home of City Park, a children’s play and water destination. Back home, when the kids were
asked what they did for summer vacation, stories of their trek came to life in vivid detail. With the end of another school year coming up, the only question is, where do we
go next, not whether. «oo
~Brad Kukurudz manages the service shop at Tall Tree Cycles. He’ll be running a family cycling and touring workshop this summer at the Carp Ridge Learning Centre.
TIPS ON BIKING WITH KIDS
• Be flexible with menus and involve the kids in the decisions. A favourite for us was bagels and cream cheese.
• Water. Kids drink when you do. Pee before departure.
• Eat out sometimes. A roadside
eatery is a nice break from the one-pot meal.
• Plan a day off for play midway
through the trip. Kids need a down day.
• Bring toys. A beach ball can double for soccer, volleyball or baseball. Skipping ropes take up little space and water balloons are a hit. A secret stash of activity books or games helps too.
• Bring colour-coded stuff-sacks
for food and clothes.
• Remember it’s not the
destination, but the journey.
Have fun and let the kids dictate the rest stops.
WEBSITES
•
www.mec.ca for camping and cooking gear
•
www.talltreecycles.ca for
bicycles, touring accessories advice
•
www.rideau-info.com/canal all
about everything on the Rideau River and its lock stations
•
www.xtracycle.com bolt-on kit for extra cargo
•
www.gobiking.ca for a detailed list of trails and other links
22 ottawaoutdoors
Pure water
Backcountry purification systems 101
BY KATHLEEN WILKER
Everyone needs water to stay
healthy and active outdoors, and it’s easy to bring water from home for a day trip. But a longer trip means finding water as you go. Don’t drink from that crystal-clear, fast-running stream – an intestinal disease called giardia by the doctor and “beaver fever” by hikers may be lurking, and its parasites are too small to see. Safe water comes from boiling
it, filtering it, or treating it with bacteria-killing tablets. It’s not a slam dunk. Before boiling or filtering water, choose it carefully. From the shore, collect the clearest, debris-free, running water you can get. In a boat, paddle to the middle of the river or lake to scoop it up. Use clean containers. Don’t
collect water in the same containers you’re going to use to store pure water – an easy mistake that can make you sick. Sugars in fruit juice can still grow bacteria in a recycled bottle, so clean containers thoroughly. Boil water at a rolling boil for
five minutes – a few bubbles is NOT a rolling boil – to kill all bacteria. This is a safe method to purify your water, but requires fuel or firewood, time to boil the water and time to cool it afterwards. If you’re using purification tablets
instead of boiling water, use a brand approved by the Red Cross. They are effective against giardia, bacteria, and viruses. You can get tablets that purify one litre at a time or 20 litres from $7 to $20. In a pinch, iodine works, but it’s
www.ottawaoutdoors.ca
unhealthy for people with thyroid conditions and it tastes awful. There are three ways to purify
water without chemicals or fuel for boiling:
MANUAL PUMPS
These are light enough to take
hiking, attach easily to a standard water bottle and include a long plastic pipe with a purifying filter on the nozzle to place in the water source. Prices vary according to how fast you can filter water and how much water you can purify before you need to replace the clogged up ceramic or carbon filters. About $80 gets you a good quality pump. If you’re pumping forever and getting only a trickle, your filter needs cleaning. Back home, take the pump apart and let the filters dry out. Replacement parts are available.
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