Tips for cycling…and with the family

Fancy a cycling holiday? Well, here are some tips to cycle… but as a family.

It’s over cycling around with the group and leaving the family behind. Whether you have young or older children, linking your cycling holiday to a family trip is a great opportunity to enjoy cycling in a different way.

Okay, maybe you’re not going to mark past stages wherever you go, but why do you want to rack up miles if you don’t have anyone to share them with?

1. Not leaving children with grandparents

A true family cycling trip doesn’t mean you take your family where you want to cycle, then drop them off at the resort you booked and forget about them. A family bike trip means you take them with you, even if it means planning easier routes. Obviously you’re not going to take your 5 and 7 year olds climbing Mount Teide, as that could turn a family cycling holiday into a family odyssey.

2. Take what is necessary

Considering there are going to be quite a few of you, don’t go all out with the jersey set and take the essentials so that you can all enjoy your family trip. If you pack light when preparing for your bike route, you can ensure that the same essence applies to the entire trip.

3. Bikepacking and let’s cycle

It may seem like bikepacking is only an option for adventurers, but… what if you plan it as a family road trip? You can simply shorten stages and cycle on easier roads. Moreover, there are more and more cycling routes aimed at everyone: the Eurovelo route that runs throughout Europe, the Vías Verdes in Spain, which take advantage of abandoned railway lines to create trails suitable for cyclists and walkers, etc.

4. A plan for all

It is true that it is much easier to plan the route with your group because you all have similar needs. But with the family it can be another story: your 10-year-old daughter might be keen on visiting a big city, your 7-year-old son might be an earthquake and want to go mountainbiking, and your partner may think about a gastronomic and oenological cyclotourism tour. Now you take all that combo and combine it into a journey where everyone has their share of fun. It might be a bit difficult, but in fact you get a much more nuanced journey than one based only on cycling, food and sleep.

5. Make it a journey that sticks… and your kids can learn from.

And that means planning a trip focused on sustainability and connected to natural and scenic environments. Nothing better to raise awareness among future generations than to show them first-hand something so beautiful that they have no other choice than the desire to protect it… and to be able to cycle with their own family in the future.