OUr first cyclotour with kids
August 15, 2009
Our last week has been busy, we are enjoying our time with the kids in France.
We just returned from a 4 day cycling adventure with Victor and Maxime. Maxime had broken his arm just one week before Philippe and I arrived, therefore he was not capable of cycling. Luckily we still had the dogtrailer that was once supposed to be for Nanook. We transformed the trailer into a luxurious little 'cabin' for Maxime. Also we succeeded in mounting one of our front racks on the rear of Victor's bike, so he could carry some luggage as well (on his own request).
By car we were dropped off at the top of a valley. We spent our first day descending along a creek to arrive at the river the Viaur. After 20km we arrived at Laguepie, a picturesque little village along the river. The camping right by the water was very much welcome. We enjoyed ourselves swimming and playing mini golf in the afternoon.
Day 2 we cycled 32 km, from Laguepie to St Antonin. We picked some prunes from one of the many prune trees along the road. Picnicked on a cute church square. We stopped to pick flowers and to admire a gorgeous caterpillar that was traversing the little road we were on.
Day 3 we cycled 35km from St Antonin to Najac. We had to climb out of the valley. 3 long kilometers up. We figured out a way for Philippe to pull Victor and that worked very well. The descent into Najac was great. Once again we swam and we hiked up a steep hill to reach the Castle of Najac and had some ice cream.
Day 4 we cycled 20 km from Najac to Villefranche de Rouergue, where we were picked up in the afternoon. We had another big climb this time 5km long. Philippe sweat lots as he pulled victor and the rest of his load (that includes Maxime) up the hill.Once on top the road was relatively flat all the way to the end. Once picked up and in the car, we figured out the Temperture was 35 degrees celsius!
We have been throwing water on eachother all these days, wetting our baseball caps and eating lots of ice cream to keep ourselves cool in these roasting temperatures.
All 4 of us loved this short trip. We will be doing another one with the kids next year. Then 4 of us on the bike (unless Maxime decides to break a leg just before we show up just so he can go in the trailer again...).
For fun, Philippe made a cartoon out of all the images of this trip. you can see it below in the slideshow.
This trip was in the Aveyron. From Port de la besse, to Laguepie and back to Villefranche de Rouerue via Najac. This was the kids' first introduction to cyclotouring. The goal was for the kids to want more at the end of the day. We thus decided to keep the days short (30km give or take), stop lots, have some snacks they love, and lots of fun. This first trip was a great succes!
Our last week has been busy, we are enjoying our time with the kids in France.
We just returned from a 4 day cycling adventure with Victor and Maxime. Maxime had broken his arm just one week before Philippe and I arrived, therefore he was not capable of cycling. Luckily we still had the dogtrailer that was once supposed to be for Nanook. We transformed the trailer into a luxurious little 'cabin' for Maxime. Also we succeeded in mounting one of our front racks on the rear of Victor's bike, so he could carry some luggage as well (on his own request).
By car we were dropped off at the top of a valley. We spent our first day descending along a creek to arrive at the river the Viaur. After 20km we arrived at Laguepie, a picturesque little village along the river. The camping right by the water was very much welcome. We enjoyed ourselves swimming and playing mini golf in the afternoon.
Day 2 we cycled 32 km, from Laguepie to St Antonin. We picked some prunes from one of the many prune trees along the road. Picnicked on a cute church square. We stopped to pick flowers and to admire a gorgeous caterpillar that was traversing the little road we were on.
Day 3 we cycled 35km from St Antonin to Najac. We had to climb out of the valley. 3 long kilometers up. We figured out a way for Philippe to pull Victor and that worked very well. The descent into Najac was great. Once again we swam and we hiked up a steep hill to reach the Castle of Najac and had some ice cream.
Day 4 we cycled 20 km from Najac to Villefranche de Rouergue, where we were picked up in the afternoon. We had another big climb this time 5km long. Philippe sweat lots as he pulled victor and the rest of his load (that includes Maxime) up the hill.Once on top the road was relatively flat all the way to the end. Once picked up and in the car, we figured out the Temperture was 35 degrees celsius!
We have been throwing water on eachother all these days, wetting our baseball caps and eating lots of ice cream to keep ourselves cool in these roasting temperatures.
All 4 of us loved this short trip. We will be doing another one with the kids next year. Then 4 of us on the bike (unless Maxime decides to break a leg just before we show up just so he can go in the trailer again...).
For fun, Philippe made a cartoon out of all the images of this trip. you can see it below in the slideshow.
This trip was in the Aveyron. From Port de la besse, to Laguepie and back to Villefranche de Rouerue via Najac. This was the kids' first introduction to cyclotouring. The goal was for the kids to want more at the end of the day. We thus decided to keep the days short (30km give or take), stop lots, have some snacks they love, and lots of fun. This first trip was a great succes!
