Family bike rides: safe routes away from busy roads
Taking your kids out on their bikes is one of cycling's simplest joys — right up to the moment the route forces you along a busy road, and joy gives way to a knot in the stomach. Every cycling parent knows that feeling. The VéloCore planner was designed to make it disappear: it draws rides that favour bike paths, greenways and quiet streets, and leaves the main roads to the cars.
1. A "Safe" profile that thinks like a parent
The VéloCore planner offers nine route profiles, one per riding style. For a family outing, pick the Safe profile: the algorithm then favours cycling infrastructure — separated bike paths, greenways, small low-traffic roads — and avoids busy main roads and their too-close overtakes as much as possible. The few extra minutes it takes to stay on a greenway are no longer a compromise to argue over: they're the whole logic of the route. And as the kids grow up, the Touring profile takes over: more discovery and viewpoints, with quiet roads still first.
2. Loops sized for little legs
No need to aim for the 60 km of a grown-up Sunday ride. With the loop generator, set a distance — 12, 15, 20 km — and VéloCore draws a real loop back to your start, with no U-turn and no repeated stretch. Add the Flat profile if the legs are small: the total elevation gain is displayed while you plan, and a figure under 100 m is the promise of an outing without tears on the climbs.
3. Fine-tune the route metre by metre
You know your neighbourhood better than any algorithm. Once the route is calculated, drag the line to pass by the park, the bakery for snack time or the grandparents' house — and to avoid that one junction you don't trust, even if it's technically rideable. The route recalculates instantly, still following the Safe profile's logic.
4. Breaks can be planned too
A family ride moves at the pace of empty bottles and small appetites. Turn on the points of interest on the map to spot fountains, water points and bike cafés along the way, and place the breaks before you leave rather than improvising them. A snack stop planned at kilometre 8 is a goal that keeps kids motivated — and a ride that keeps its smile to the end.
5. On the day, ride with peace of mind
Save the route to your account: it appears in the cockpit of the VéloCore app with turn-by-turn navigation. The phone stays on its mount, the voice prompts guide you, and your eyes stay where they matter: on the road and on the kids. And if something serious does happen, the geolocated SOS shares your position to get help quickly. Even the best route doesn't replace good habits: helmets fitted for everyone, child in front, adult riding sweep. And if you'd rather follow a GPS bike computer than a phone, just export the route as GPX: it will come along too.
6. Even better: several families at once
The best rides are often the ones you share. Turn your loop into a ride call: invite other families, everyone RSVPs, and the little Sunday peloton forms by itself. Kids always pedal further when they ride in a pack.
Plan your next family ride
Safe profile, made-to-measure loops, water points and turn-by-turn navigation — for free.
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