Bunchland

Meri Perra blogs about the challenges she and her partner face in trying to raise their girls with feminist values

We made the leap and nabbed a cargo bike off of Craigslist last month, a doozie of a vehicle that fits up to four kids, or as the man we bought her from claimed, two adults and one big dog, or as Sarah Elton wrote in a Grid article last summer, a barbecue.

Whatever you put in them, cargo bikes are some kind of awesome. A freedom ride that lets to cart your kids or your junk (or both) around town, and as the above-mentioned Elton article points out, gives a big, revolutionary stick-it finger to our city’s war on bikes.  Read more...

We half-read, half-daydreamed through this article

Last weekend’s Globe and Mail featured an essay from Karan Smith, datelined Loire Valley, France. Sigh.

Smith and her daughter Pepina were off on a mother-daughter cycling trip that found them biking by Sleeping Beauty’s castle, Cinderella-esque pumpkin patches and actual chickens crossing the road.

They cycled with a guided group of like-minded parents and kids, so unlike the Family on a Bike, it wasn’t all cycling, all the time. Pepina took some breaks from peddling to let her mother tow her and sometimes just hung out in the kids’ van. They took part in other activities like paddling and fencing and obviously took in the fantastic history that the Loire Valley provides. And most importantly, Pepina enjoyed her first crème brûlée.

Just read this and tell us you’re not immediately thinking of booking one of these tours:  Read more...

What we’re reading today:

1. A different type of needle: acupuncture for babies is becoming more and more popular.

2. A North Carolina hospital opens the first clinic for moms suffering from postpartum depression.

3. We know a lot of you awesome Bunchland families cycle together, but how old were the kids when you started? Some parents are wrapping their kids’ heads in tuques and scarves and taking them on a bike when they’re only a few months old.

4. “If music be the food of love, play on.” Okay, so you might not want to get your children into Shakespearean literary criticism at age three, but how about starting music lessons in preschool?

5. If you happen to be taking an end-of-summer trip via plane, check out these 50 fab ways to keep kids amused in the air.  Read more...

We asked The Family Adventure Project’s Stuart Wickes for some bike tips

Stuart Wickes and Kirstie Pelling are an adventure-minded couple from the North West of England. When they became parents, they didn’t see any reason to stop having crazy adventure vacations. They took their then family of four on an end-to-end tour of New Zealand, sometimes cycling, sometimes sailing and sometimes riding the train. As a family of five, they’ve biked around England and made it all the way up to Holland, down to Venice and over to the Baltics. This summer, their cycling destination is Krakow. While your family might not be ready to travel the country end-to-end on bikes, we asked Stuart how to get started on a family adventure.  Read more...

What’s your carrier of choice?

For bike-loving parents, it’s not a question of if you’re going to bring your kids along on a bike ride, but how. We’re taking a look at the various attachments you can put on your two-wheeler to bring the kids along — whether it’s dropping them off at school, or just riding along your favourite path in the city. We’d love if you shared what works for your family.

1. The lift trailer

The lift trailer is great for the kids who are a little older, who’ve mastered (or somewhat get) the art of bicycle balance, but aren’t quite strong enough to keep up with you. The one-wheeled trailer just attaches to your bike and ideally, the kid will help with the pedaling. (For those kids who haven’t quite mastered the balancing thing, we’ve seen training wheels attached to the trailer.  Read more...