Sometimes we are willing to take a chance with our own lives. Probably wrongly, we feel that if something bad happens, it was our decision and we will take the consequences. It's probably wrong, because all our loved ones would also take the consequences. Still, as adults we do it all the time, and we know it is not good or even possible to live life in fear. So if we hit an on road section on some route, we make a decision about its safety, and go for it (or not).

With kids its different. Often we do have to decide for them what is safe "enough" and what is not - like getting in the car to go to the grocery store. But to take them out on a less than safe bike trip is just not on. At least not for us.

So when looking for routes that we could cycle with Avi and Violet, and now with Amelia and soon Evee and Joey, safety is the very first thing. Safety includes having few or no cars, and also having enough resources and services with us or around.

In Europe, we could point to 60,000 km of quite safe routes of mostly dedicated cycle path. But in North America the choices are much more limited, especially for rides fairly close to home. We found one in the Willamette Valley Bikeway, though we were a little surprised to find that it is actually on road, though the roads are very quiet. The Willamette has a reasonable number of nearby towns and promises some sights and activities that kids could like.

So for this trip, we set about researching where our stops could be, whether we would use only the tents or motels as well, where and what we would eat, and so forth. It seemed pretty do-able with six year olds. But, there was a glitch.

The glitch was that while the 214km length was fine for a one way trip, 428 km - needed to go and then get back to the van would be too far. The option of going half way and turning around just seemed like a downer, and the option of getting friends or family to come collect us at the end seemed like asking a lot of them. Finally, asking Amtrak to carry our bikes plus the Weehoos unboxed, was more than Amtrak seemed up to.

So for this year, we bailed on the Willamette. We jumped to a route that offered dedicated bike path all the way, passing through a variety of ecozones, offering good camping and/or accommodation, and great ease of access from home.

Surprisingly, we had not thought of this great route earlier. The problem was that it was close to home, so close we sort of couldn't see it. The route is the combination of the Lochside Trail and the Galloping Goose Trail, that together run about 100 km from Sidney, on the south east tip of Vancouver Island, to Sooke, on the south west tip.

Some readers not only know this region, but actually live here. But for others, here is a thumbnail sketch:

Vancouver Island lies just off the western edge of the Canadian mainland. It should not be confused with the city of Vancouver, which sits right on the edge of that mainland. A rough idea of just how far "off shore" Vancouver Island is would be 100 km, though the distances vary a lot. It's 84 km by ferry from Nanaimo, a town often referred to as the centre of the Island, over to Vancouver just to the east.

Vancouver Island itself is almost 500 km long and about 80 km at its widest point. So, it's huge (for an island). It's about 3/4 the size of Switzerland. The island in its north and west is forest covered and rugged,with many fjords and inlets and very sparse population. Because of mountains that run down the centre and the winds from the Pacific, there is heavy rainfall on the west coast. The rain supports a temperate rainforest, which is the same idea as the Amazon rainforest, except that the plants are of course adapted to cooler temperatures. Still, this is where the giant fir, cedar, hemlock, and spruce trees flourish.

Much of the east coast of the Island is in the rain shadow of the central mountains, and the south eastern tip of the Island is in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains in Washington State. So if you start on the eastern side of the south island you get a relatively drier climate, warmed by the protected inner waters, for an almost Mediterranean climate. The provincial capital city, Victoria, sits in this zone. When other Canadians are freezing and shovelling snow, Victorians can be playing golf on green green lands reminiscent of England.

The English climate and original English immigration make Victoria a little bit of England, at least as far as some tourist attractions go, including the red double decker London buses running around. The climate also supports Butchart Gardens - something like Kew Gardens near London, and productive small agriculture, with famous crops of strawberries and daffodils.

However, as you creep around the southern tip of the Island, out of the rain shadow, you begin to enter the west coast rainforest world of dripping, dark forests. The town of Sooke, about 40 km west of Victoria, could be viewed as where it all falls apart, at least as far as this being just like England goes. In fact, even the East Sooke Park - a little east of Sooke as you would imagine - is getting a little "rough". We always avoided moving to this area, since we knew we would soon be driven mad by the dark forest and the rain. Yes, the Grampies did not have to go to Germany to find the forest part of the Black Forest. However, there are no cuckoo clocks in East Sooke!

Into this picture of the southern tip of the Island, with the agricultural east side, the elegant provincial capital, and the increasingly wild west side we add the bike trails. The Lochside Trail runs down the east side and toward Victoria, and the Galloping Goose (rail) Trail runs out to Sooke on the west, with a spur that connects the Lochside to the Victoria downtown.

The Galloping Goose is about 55 km, with one quarter paved and the rest good quality gravel. The Lochside is 29 km, all paved. So out and back on these trails gives 168 km of dedicated bikeway, with all kinds of variation in surroundings along the way. We realized, it is ideal for a trip with the Grands.