seniors, especially for my senior moms. But having one of does give her and me a lot more peace of mind.  

2. Water is wonderful – I personally just like to grab a bottle of water from the 32 pack I keep on hand for bike rides, sick days, and emergencies. My friend prefers to use Nalgene refillable and reasonably spill proof (if you put the lid on right 🙂 ) water bottles. She can tell you, chapter and verse, how much better they are than any others (hmmm…an article for another day :)) and absolutely loves them. Whatever you take, do take something to help stave off heat stroke for yourself, your grandkids, and your seniors while having fun exercising.

3. Hats Help With Heat and Sun Glare – I’m always forgetting to grab one of my red or black baseball caps (I admit, my black baseball cap is my favorite). When I do, I am always reminded how important it is to have something to shade our eyes. And not just for the moment. Doctors tell us to protect our eyes from the sun’s glare to keep them healthy for the long term. So we need to make sure our elderly parents and our grandkids are wearing a hat or sunglasses of some type too. My mom won’t wear the baseball cap I love but she lives in her sunglasses – even wearing them inside at times.

4. Sunscreen to stave off treatments for skin cancer, especially on the nose. Can you tell that more than one in our family has dealt with that issue! Hats definitely help but so does a good sunscreen! Our family favorite has been Coppertone Water Babies Sunscreen Lotion for years. It’s gentle, strong, and lasts! We love it.

Well, there you have it. My Sandwich Generation caring for elderly parents and having fun as a granny nanny “bag of tricks” for the great outdoors. Do you have something to add? We’d love to hear about it. In the meantime, have a great time on outings with senior parents or fun activities for grandparents and their grandchildren. Oh yes, number 5? Don’t forget to grab that easy to use digital camera to capture all the fun memories you are about to make. 🙂