Earlier this year (Easter school holidays) I loaded half a ton of kit plus my merry mob of 3 children (Molly 10, Daisy 6 and Jack 3 ) onto my Circe Helios triplet electric assist contraption which, with the Burley trailer attached, is 14-feet long – about as long as a Range Rover, and off to the Channel Islands we sallied by sail (ferry). We cycled 277 miles in 11 days.
Day 1. Early one morning (6a.m.) at the beginning of April Gary gave us a lift to Portsmouth in the camper van. Gary couldn’t come on our overseas jaunt as he had to work next door to the ferry port at the naval base where, as a carpenter, he was helping to conserve the Victory.
I hadn’t tested to see whether I could fit all the hefty clobber for 4 people on a bike before I left but amazingly? it did!
All aboard! We tethered the mount to the car deck where the ferry handlers were very surprised: they were expecting a bike not a behemoth.
7 hours later, and after seeing bits of France float past (Normandy) we arrived in Guernsey’s St Peter Port.
There were palm trees a-plenty – so much so that we could even attach a cluster of them to the bike.
The wagon in action. This photo was taken by a woman from Leeds who was standing on a hill overlooking this road when she spotted us and was so amazed at the size of the bike that she took a picture. A week later we happened to meet her on the other side of the island and she said, ‘I took a picture of you last week because I couldn’t believe my eyes what was coming down the road! In all my days I’ve never seen anyone ride anything so long!’ And then she sent me the picture.
These are the sort of road signs I like!
I found some roadside litter (an L plate) so put it to good use.
I’m used to cycling places where? I seem to manage to attract the worst weather on record nearly everywhere I go. So cycling around the Channel Islands came as a pleasant surprise as the sun shone…
and shone…
and shone…
and shone…
and shone…
and shone.
With so much sun we could stop all the time to play on rocks or…
beaches or…
rocky outcrops or…
green grassy banks or…
leapfrog bike stands or…
stop to eat lots of chips and ice creams or…
have a luxurious Easter Day lunch lounging on the ground in the car park of a local Co-op.
?Coming soon: France to the Netherlands (via Belgium) by 4-person bike…
November 8th, 2017
Hey, Molly. My students say “Hi!”
November 8th, 2017
I mean *Josie!
November 9th, 2017
Just add Daisy, Jack & Gary.
November 11th, 2017
Looks great did you come to Jersey? We did a tour France to Budapest if you want to look at our blog, eurotandemtour
Louise
November 13th, 2017
Your tour looks amazing. Sorry about the hospital session though. Yes, we cycled around Jersey as well as Guernsey. Not Sark and Herm though as the bike was too long for the little passenger ferry. But I did cycle around them 17 years ago.
November 11th, 2017
It looks like you all had a great time 🙂
November 13th, 2017
We did!
November 12th, 2017
Keep up the good work. You are amazing.
November 13th, 2017
Thank you. Will try.
November 13th, 2017
Great to read your new adventures with a family. Hopefully you can turn these into some more great books. ?
November 14th, 2017
Thank you Al. I’m trying and in the middle of writing one now.
November 13th, 2017
That 4 person bike is an amazing solution and look forward to the stories you will have in france and maybe more? Still cant work out how you all managed to fit everything in the camper van and get to Portsmouth. Love how you have managed to carry on with your cycling adventures with family a fantastic memory to keep with you, keep on inspiring the rest of us
November 14th, 2017
I got everything to fit into the camper (and onto the 4-person mount) by squashing everything in (known as the fine art of cramming!)
December 25th, 2017
All the best for Christmas!
January 5th, 2018
……………& 2018 of course.