Tag: bicycle touring

Pros and Cons of Adventuring with Young Kids

Mariana

I can’t believe I’ve finally finished writing all of the journal posts for our cycling adventure – it only took me 7 months after the trip! But now that I’ve had a chance to look back at this great experience with my little family, I thought it’d be a good time to share the good, the bad, and the ugly about our adventure with young children. Spoiler: there really wasn’t much bad or ugly about it 🙂

Without further ado, here’s the good stuff about our cycle adventure with three kids 6 and under. I think these pros would apply to most adventures with young kids.

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Amazing hosts – and finally, a playmate

Mariana

After leaving Newcastle, we made our way to Oshawa. Although Dan’s sister lives there, her house is a bit too far up from the route we were taking, so we found a host through Couchsurfing. Our host was a seasoned traveller and you can tell he loves hosting people. He spoiled us rotten with delicious home cooking, and even was kind enough to help us get some more much needed gear – I have him to thank for finally getting proper bike shorts.

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Museums, Cousins, Beaches and Farms (Port Hope & Newcastle)

Mariana

After leaving our wonderful hosts in Cobourg, we made our way to Port Hope, where we met up with my hubby’s parents and our niece and nephew. We had a little picnic at the beach, and the kids enjoyed some playtime at the playground.

On our way to the beach, we had noticed the “Firefighter’s Museum,” which I had never even known existed. So, after hanging out at the beach for a while, we decided to take the kids there. It’s a really neat museum showing the history of the firefighting trade in Canada. Entrance is by donation, and the person behind the counter is a volunteer. There were lots of artifacts and interesting things, as well as some really fun stuff for the kids. If seeing an antique firetruck wasn’t cool enough, there was even a little firefighting chariot that the kids can ride—and it’s free.

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Parrot Campsites and Lakefront Houses

Mariana

After arriving at Presqu’ile Provincial Park on May 31st, we started setting up our tents and getting ready for the night. The kids played and had a grand time while Dan and I were getting the tents ready.

Katia set up a whole campsite for her parrot (the one toy she was allowed to bring on the trip), with a campfire pit and everything. It was ultra creative (and ultra adorable).

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Treehouse bathrooms and riding on cows (Consecon-Presquille)

Mariana

It’s been a while since I’ve written about our bicycling adventure. My original intention had been to write blog posts while we were on the road, but no data plan and sheer exhaustion at the end of each day prevented me from doing so.

The intention then changed to writing at least one post a week after getting home, so I could recount our adventures while they were still fresh in my mind. But then, life happened, my writing business got really busy, I remembered that a new homeschooling year is just around the corner… and updating the blog sort of fell off by the wayside.

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5 Lessons Learned from 500 Kilometers on bicycles (with 3 children 6 and under)

Mariana

This post initially appeared on The Huffington Post.

At the end of May 2016, my husband and I decided (somewhat spontaneously) to go on a 560-kilometer cycling trip with our three children (ages 6, 4, and 2).

My husband and I are adventurous people, but there’s no denying that adding children to the mix puts a bit of a damper on how adventurous people become. Recently, my husband and I started thinking, however, that this damper is imposed by society, rather than by any real circumstances.

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Cycling Beautiful Prince Edward County

Mariana

One of the most rewarding things about setting out on a cycling adventure with my family was seeing the beauty of the natural Ontario world, which escapes us when we drive down the 401. We live next door to gorgeous Prince Edward County, but rarely take the time to visit it or to truly take in the beauty of Lake Ontario.

Me, my husband, and three children (ages 6, 4, and 2), left Kingston, Ontario, on May 28th, 2016, and started riding our bicycles. On May 28th, we cycled from Kingston to Bath, On, and enjoyed the little town of Bath on May 29th, before continuing to Picton, where we spent the night.

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Small town markets and pirate playgrounds – Bath, ON

Mariana

As most of you know by now, me, my husband, and our three children (ages 6 and under) set off on a cycling adventure on May 28th, 2016. We decided to see how far we would get, with a possible lofty goal of getting to London eventually. The reason doing a trip like this never stressed me out of overwhelmed me is that I looked at it as a 30 kilometer outing. Then the next day, I looked at it as another 30 kilometer outing, and so forth.

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Minimalist Packing for a Cycle Tour With Kids

Mariana

On May 28th, me, my husband, and my three children (ages 6, 4, and almost 2) set out on the road for a 700-kilometre cycling adventure. We had never done any cycle touring in our lives, did not plan this trip out very well (on purpose), and are having an absolute blast nevertheless.

On June 9th, we rode through Toronto and decided to stay at a hotel, since a house that can accommodate 5 cycling tourists downtown Toronto is sort of non-existent. We stayed at a fairly nice little hotel apartment with a fully equipped kitchen, so we did enjoy some freshly cooked dinner (we’re basically surviving on tortillas, canned food and protein bars—plus more junk food than I think I’ve eaten in my whole life put together at this point, but hey, it’s all good. You gotta live a little).

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4 Things We Should Have Brought on Our Cycling Tour With Kids – No. 4 is the most important!

Mariana

As most of you know by now, me, my husband, and our three children (ages 6, 4, and almost 2), are on a crazy cycling adventure. We decided to ride our bikes from Kingston, ON, to London, ON, a 557-kilometre trek along beautiful Lake Ontario (and sometimes highway 2). We already shared what we’ve brought on our trip, but we thought you might be interested in what we didn’t bring—but wish we had.

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