Cyclecamping with Kids
It's four-thirty in the morning. It's pitch dark in the middle of a French
campsite and there is frost covering the grass. I am naked except for a fleece
pullover and beside me my two-year-old son, Sam - is having a pee on the
grass. When he's finished I carry him over to his tent and as quietly as I can,
so as not to wake Rosie (age 6 months) I lower him gently into his sleeping
bag and quietly, very quietly, pull his zip up - "Is it time to get up yet
daddy?" pipes an enthusiastic four-year-old (Arthur), HOW DID I GET
INTO THIS SITUATION!!!
I suppose it started six years before, when, euphoric after freewheeling out of
the Pyrenees, and feeling that we'd had a real adventure, Kate and I decided
to start our family. Like many keen cycling couples we realised that babies
would severely curtail our cycletouring, but you've got to do it sometime. So
in the manner of these things, 18 months later found us the parents of a
bouncing baby boy, Arthur. Having a small baby, and a addiction to
cyclecamping were going to be a problem but undeterred we set off on out
first tour, around the coast of Brittany, when Arthur was eight months old.
We had done day rides previous to this, in fact Arthur was "Baptised" at the
age of 3 months by strapping his car seat to my rear rack (don't tell the social
services...) which proved very successful as he slept through the entire trip.
Now though, it was serious cyclecamping, and this posed much more serious
problems/buying opportunities, as my credit card will testify.
The kit list read something like this -
1/ Baby seat, a nice wrap around one which gives a bit more protection if
you fall.
2/ Helmet, we don't wear them, but Arthur doesn't trust us so we invested in
a "Baby Bell Shell" which seemed fine until the chin strap buckle came apart
in my hands the second time we used it, but a replacement was found. The
problem with babies and helmets is that their heads are already heavy, and
the added weight of the helmet makes their head fall forward when they go
to sleep - usually 30 seconds after the off. I tried tying the helmet to the back
of the seat with an elastic band, but then his head hung rather uncomfortably
from the chinstrap so I just got used to the thump in the back as he fell asleep
and his head bonked up against me - it didn't seem to bother him though it
looked as if his neck was broken...
3/ A bigger tent - big bucks again, we bought a Jack Wolfskin Dragon,
plenty of room for us three and a doddle to put up, only problem is that
they've stopped making it.
4/ Panniers - Those of you with babies know that they need a staggering
amount of gear. We had to buy a bigger car just to fit it all in when we went
visiting. So cyclecamping, where you carry everything including your home,
means a lot more panniers. My poor bike, a whippy 653 touring lightweight
was loaded like a packhorse with full sized front and rear panniers while
Kate carried the monster. As the frame was as stiff as wet string I expected
problems, but Bob Jackson - who made the frame, know what they're doing
and despite feeling a bit unhappy it coped without complaint.
5/ Baby's sleeping bag - Most kids sleeping bags are meant for caravan use,
we needed something that would keep our baby warm if it froze - the
alternative of sharing our sleeping bags was too ghastly to contemplate. It
took a bit of tracking down but Jack Wolfskin again came to the rescue with
their "Papoose" bag which was perfect though pricy. As it was big enough
for an eight year old we thought it'd get some use... They also came up
trumps with a Polartec 200 Fleece suit which kept Arthur warmer than his
mum and dad.
6/ Baby things - Now the reason for the groaning panniers. A two week
supply of nappies (my sincere and heartfelt thanks to Mr Pamper...), sundry
wipes, a million changes of clothes (I make do with one) washing stuff but
NO BOTTLES. If you're going to do this properly, breast feeding is highly
recommended, apart from the weight and space advantage it means I can't
share the night feeding duties (ducks expertly thrown damp breast pad...).
So thus equipped we set off into the sunset, it poured with rain for the
fortnight, we got soaked, we wrapped Arthur in an old cycling cape held
down with arno straps and he loved every second of it! The biggest problem
was trying to keep the little so-and-so off the bikes at camp, he had a one track
mind - he just wanted to get back in that babyseat! On the way of course he'd
get covered with oil and we'd have kittens as he tried to pull the bikes down
on top of himself.
Ten months later found us tackling the Pyrenees again, yes with Arthur on
the babyseat. There was one tiny extra load, Kate was five months pregnant
(what a woman!). It was harder than I remembered, maybe it was steeper,
but Arthur was in heaven, shrieked with laughter as we hit fifty coming off
the Tormalet, and Kate cured her morning sickness...
The arrival of Sam, complicated matters of course. The credit card glowed
red hot as we bought a still bigger tent, another child's sleeping bag and of
course another baby seat. Things were getting a bit out of hand on the pannier
front by now and so sinking further into debt we bought a Yak "Beast of
Burden" trailer, BOB for short. I could eulogise for pages over this piece of
kit, but to keep it short, it made cyclecamping possible with two babies in
babyseats, and performed faultlessly, it is a product beyond reasonable
criticism and I'm eternally grateful to Mr Yak. It also had the side effect of
taking much of the load off my long suffering touring bike. Thus equipped
we set of for a wonderful fortnight in the Loire valley, by now pace was
slowing and we were down to about 30 miles a day, but the kids loved it and
the lovely safe French campsites meant they could burn off their energy in
the evenings and sleep like babies.
So we had it taped, until Rosie of course. This ray of sunshine was not
exactly planned, but we, and the credit card took it as a challenge and we hit
the shops again. Arthur was now four, and demanded a trailerbike. At vast
expense, and in the knowledge it would last at least three (what do you mean
at least!) children we bought one of Islabike's trailerbikes. Arthur was
ecstatic, and Kate got a bit of help up the hills. I on the other hand had a
Burley D'Lite trailer attached to my poor bike. Comments on Mr Burley and
Isla Rowntree's offspring are as for BOB - thanks. So with Arthur pedalling,
and Sam and Rosie tucked up we set off again, this time to The Mayenne for
a fortnight. Now down to 25 miles a day and my bike and legs under serious
strain we cycled to the first campsite, which is where I started this tale of our
travails. Later that morning, 6.30 am to be precise, Sam got up and decided
to be miserable. Half an hour later we were all up. The sun had still not risen,
everything was covered in frost and it was so cold I couldn't get the lighter
going to start up the Trangia. Sam was crying and Kate had lost her sense of
humour. Arthur on the other hand realised that this morning was the make-or-
break, the car was only 20 miles away. He did a passable impression of a
Butlins Redcoat on a rainy August bank holiday, desperately cheerful and
willing, hopping about trying to cheer up Sam (who wanted to go home) and
helping pack up his tent - he and Sam had their own by now... Bless his
heart, he kept us going, and half an hour later we were sitting in a bar
drinking hot chocolate whilst the other clientel wondered whether to call the
police. A few days later and we were in the groove, our camping routines
remembered and all of us happy. And that really is the point of this article,
Kids LOVE it. You get time with them away from the telly, and through ups
and downs you learn a lot about yourselves, right now I can't think of
anything I would rather be doing, and that goes for the rest of us.
Geoff Husband + family