Two wheels, three kids, four espressos
By Christy Ann Conlin with photography by Dan Doucette
Cool breezes, meandering coastlines and not nearly enough sleep — a scenic family bike tour along Nova Scotia’s South Shore
Online exclusive: Canadian Geographic Photo Club
Join us for an interview with photographer Dan Doucette and get a behind-the-scenes look into a photo shoot for Canadian Geographic. |
“WHERE ARE THE CHILDREN’S PYJAMAS?” I ask, looking at my husband James, trying to keep my voice as calm and as graceful as our
room in the rambling Boscawen Inn in Lunenburg, N.S. It’s almost 9 p.m., and we’re
exhausted after a long day of cycling. The kids need to go to bed and I need to take a moonlit
walk through the warm August air of this enchanted town.
“I don’t know where the pyjamas are,” says James.
“They should be in the pink suitcase,” I reply. “Where’s the pink
suitcase?”
|
| Click map to enlarge |
“What pink suitcase?”
The pink suitcase containing clothes for my stepdaughters, five-year-old Anna and seven-year-old
Mary, for our week-long cycling vacation is at home — 175 kilometres away. James and
I glare at each other across the tall antique bed as the girls play princess with their 20-month-old
brother Silas. We’d had a deal: I would pack the bags, and James would pack the van.
Or so I thought.
“We don’t need clothes. Daddy can wash these ones in the tub,” says Mary. “Like
the old-time people did.”
Silas jumps up and down on the bed screaming, “Me a lobster!”
We don’t have time to fight — we’re on a luxury bike tour with Freewheeling
Adventures. Over the course of five days, we’ll cycle more than 150 kilometres between
charming inns and bed and breakfasts, from Mahone Bay to White Point Beach, while a van carries
our luggage and lets us ride our bikes without a care in the world. Well, almost. This trip,
designed for families, promises flexibility, peace and relaxation, “a perfect holiday
with your children” and “your dreams come true.” But right now, I feel
as if I’m having a nightmare.
EARLY THE NEXT MORNING, I lean against the support van, dizzy after four cups of coffee
and not enough sleep. James had set out on a three-hour drive home and back the night before,
to fetch the missing suitcase, so we’re both a little bleary-eyed.
But it’s a postcard summer day, blue sky and puffy clouds. I look down and see that
I’ve dribbled coffee on my pink bike shirt. And there’s an egg stain from where
Silas wiped his hands. I watch our intrepid guides, Katie and Tyler, zoom around on bikes.
They are toned and buff, beautiful and tattooed. It’s hard not to feel frumpy. Katie
hands me a water bottle.
|
