Comments on: Family bike trip: Portland to Breitenbush and back again

By: betty

betty — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 07:36:01 +0000

I thought bike-camping was over with young children, but I am truly inspired! Enough to invest in a longtail and maybe even a Stokemonkey. Thanks for sharing your story.

What kind of bikes/child seats did everyone use? I found my woman’s saddle so painful after a day of cycling…

By: matt picio

matt picio — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 17:47:40 +0000

Thanks for the kind mention of my Bikely route, especially the cue sheet. Cue sheets have to be created manually when making the route, so they require some effort. Nice to know that effort was used and appreciated.

I’m posting this late to comment to remark about Austin Hot Springs (also called Carey hot springs in some older references). Austin Hot Springs sits on a small parcel of private land in the middle of the Mount Hood National Forest. The land is currently owned by an employee retirement fund, who is an absentee landlord. They’ve spent almost no money in the upkeep of the property, which is why all the cautionary signs are damaged or destroyed, the gates are broken, and trash is strewn everywhere. There used to be a group of volunteers who went up and cleaned the area, but they seem to have fallen by the wayside. Either that group or another group is now raising money to purchase the land and manage it, similar to The Friends of Bagby. Their website is here: http://www.austinhotsprings.org/

The carpet in the pools isn’t to keep people off the riverbed, it’s to keep them from being burned. Austin’s temperature is 190F, well above scalding. Without the carpet, it’s very easy to get burned, as happened to three people there last year. The site sees very heavy use since it is visible and accessible from the main road (it sits right on it).

Hopefully, someone will buy and manage the property, and clean up all the trash. THe trash issue was manageable in the past, but there’s now a much higher level of use, and those using it are much less respectful of the land.

By: jacob thompson

jacob thompson — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 20:38:06 +0000

COOOOOOOOOL trip yaÂ´ll! heroic even.

By: Fahrner Family Camping Trip « The Lazy Randonneur

Fahrner Family Camping Trip « The Lazy Randonneur — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 13:14:24 +0000

[...] camping trip in the mtns with his family using two Stoke Monkey equipped longtail bikes. He has a write up here and photos here. He used the two electric assist systems to help get these big bikes up some very [...]

By: Rick and Tanya

Rick and Tanya — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 17:37:39 +0000

Great to read about other families biking and your stories of adventure. It’s especially cold here in Calgary this week and I am looking forward to warmer days when Tanya and me and our 3 kids (4, 6, and 7 years old) head out for our next biking adventure from Calgary, Alberta to Baja, Mexico on 2 Periscope tandems and a Burly trailerbike. We are looking for other families to join us along the way. Meet us in Calgary for a ride through the Canadian Rockies – leaving our front door July 15, 2009.

By: jeff

jeff — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 15:47:33 +0000

fascinating account — thanx!

By: Redefining the family road trip | Austin Bike Blog

Redefining the family road trip | Austin Bike Blog — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 19:06:56 +0000

[...] founder,Â Grant Petersen, as well as the journaling about bicycle treks with children written by the owners of Clever Cycles and the family at A Long Walk to [...]

By: dug

dug — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 06:56:25 +0000

Beautiful chronicle of a great adventure. Thank you.

-dug
(of patti, dug, molly, daisy)

By: amy

amy — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 05:44:21 +0000

This was a joy to read. If only there were a car-free bike trail all the way to Breitenbush. Our family lived abroad in the Netherlands for nearly 4 years. Last year we went on vacation by pedaling from our house in the middle of the NL. We spent the first night camped at an organic farm in Lelystad, and then cycled across a 30 km dike to Enkhuizen. In Enkhuizen, we visited an open air museum, where we ran into Dutch friends who were on a 3 week family bike camping vacation. Our two children rode on our bikes, our two year old daughter on the Bobike mini (front seat) and our 5 year old son on the Bobike rear seat. I usually carried both children on my bike. We have a Batavus Delivery Bike and an Altra. We didn’t cycle home, however. We took the train with our bikes and then pedaled home once we reached the city of Utrecht. Our bike vacation was one of the most wonderful things we have done as a family. It was pure freedom to be able to travel so far by our own power. There was only one instance of terror for me, when a brommer (moped) passed me on a bike path at a suicide rate speed.

By: Josh

Josh — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 20:26:30 +0000

Todd,

That looks like you had a great ride.

I’m really interested in your Xtravois. How does it compare with the Dig Dummy? I’ve built a few frames (years ago I worked for a well known East coast frame builder) and I find the clean, straight lines of your bike much more appealing than the Surly bike.

Thanks,
Josh