Three People, Five Wheels, One Blankie: Family Bicycle Journey through Maine, Atlantic Canada & Quebec – May through August 2012

Our family bicycle trip was profiled in this little article for the Fall 2012 issue of Maine Cyclist, the Bicycle Coalition of Maine’s news magazine.

Sarah Cushman, our contracted Southern Maine Planner for the Maine Safe Routes to School Program, and her husband, Rob Levin, and 5 year-old daughter, Cedar, made a much-anticipated bicycle journey this year.  Leaving their home in Portland on a cold and wet May 1, the family pedaled their way for 3 ½ months and 2001 miles on a grand loop through Midcoast & Downeast Maine, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland – returning via Quebec and Western/Central Maine in late August.  (After the first 5 weeks the weather turned marvelous.)

While their intent was mainly to slow down, spend more time as a family, and experience the adventure of a long human-powered journey, they also got to study first-hand other communities’ bike-ped infrastructure (and lack thereof) and to connect with great local bicycling advocates and educators along the way.  Sarah even got to talk shop for a couple days with a fellow School Travel Planner in Nova Scotia!

“Pace was everything,” Sarah says.  “From the beginning we planned to only bike 25 miles a day, 5 days a week.  Which meant we could mostly avoid rainy days and, in general, enjoy a leisurely ride with stops to enjoy anything that caught our fancy along the way – playgrounds, dairy bars, a beach, a conversation with someone local, a long picnic lunch followed by a nap in the shade, anything.”  See the route, photos, and read more about their experiences here.