Experience review: Petite Aventure Desjardins 2016
Posted In: Fitness July 5th, 2016 divider No Comments »So I got asked by my favourite brother to do a little cycle tour a few weeks back. How could I say no, especially since it involved his cute little family?
I didn’t figure out until later that I mostly got invited to be a domestique. Look it up if you’re not familiar with the cycling term. Yeah, that!
Regardless I’m over it since it was a blast and it got me some much needed time in the saddle and some Uncle Eric time at the same time, as well as some good tan lines. And as we started (see pic above), it was simply fun ahead.
So the adventure (Petite aventure Desjardins) has been going on for more than 20 years and it’s very family focused, more on that later. Each day is all about picking your own adventure really, with routes from 20 to 100k. There routes are well marked and the roads are pretty good overall and fairly flat. Cyclo-tourism at its best!
I did notice a lot of the hills though since I was pulling my nephew in a Chariot behind me (see picture again for more details). That meant you had to take the turns a bit wider but overall a smoother ride than expected.
Each morning you started with a look at the map at breakfast to see what you wanted to do that day. Did you feel like an Ironman or an old man? Options were plenty!
Every night we camped and the campsite wasn’t bad. It had some showers and bathrooms nearby. And an old school high school cafeteria for our breakfasts and dinners. It reminded me a bit of my old football camp days. But the coffee was much better. Lunches were in the communities we visited, usually with a playground for the kids.
Catering to families meant the campsite had a lot of children. That includes toddlers, some who cry for a while before going to sleep. Sometimes even a mask and ear plugs don’t help that much. And the neighbour who snored didn’t help either as he wasn’t really constant enough to put me to sleep. Oh well…
Overall an incredible experience I would highly recommend. It’s a nice mix of cycling, good food, good friends and nice scenery.