If you cycle many kilometers throughout the year, a substance is produced in your brain. That substance is called dopamine. It makes us feel satisfied and rewarded. If you then go on holiday for three weeks and barely touch the bike, you feel deeply unhappy. Not fun for yourself, not fun for your family and not fun at all for the holiday feeling. In short, you should also cycle during your holidays. But how? The family also deserves attention. We give you six useful tips!

Secretly sneak out of the tent and lift your bike to the laundry room...

Tip 1: Adjust your own goals

You may very much want to cycle 100 kilometers a day, but that is simply not possible when you are on holiday with the family. You can keep sulking about it, but that won't make things any more pleasant. Therefore, cycle a long ride once a week during the holidays so that the family does not have to count on you all day. The other rides are rides of a few hours. This is easy to plan with a family. Get out early and when the rest of the family wakes up and sets the breakfast table, you drive back to the campsite. With a bit of luck, a nice fresh cappuccino will be ready for you and the kids will have gotten croissants from the bakery. If you really want to score points, cycle past the bakery on the way back and bring something tasty for breakfast. Are you going to cycle for a few hours in the late afternoon after a visit to the local zoo? Who could have a problem with that? In short, on short trips there is still plenty of room to do fun things with the family.

Tip 2: Make cycling a family outing

If you have sporty family members, you can rent a bicycle for everyone in the area. Who knows, maybe a family member will become as addicted to cycling as you are. That would be great. This way, cycling will be seen much less of a problem in the future. In fact, there will be complete understanding that the dopamine in your brain needs to be satisfied.

Are the family members less sporty? You can also go cycling together. E-bikes are now available for rent in many places. This means you may have a tough job if you want to unload your partner uphill. Extra tip for the e-bike variant: inconspicuously check the battery before you place your attack.

Tip 3: Ensure balance during the holiday

No one likes it when you can only talk about one thing. Cycling, cycling and more cycling. Just talking about cycling will make your partner's heels dig in the sand. And deep too! Suggest cycling every other day. On the day that the bike remains idle at the campsite, you go out with the family to visit a picturesque town. If you are smart, you will explore the area on the day you cycle. Pay close attention to what you encounter along the way. Visit that nice town or beach a day later with your family. Tell them that you discovered this place by bike the day before. In the future, you can say that you will scan the area by bike for fun family outings. This way, the resistance to your cycling will be a lot less.

Tip 4: Go cycling secretly

When it's just starting to get light and the whole family is still fast asleep, you quietly crawl out of the tent. Very, very quietly you put yourself into cycling clothes and sneak outside. You lift your bicycle (the rattling of the bicycle can wake the family) towards the toilet building. There you fill your water bottles and you leave like a shot for your ride through (grab it) Tuscany. Aren't you an early bird? Then during the afternoon (when you are all relaxing by the pool), tell them that you are going to get something from the tent. Poof! You're gone!

NB! This tip will probably only work once. And whether the rest of the holiday will still be as pleasant…

Tip 5: Ride your bike to a family activity

Suppose the family really wants to go to that fantastic aqua park. A park with thirty slides, rapids and the guarantee of lots of screaming children. Nice! For some, yes, but often a nightmare for adults. Anyway, you give in. But under one condition. You will cycle the 80 kilometers to the aqua park and meet the rest of the family in the parking lot. Once you have spent the rest of the day relaxing on your towel, sliding down a number of slides and pushing your son under water a few times during a romp, it is time to travel to the campsite again. Depending on the feeling in your legs, you can decide whether you cycle back or get into the car with the family.

Tip 6: Talk to each other and make a plan

Perhaps the most important tip of all. Always keep communicating with your partner about how you would prefer to spend your holiday. Tell how important cycling is to you. What it does to you. And also important: what it brings you. You stay fit, it's healthy and you feel a lot better if you can go for a ride regularly. Win-win for everyone.

Continuing to talk to each other also includes making a plan together that everyone can agree with. Agreement leads to satisfaction among all family members. Make sure it is clear in advance where, when and for how long you want to cycle. Without a plan, cycling quickly falls by the wayside. Then you are already registered for the camping BBQ, the beach volleyball tournament, the jeu de boules competition, the jeep safari, etc. etc.

Happy Holidays!

This article was written on behalf of bicycling.com/nl