Playdate on Two Wheels – Ottawa, ON

One glorious warm spring day, Jasper and I had a play date with our friend Tom. We love Tom. He’s a little bit older than Jasper but he still hangs out with us. Some guys are nice that way.

To meet up with Tom, Jasper, Anna Sierra and I rode to school on our Bike Friday Family Tandem. It’s a fabulous bike. The back seat and handlebars can be raised for a tall adult or lowered for a child. Apparently the whole bike can come apart and be packed into two suitcases for travelling.

One glorious warm spring day, Jasper and I had a play date with our  friend Tom. We love Tom. He’s a little bit older than Jasper but he  still hangs out with us. Some guys are nice that way.

Derek and I have tried riding the tandem together. Once. We were a speedy team, but oh so scrappy.  We quickly realized we each need complete control of our own wheels and cadence and braking. We were able to get the bike for a good price on UsedOttawa because the couple who bought the bike originally – he was a big rider, she wasn’t – decided tandem riding wasn’t for them either. I’ve taken four or five different kids on the back of our tandem. Every single one of them quickly matched my cadence and adapted gracefully to tandem riding.  That’s yet another great thing about biking with kids — they are so flexible.

To turn our tandem from a two seater into a three seater, we installed a back seat for Jasper behind Anna Sierra’s seat. Jasper’s four, which is quite old for these back seats that usually suit 1-3 year olds, but he’s got the build of a hill climbing Marco Pantani, and still fits his back seat. The kids love chatting together back there. I have had to stop the bike to deal with the occasional squabble or to remind Jasper to keep his feet off Anna’s back, but in general it’s peaceful. Sometimes on a long ride Anna Sierra tells Jasper a story and he falls asleep. I know, it really can be as sweet as that.

Kathleen Wilker, Tom Jupp and Jasper Heffernan-Wilker on a Bike Friday Riding beside the Ottawa River is more fun with friends. – Photos Courtesy Sara Jane Campbell

But I digress. Jasper and I dropped Anna Sierra off at school and our friend Tom – who had ridden his own bike to school to drop off his big sister — took Anna Sierra’s place. We lowered the seat and handlebars a little with our handy allen key and off we went, waving at Tom’s mama on her super cool fixie.

The boys and I rode down to the Ottawa River Pathway. It’s a short ride from school. And then we just kept riding.  All morning until it was time for Tom to go to kindergarten.

We went to Westboro Beach, built some inukshuks at a magical spot on the river, skipped stones, chatted with tourists and had a picnic. All in one glorious morning.  The best part of all was biking in the sunshine with two delightful children.

Sometimes you don’t have to go very far to have a lovely, lovely time on two wheels.

Written by : Kathleen Wilker
Original article courtesy Momentum Magazine