Agathe, age 6; Antoine, age 8, Anna, 7 months, Marion Duplan and Julien Bonin enjoying Ovando en route to the rest of North and South America.
A French family of five pedaled into Ovando on Monday, Aug. 14 during their bicycle tour from Calgary to the Grand Tetons along the Great Divide bike route. Only three of them pedaled, as one rode in a special seat on the front of dad's bike and the baby rode in a baby backpack on mom's back.
"In France, the Tour Divide is a famous bike ride," Julien Bonin said about their decision for the ride. "We are firefighters at home and like the exercise."
Six-year-old Agathe sits on a Gekko adaptive seat with pedals that link back to the main pedaling system on her dad Julien's bike. When Julien needs a boost pedaling, he lets Agathe know and she starts pedaling.
"Agathe can pedal or nap while we ride," Julien said. "She's too young for her own bike, and she can help on hills."
Antoine, 8, rides BMX at home in the Bordeaux region of France. The farthest they ride in a day has been 48 kilometers, or 29 miles. On Aug. 14 they rode from Monture Campground to Ovando.
"It is perfect for us because our boy Antoine, age 8, can safely ride on the gravel roads away from traffic," Marion said.
On their year-long planned trip, the family will spend their three month U.S. visa on the Tour Divide to the Tetons, then tour the National Parks in Utah. The next stop will be Mexico for three months, then South Africa to complete the trip.
Both Julien and Marion have cycled internationally, individually touring Africa, Asia, South America and New Zealand in 2010.
"Bicycling is a good speed to see the landscape," said Julien. "Driving is too fast and walking is a bit slow."
Anna, the 8-month-old baby, rides on her mom Marion's back or in the cart Marion tows behind her bike. The older children spend a little time each day doing schoolwork.
Coming from a town of 2,000 people, Julien said the teacher helped them work out a traveling curriculum of French and math.
The family stays with Warm Showers hosts on their trip and are Warm Shower hosts in France. Visiting with people who have the same love for biking and travel has built a community and a travel family for Julien and Marion and their family. Warm Showers is a free worldwide hospitality exchange for touring cyclists with over 125,000 users across the globe, from warmshowers.org.
"The kids learn so much on this trip that they would not learn in school,"Marion said. "Like trip planning, camping and bicycle maintenance."
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