The summer after we bought them, we took our tandem and my touring bike to France. We cycled from Limoges to the Atlantic coast near Bordeaux over 8 days, camping along the way. We took the train back to our starting point.

The cycling was tough, the food great and camping in campsites expensive. The trip wasn’t long enough for a two-and-a-half year old to adjust to the different way of life, though given a playground, beach or other kids to play with she enjoyed herself immensely.

Tilly was keen to pedal at the beginning and end of the trip but for 4 or 5 days in the middle she chose to sit in her bike seat and observe rather than participate in the cycling. At this point she wasn’t really adding much power to the pedalling of the tandem anyway!

We then started to prepare in earnest for our 2012 cycling adventure, happy that with a tandem bike, a single bike, and a lot of pannier bags, we would be able to tour the world with a small child without the need to tow a trailer.