A Midsummer Six-day Dream Trip with Kids

Rating  ***

Brad Kukurudz bravely challenged himself to take his two small children aged 7 and 3 on a six day, 300-kilometer bike ride from Ottawa to Kingston.

5 years before the trip itself, Brad began preparation for this adventure with his young girls, making a promise to himself that he would take them on an annual bicycle tour to give him the opportunity to spend some time with his quickly growing girls, and to also enjoy the beauty of nature. Although he wasn't too concerned about distance he had many things to take into consideration when traveling with young children, such as the routes he had to take. Each route was planned carefully to avoid busy roads and highways, yet the routes needed to include many spots to stop for water breaks, or more preferably for the girls; ice-cream breaks. During the 6 day adventure they visited one provincial park (Rideau River, just outside Kemptville) and four lock stations -Merrickville, Smith Falls, Jones Falls and then Upper Brewers locks, just before their final push to Kingston.
A question that comes the mind when reading this article is, what do you do with 2 young children on a bike trip for 6 days? According to Brad, games such as "I Spy", Knock-Knock jokes, story telling and many many songs did the trick.

This article gave a detailed, fun story on Brad Kukurudz's trip with his two children. This article showed me that even small children can appreciate the wonders of nature and how good it is to be outside in the fresh air. It was refreshing to read of his fun time with them. I would recommend this article to any bike ride enthusiasts, as it really is a cheery article on enjoying cycling with ALL of the family.


Ottawa Outdoors Spring/Summer 2010
A Midsummer Six-day Dream Trip with Kids (Pg 20-22)
by Brad Kukurudz