We took delivery of our new Surly Big Dummy cargo bike in July, and I was itching to do some loaded touring with it this summer. This proved a little difficult to do, seeing as due to pregnancy-related pain, Heidi was unable to comfortably ride her bike. What’s the solution? Take Eden out on a daddy/daughter overnight trip, allowing Heidi to relax while we were away! Well, as long as the baby didn’t come while we were gone (the due date was less than two months away).

Heidi and I have always toured together. In fact, it had been more than five years since I was out on my bike for a significant distance on my own, so I was a little apprehensive about going out on this ‘solo’ ride, especially since this was also Eden’s first long ride on the Big Dummy, and she hadn’t ridden with us much since our Sudbury trip the year before. This would be my first S24O-type trip (PDF Link), even though it would end up being more than 24 hours long. I chose to avoid free-camping for this trip, thinking having a set destination would take some of the stress out of the ride, and instead chose to ride to Byng Conservation Area, a campground on Lake Erie, about an 80km ride from our house.
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