Attitude

The most important thing is to have a good attitude. A multi-day though remote areas will have many adversities and a positive attitude is an absolute requirement.

There will be times where:

• a bathroom is not available
• cell phone coverage does not exist
• flies and mosquitoes try to eat you alive
• no eating place is open for lunch
• etc., etc., etc.

We have overcome all of these, and many more, in our prior multi-day trips. The most important thing is to have a good attitude, relax, and go with the flow.

Help Each Other

These rides are fun! There is no reason you should not be able to ride the full length of the trail. For this to happen we have to help each other out. If you see someone who is having an issue say something and then help them.

We have purchased enough walkie talkies for everyone to have one clipped to their clothing. The leader of the ride will be announcing various ride directions as needed. Any rider can push-to-talk and tell others of things to look at.

For emergencies the ride leader has a SPOT Gen3 satellite tracker. The SPOT Gen3 does not require cell phone service and hence works even in very remote areas of the country. The SPOT Gen3 has two functions:

• Where’s Waldo. You can give your friends a web link they can visit to see real time were we are on the ride.
• Emergency Alert. One button press will have an emergency ambulance, or helicopter, arrive in the fastest possible time.

Everyone Pays Their Own Way

Everyone is expected to pay their own way. All meals should have separate tickets, make sure to tell the wait staff upfront your requirements.

Although Gary and Gay have made hotel reservations (thank you, very, very, much!) you will need to pay for your rooms when you arrive at the hotel.

With the large group we have, and the various venues we will be dinning at, we should expect to be seated four to a table. This will shorten the amount of time we spend for lunch and dinner because we won’t be wanting for a large table to free up. If we get lucky with an open 6 top table take it. Try to vary who you sit with each day so that we can get to know each other over the course of the ride.

Attend Pre-Ride Meeting

Friday June 30th at 3pm we will meet in the Breakfast room of the Inn by the Falls (Comfort Inn). For about an hour we will cover various aspects of the ride and answer any questions that you may have. We’ll also hand out the next day’s route map, cue sheet and tell you the weather forecast so you’ll have an expectation of how to dress for the ride.

Daily Schedule

• 7:30 am - Meet for breakfest (suggested)
• 8:30 am - Be in parking lot preparing your trike
• 8:50 am - Hand out walkie talkies
• 9:00 am - Ride starts
• Mid-morning - rest stops
• Noonish - Stop for Lunch (about an hour)
• 3:00 pm - Finish riding no later that 3pm, collect walkie talkies
• 4:30 pm - Rider’s meeting
• 5:00 pm - Dinner

Attend Rider’s Meeting Each Day

Each day at 4:30 pm we’ll meet in the appropriate hotel breakfast area for about 30 minutes to discuss the next day’s ride, hand out the route map, cue sheet and tell you the weather forecast.

Be Ready to Ride at 9am Every Day

We start riding at 9am every ride day. At 9am you should be sitting on your trike ready to start peddling. On most parts of the ride there will be at least 10 riders and maybe up to 16 riders. There will be plenty of 15 minute rest stops and probably an hour for lunch. Even though we’ll be usually only riding 30 to 40 miles each day in order for us to finish by 3 pm we’ll need to start on time and make sure at the rest stops we get going quickly. When riding we will try to average 12 to 14 mph.

The will be a few times during the day we will unexpectedly stop for half an hour. The group will see something really interesting and we’ll spend 30 minutes off our trikes looking / experiencing new things.

We tend to stop a lot before lunch.

After lunch, around 1 pm, the group is pretty tired of riding and just wants to get to the hotel. So, the after lunch part of the ride tends to be pretty quick with only one rest spot until we arrive at the destination hotel.

General Rules

This is not a supported tour. You are basically on your own. That being said there are some group rules we like to follow:

• We always ride together. No rider is left behind. If a rider’s trike becomes disabled we have a SAG wagon to get you and your trike to the next overnight and then eventually to your staged vehicle.
• Always wear a bicycle helmet.
• Always wear bright clothing and/or a safety green/yellow vest at all times.
• Equip your trike with a bright blinking red rear safety light.
• Use standard hand signals announcing turns.
• Do not text while riding.
• Obey all traffic signs and signals.
• Ride defensively, always being aware of other riders, vehicles, and pedestrians around you, never assume what they are doing or what they are about to do.
• Call out “car up/car back” to riders around you.
• Point out road hazards and yell “Gravel”, “Hole”, “Glass”, etc. to riders around you.
• Call out your intentions to riders; “Slowing”, “Stopping”, “Turning”, etc..
• Ride in single file when a motor vehicle is behind you.
• Never ride more than two abreast and never be a road hog, thus allowing motor vehicles and other bicyclists plenty of room to safely pass.
• Always ride as far to the right as safely possible.
• Use common sense and be courteous towards motorists and other bicyclists.
• Never ride before daylight or after dusk.
• Move completely off the roadway, if stopping for any reason.
• Call out “On your left” while passing a slower rider and never pass on the right.
• Be a smart, safe, and savvy tricyclist.

Tag Your Things

With so many people riding it is easy to set something down and forget it was yours. I use tags on all my stuff. I purchased peel and stick clothing tags from kiddotags.

Internet

Some over-night locations will have Internet service. But, there will be times when the service will not be available. Other times, the service will be extremely slow due to the number of people trying to log on. If daily internet service is important to you, please get a personal hot-spot.