MY MIDDLE son, aged seven, has been known to burst into tears if there’s light drizzle on his one-mile bike ride to school. Yet faced with howling wind and lashing rain on the National Cycle Network route 4, he pedalled away merrily for over 15 miles.

It shows that you can’t legislate for everything on a family cycling holiday, though careful planning, particularly of daily mileage, is vital for success. If you have more than one child, you also need to consider terrain. Whilst our eldest, 10, will power up a 10 per cent gradient and actively enjoy it, our youngest, five, is only just starting on his own bike. For our summer trip along the Great Glen Cycle Way, a route with some rough terrain and one particularly impressive hill climb, he rode on the stoker seat of a Circe Helios Tandem, cheerfully yelling “We shall not give up!” at his father on the long ascent, and continuing with “Faster daddy, as fast as possible!” on the six-mile descent, helpfully prodding his bottom as he did.

Traffic-free routes are obviously ideal, partly because the adults are so much more relaxed, but also because the children have the freedom to race ahead and explore. We have ridden the Kennet and Avon canal (National Cycle route 4), Bath to Bristol cycleway, and the great Glen Way (National Cycle route 78) which has long stretches alongside the Caledonian canal. More locally, the Phoenix trail and the Stratford Greenway give decent traffic free stretches.

Planning accommodation and payload is also vital.

We have stayed in hostels, B&Bs and on campsites, all of which have proved memorable in various ways, but all were carefully researched and booked well in advance (the Sustrans maps are very helpful in this regard). We’re not quite at the stage of carrying our camping stuff with us and manage to fit everything (spare clothes, one toy per child, one book per person, maps and food) into four panniers. The children currently cycle without luggage. Maybe next year?

When the children are engaged and happy, the miles fly by. But if spirits sink, progress can become glacial. So planning a route with lots of distractions is vital. Locks, swing bridges and aqueducts alongside canals are guaranteed hits with our children, especially if they can help open the locks and swing the bridges.

They’ve also enjoyed trains, boats, waterfalls, animals (model, wild and domestic, they’re not fussy), playgrounds, statues and tiny mice – the mouse was spotted on some particularly stony and step forest tracks in Scotland (it was incredibly small!) and provided a much-needed diversion.

And don’t forget the food. Carry lots. For them, for you, and always some to spare.

It’s more important than a puncture repair kit (although they are useful as well)!

Happy cycling.