On some of our nicer cycle routes it is possible to hire a bike with a smaller bike attached to the back (like a big/small tandem) this is good for a preschool child and you can get a bike with a covered little seat on wheels for a toddler. I wouldn't take these on the road (some do) but they are fantastic for cycle paths.I love to go for bike rides with my sons. Now that they are older and will ride for longer periods of time it is a nice way to just get out and do something together. Now if the weather would just warm up already so we can go bike riding.
It was like that when I was young too, sadly by the time my children came along it was not safe for them to play out alone on bikes.I remeber how when we were young my friend and me used to ride our bicycles all the time...we even played with other kids, riding a bike and trying to catch each other....it was great fun and I miss those times terribly...
My teenage children love riding bikes, but it has to be a family event and it involves transporting their bikes to a safe starting point (usually cycle path or country park). It is not spontaneous in the way that it was during my childhood.justontime...it really is sad, we do not see kids riding bikes anymore the way we used to do it...like so many things bicycle riding too seems to have become a boring thing for kids or as you said...too dangerous with the amount of vehicles on the road....