After two years of lurking, and planning, my epic world tour I finally convinced the kids to go on an overnight bike camping trip with me. It may not be a self-supported tour across America, but it's a start.

Living in Madison means we have bike paths that take us almost anywhere. We can bike to schools, parks, swimming pools, museums, libraries, and even campgrounds without too much of a worry about traffic. I picked out a nice clean campground right off the bike path for our first adventure. It was openly about 12 miles away, but that meant that my wife could come and get us if something went wrong- or someone got homesick.

As it turned out, we had beautiful weather, a quiet campground with clean toilets and a nice playground- which carries more weight with a 5 and 7 year old than pristine wilderness.

I packed everything on my Xtracycle and put as much weight as I could into my front panniers becuase it greatly improves the ride when I do. My son rode in back, but I moved my daughter off the bike and onto her tag-a-long to try and ease up some of the weight on the back wheel. after a whole year without a single flat i, quite suddenly, experience a rash of flats (5) in a single week. I don't know the reason for this, but i think i have that issue solved for now. Still, I wasn't willing to push it to far on this occasion.

I think we'll try this same route again this summer, but next time my 7 year old really wants to ride her own bike the whole way. I know she can easily do the distance, and it will make things much easier for me. after that, there are any number of campgrounds that we can hit with a little more distance behind us.

I just put a new triple crank set on my cyclocross bike and am looking to do some longer distances on my own, but for now I'm just glad I can get out with my kids and some short overnights close to home.

I also wanted to thank everyone on here for all the advice/experience they are willing to post. I'm sure that there are many more lurkers out there, like me, who have gained some very useful tips, but never bother to post a thank you for any of it.

Jon

What a way to build memories and get the kids started on bike travel. Good job!

My son went on his first "tour" with me at age 8. We rode 30 miles to a campground for a 3-day weekend. There was no playground and I forgot toys. Big mistake. The only thing he could think of to pass the time was riding his bike around the campground. We went to town and bought some toys the next day.

That was the last time he went with me, but he has decided he wants to try it again, so in two-weeks we're going to take a 7-day trip down the California coast (including a stop at the same campground on the last night - the same one we went to when he was 8.) He's now 20. Hopefully, not having toys won't be a problem...????

WOOHOO!!!! Another one bites the dust!! It won't be long until you are joining us down in South America!!!!

Awesome, thanks for sharing!