Confidences of travelers | By bike and with the family on the glacier route

Traveling is like riding on a mountain road. But among the ups and downs, there will always be those indelible memories that you carry with you all your life. The Press recounts the adventures, big or small, of fearless travellers. Today: a couple of cycling enthusiasts crossing Western Canada on two wheels… with their two young children.

Laila Maalouf
The Press

On August 23, little Lucas celebrated his 6th birthday on the road, in the fabulous setting of the Rockies, surrounded by his brother Léo, 8, and his parents, Vanessa Richard and Bertrand Lemeunier. The boy is no longer his first pedal strokes for a long time.

Last July, the family of four left Quebec by car with bikes and camping gear. Direction: Calgary, starting point of his bike route to the West Coast.

“We want to ride as long as we can, so we will probably stop at the beginning of November or mid-November, depending on the weather on Vancouver Island or in the Vancouver region,” says Bertrand Lemeunier. , seal in the Rockies.

Unlike their previous trips, this one has no return date. And for Bertrand Lemeunier, it has a special meaning since 15 years ago, he crossed the country alone, from Newfoundland to Vancouver – where he met Vanessa. “It’s funny to be here now, when I was in the middle of winter in the Rockies [à l’époque] “, he recalls.

Together, they followed their passion for cycling in Brazil, Poland, New Zealand, Taiwan. Every two or three years, they left. First alone, then with Leo and, a few years later, with Lucas too.

But before going on their first bike-camping trip with a toddler, they had done a “test” by taking little Leo to spend the night in a tent on a field not far from their home. “In the evening, Vanessa returned home with Leo in her arms, crying while I packed everything up,” recalls Bertrand Lemeunier, laughing.

“Pedaling to grow”

Since then, things have changed a lot. After leaving Calgary, the two boys managed to cover almost 45 km in one day. “All the conditions were met and they really wanted to ride the bike on their own. Yes, they are used to it, but they remain children like the others”, nuance Bertrand.

When the energy and drive aren’t there, he and Vanessa are equipped to pull them by hooking them up on their own bikes. “They realize that we have to move forward too,” he says. Especially when snacks and food supplies start to run out and there’s no business for miles around…

“At one point, we were surprised by strong winds, rain, hail. We were on the side of the road trying to put on their pants and their rain boots while holding our bikes which weigh a ton,” he says.

The school of life

And through all these adventures strewn with beautiful encounters — and the inevitable, but fortunately temporary, bickering between the boys — you have to go to school on the road.

“Even if they miss certain things when traveling, you can see that they like it too. They find their balance in it and they know that they are lucky to make this kind of trip,” says their father.

“For us, it’s really about pedaling to grow, and it’s no surprise that our latest documentary is called like that,” he adds.

Bertrand and Vanessa are however well aware that one day or another, the children may no longer want to follow. “But Vanessa and I want to continue cycling trips because that’s our job, too. For us, it’s a life project. »