Still working on this

Still working on this

On the trikes we will be carrying a minimal first aid kit for scrapes, bumps, bruises, etc..

The SAG vehicle has a pretty extensive first aid kit but is not equipped like an ambulance.

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 a one button press will have an emergency ambulance, or helicopter, arrive in the fastest possible time.

If your cell phone is working 911 on the cell phone is better because it immediately connects to the closest possible emergency assistance. We’ll use the SPOT Gen3 satellite service when cell phone coverage is not available.

Individual riders should remember to take any prescriptions or special medications that they might need for the entire trip.

In Danvers MA we meet up with Bob Hicks who took us on a great ride last year after we rode the Erie Canal.

This is a very beautiful ride that takes us along the coast and by the statue of the “Sailor by the Sea” in Gloucester.

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1251644584

We are going to be riding almost 600 miles. You do NOT want you trike to have a serious breakdown during the ride. It is best to bring a trike that has been manufactured in the last couple of years. All of the basic structural parts will still be in excellent shape.

Parts of the ride will probably be on rough trails that are dirt or crushed granite. Your wheels should be high quality touring wheels. DO NOT bring a trike with light weight racing wheels and tires. For durability and the smoothest ride on rough surfaces, it is a good idea to use the widest tire that your frame will accommodate. Your tires should be at least 40mm wide.

The HP Scorpions come stock with 50-406 front wheels and 50-559 rear wheels. These are excellent for touring.

Have your trike overhauled and ride it at least 50 miles before the Canada Adventure.

During the overhaul:

• Make sure both hubs are serviced (if your trike is old)
• Have all brake and shift wires replaced.
• Have your brake pads replaced.
• Put brand new tires on the trike and bring one extra tire for the front and rear as a spare for the ride.

Brand new tires are the best protection against flats. You may want to consider tires with “flat protection”, and we strongly suggest thorn-resistant tubes.

If you installed “Mr Tuffy’s” or other tire liners last year then you will need to replace the inner tubes in your tires now. While they do protect against flats, they eventually cause a flat from the ends of the liner rubbing on the inner tube.

Put a new chain and freewheel or cassette on the bike. This will make your bike ride much more smoothly and will improve shifting.

BIKE PARTS TO BRING

Here are some basic trike parts you should bring. There will be bike shops along the route, but they probably will not have spares for trikes.

These basics may come in handy in the middle of nowhere:

• 2 spokes for your front wheel
• 3 spokes for your rear wheel
• spare cleat bolts for clip-less pedals or (better) a spare set of cleats, which will include cleat bolts
• 5 spare inner tubes
• a “boot”, Park Bike Tools makes a good one. Your local bike shop has them.
• a quick link for your chain
• a spare tire for the front
• a spare tire for the rear

You should carry these items with you on your tike:

• 2 spare inner tubes for the front
• 1 spare inner tubes for the rear
• tire levers
• a tire pump or C02 cartridges
• a “boot”
• a quick link for your chain
• spare cleat bolts for clip-less pedals

You should also learn how to change both the front and rear tires of your bicycle.

All riders must have the knowledge, proper tools, and willingness to change a flat tire along the way.

Please label all your spare parts (tires, tubes, cleats, spokes etc.) with your name to prevent confusion.

From Gary:

Our trip will take place in July, you MUST HAVE A PASSPORT VALID FOR SIX MONTHS AFTER YOUR INTENDED STAY, so check your passports and ensure that they are good thru Jan 2018. If not, renew them immediately.

Bring evidence of ownership of any trike or bike you take into Canada. A sales receipt or invoice will be fine. Any bike or trike not manufactured in the U.S. (Azure or HP) could be subject to US duties/taxes when you re-enter the US if you don’t have proof of prior ownership. I (Gary) plan to stop at the U.S. Immigration/Customs checkpoint PRIOR TO entering Canada and registering mine. That is fool proof. If you register them on the US side you will need the serial numbers. Normally you will not have any problem re-entering the US, but if you get a customs inspector who got up on the wrong side of bed, you could have a problem.

All lodging prices shown on the itinerary will be in Canadian dollars. The exchange rate can vary daily and as of today the US dollar was worth $1.30 Canadian dollars, so that means we would receive a 30% discount on our rooms in US dollars. Our trip is six months away and who knows what the exchange rate will be at that time with our new administration, or if the Canadians will even accept our $. LOL - that really was a joke!

1. Our trip will take place in July, you MUST HAVE A PASSPORT VALID FOR SIX MONTHS AFTER YOUR INTENDED STAY, so check your passports and ensure that they are good thru Jan 2018. If not, renew them immediately.

2. Bring evidence of ownership of any trike or bike you take into Canada. A sales receipt or invoice will be fine. Any bike or trike not manufactured in the U.S. (Azure or HP) could be subject to US duties/taxes when you re-enter the US if you don’t have proof of prior ownership. I plan to stop at the U.S. Immigration/Customs checkpoint PRIOR TO entering Canada and registering mine. That is fool proof. If you register them on the US side you will need the serial numbers. Normally you will not have any problem re-entering the US, but if you get a customs inspector who got up on the wrong side of bed, you could have a problem.

3. All lodging prices shown on the itinerary will be in Canadian dollars. The exchange rate can vary daily and as of today the US dollar was worth $1.30 Canadian dollars, so that means we would receive a 30% discount on our rooms in US dollars. Our trip is six months away and who knows what the exchange rate will be at that time with our new administration, or if the Canadians will even accept our $. LOL - that really was a joke!

4. We will be departing on our trikes from Niagara Falls, Ontario Canada on Saturday, July 01, 2017. This weekend is a three day weekend in Canada, with the Canadian people celebrating Canada’s 150th birthday. We should see fireworks galore from Niagara Falls thru Toronto. Also July 4 will be the US celebration, so let’s bring our sunglasses and enjoy the shows.

5. We have reserved seven rooms (under Gary Bradford’s name) at each location per the following people that expressed an interest in going on the trip. If you cannot make the entire trip, or only want to make a portion of it, please let me know. We have until June before I will reconfirm the reservations and make any changes.
   Trip attendees: Gary & Gay Bradford Iowa Park, TX Dan & Robyn Hansen Georgetown, TX Hank & Nancy Anderson Wichita Falls, TX
   Tony & MaryAnn Teutsch Sugarland, TX Steve & Cynthia Wade Oklahoma City, OK John & Susie Shaddle Naperville, IL Dana & Carmella Thompson Summerville, SC

During the months leading up to our departure you will be receiving emails from both Dan Hansen and me regarding trip info, logistics and equipment to take. Please read the emails and if you have a question, please use the “reply to all” function as everyone needs to have access to all of the information and that question could be something that could pertain to all of us.

We look forward to another great adventure with our triking friends!! Stay happy & healthy, Gary & Gay

One of the most beautiful rides in Canada it is all on pathway and NO roads.

Click on any day at the bottom of the map to expand to just that day’s route. Scroll the bottom all the way to the right and click ‘Show All’ to see the whole map again.

You can pan and zoom the map.

Click the header to go to the Ride w/GPS site where you can download the routes to your garmin which will provide turn by turn directions while riding.

This looks like an epic great ride! Almost 400 miles long and going through some incredible scenery.

Click on any day at the bottom of the map to expand to just that day’s route. Scroll the bottom all the way to the right and click ‘Show All’ to see the whole map again.

You can pan and zoom the map.

Click the header to go to the Ride w/GPS site where you can download the routes to your garmin which will provide turn by turn directions while riding.

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.