A midsummer six-day dream trip with kids
BY BRAD KUKURUDZ
Last August I rolled out of the driveway fully loaded
at the helm of a 2.4-metre, 67-kilo tandem bicycle and set off along the western stretches of Wellington Street while two children vibrated with excitement behind me.
The Rideau Canal system was a
We were starting a six-day, 300-kilometre ride from Ottawa to Kingston, most of it off the beaten track, meaning rural roads, second- ary highways and bicycle paths. We wanted to follow the Rideau River and camp at the historic Rideau Locks along the way. Getting here started five years
ago when I decided that someday I would take my children on an annual cycle tour so I could spend time with my family and still get my tour fix. When I set off with Luna and Annika, aged 7 and 3, it was our first big bicycle trip after a year or two of local forays. I wasn’t too concerned about
distance, but I did worry about routes. I wanted to stay off the main highways roads and find affordable accommodations along the way. And in hot August weather, good swimming holes needed to be part of the journey.
natural choice. The Canal itself in Ottawa has provided my kids with hours of enjoy- ment as we ride the pathways along the Canal and watch boats move through the locks. I found myself thinking how great it would be to follow the historic Rideau Canal system down to Kingston. A Backroads
Mapbook (Eastern Ontario edition) and some web browsing led to the invaluable Rideau Canal Waterway website (see below), with everything from maps to accommodations to the history of the Canal. Cycle camping at the lock stations was cheap ($5 a night per person, kids under 12 free). Although some of- ficial publications say individual cycle tour- ists can’t camp there, it took only a few phone calls and I was told this was not the case and encouraged to come on in. I knew 50 to 60 kilometres was the kids’ daily limit and a family map session set up a route with stages that worked,
20 ottawaoutdoors
to allow her to get aboard the tan- dem. The solution was my Xtracycle Free Radical kit (see inset). It made the bike almost a metre longer, but it had enough space to carry all our gear and mount Annika’s child seat. After a neighbourhood test run that drew curious glances, our touring rig was ready.
mostly on rural or unpaved roads through farmlands of the Ottawa region, and Lanark, Leeds and Gren- ville, and Frontenac counties. We also planned to explore a section of the Cataraqui Trail, a converted rail bed from Smiths Falls to Napanee, with access points to many lock sta- tions along the way. Then I had to find a way to fit all
three of us and our gear, on two wheels. Annika, the really young one, was still too short for a single wheel tagalong) so I looked at ways
www.ottawaoutdoors.ca
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48