Cycling

“How was your night?” she asks as I rub my temples.

I yawn and smack my dry mouth.

“Oh, a rough night,” she says. She glances down at Silas, who is trying to mount my bike. “He’s the youngest child we’ve had on a trip, so just let us know what we can do to help.”

I check my pack to make sure I have enough diapers and extra clothes for the kids, and Katie asks whether we have figured out who is riding with whom. I have a trailer for Silas hooked up behind my bike, while James is pulling a tagalong bike for Anna and Mary, who will alternate between riding the bike and in the van. But right now, I feel like hunkering down on the park bench across the street.

“Anna, get down,” I hear James say. She is trying to hop on the bike before it’s been properly secured. “You’re going to fall before we’ve even started.”

Katie packs Mary and Silas in the van so that I can have a solo ride, a bit of time to myself. Mary’s face brightens as Katie tells her that she needs an assistant. I explain to our guides that if they aren’t careful, Anna will have them making her blender drinks.

MY FATIGUE IS BANISHED by the exhilarating ride through steep and narrow one-way streets on our way out of Lunenburg. Settled in 1753, the town is also home port to the Bluenose II, whose masts we could see from our room at the inn. Tyler stops to attend to some mechanical problems, so I forge ahead. Anna and James are nowhere to be seen. I come upon Ofer and Karen, a couple travelling with their teenage son. This is their third family bike trip.

Karen smiles. “I really admire you for coming on this trip with such young children,” she says. She’s got a warm voice and knowing maternal eyes.

“I think we agreed to it in a moment of insanity,” I say.

They laugh, standing under the shade of a large tree, and I find myself laughing with them.

An hour later, I pull into Ovens Natural Park, a privately owned reserve that features a series of man-made sea caves. I see our crew parked near a cliff overlooking the ocean. The view is staggering — craggy bluffs jut out into the glimmering water, and the sky is a shocking blue. The dark rocks down on the beach seem like sculptures.

I’m also stunned as Katie and Tyler wave to me. They are on their knees operating a manual blender making fruit smoothies. Anna smiles my way. Tyler and Katie giggle as they add some mango. I leave them to their smoothies and sit on the grass munching blueberry cheddar. Down on the beach, I can see James and Silas panning for gold with the glassy waves crashing behind them.

“DIG DEEP,” HOLLERS ANNA. It’s morning, and we have just started off from Broad Cove, a teensy spot south of Lunenburg. “We’re losing you.” Anna pedals like a seasoned cyclist, and I can see the well-defined muscles in her five-year-old calves as we head into a steep hill.

“I’m tired,” I whimper.