toddler on tour

After a slightly fretful night’s sleep and an early awakening, watching Matt lust after the recumbent bikes out front and Theo terrorize all and everyone around him, we finally left Bloomfield, the quirky bike store, barn and our hosts behind, and started back on the waterfront trial for the final stretch towards Toronto. Once again, [...]

We lingered a while at the house of our hosts Mary-Lou and Ian in Bath, reluctant to leave the sanctuary of the golfing green and quiet neighbourhood- but aware, as ever, that the time was ticking away and we needed to get back on the bikes once more. It was around 11am when we finally [...]

Leaving Ottawa after our day off with Angie and Matthew, we planned to head south-west and edge back towards the Ottawa River to the point at which it joined with Lake Ontario, where we would join the Waterfront Trail and begin the very final stretch towards our final city and destination- Toronto. How can the [...]

After a restful night of recovery, watching films and catching an early night in Orleans, we were on track once more to climb aboard our bikes for the short but sweet ride into Ottawa, Canada’s capital city. We were officially riding in on Labor Day- which, for all intents and purposes, is not too unlike [...]

Leaving behind the [overpriced] d’Oka National Park and continuing once more along Route Verte 1, we quickly found ourselves entering Kanehsatake- a Mohawk settlement along the shore of the Ottawa River in southwest Quebec with a strong sense of history and evidence of the immersion of the native language in schools and local businesses. What [...]

Following two fantastic days with our host Mimi, we finally pieced together a blueprint for a route, with the amazing help and input of Mimi’s brother and the additional plus of a place organized for us to stay the following night after Mimi called upon some friends of hers further down the river. We couldn’t [...]

After the previous ‘mishap’ when attempting to undertake a guided tour in Quebec City with Theo in tow, we decided a less-ambitious approach was required when undertaking the task of bringing Theo into the city of Montreal. However, following the unexpected expenditure of my replacement wheel the previous day also, we were on the look-out [...]

It’s 6.45am, and by nature, I’m not a morning person. I’m just struggling to pull myself into consciousness and grudgingly slide a sleepy eye open to acknowledge Matt and ‘shh!’ Theo, who is already bouncing over my legs with enthusiasm. I pull my sleeping bag back over my head and shiver against the cold, half [...]

After the storm passed, we took back to the Route Verte cycle path once more, leaving Farnham and heading north-west towards Chambly. The damage caused by the storm characterised our entire day- and as they say, a picture can speak a thousand words. Here’s a look at the hurdles and sights Irene left in our [...]

We decided to stay an extra night in Waterloo, at the home of our hosts-in-absentia, another touring cycling family who had kindly opened their doors to us and let us have the run of their home for a few nights. With time ticking, however, we knew we couldn’t afford to hang around or too long- [...]