Reverse Gear Blog

It poured rain for most of the day and I decided it was too wet to go for a bike ride. So I sat around and caught up on email instead. It may have been a weekend of responding to Reverse Gear requests, but for me personally, it was actually one of ‘inspiration’. 

At the Toronto Bike Show we recently received two requests to sponsor upcoming events and Reverse Gear has agreed to provide prizes for:

1. Tour BC  an annual 7-day bike tour that will have about ten recumbent riders participating this year.
2. Cycle for Sight- 100 cyclists will undertake a 133 km journey from Toronto to Collingwood to raise funds to support research aimed at restoring the gift of sight to people living with vision loss on Saturday June 20th, 2009.

 We would love to support Cycle for Sight by riding as well - but this year we cannot - because Len will be riding across Canada from June to September with Blind Guy Biking. Richard has asked Len to be a Captain on his Greenspeed tandem tricycle as he cycles from BC to Newfoundland to raise funds for Special Olympics. Reverse Gear is also the clothing sponsor because we want the team to look good on this ‘big ride’. Watch for details on the blog this summer.

This weekend Reverse Gear  also received a request to sponsor another ‘Big Ride’ from Lee Kelly.

During September 2009,  Lee plans to take a very special journey for a very special cause. His journey will be by recumbent trike from Cleveland, Ohio to Dallas, Texas. Over 21 days and about 1,200 miles. He is riding to raise funds and awareness for returning disabled soldiers and their families. He hopes to encourage any veteran with a disability to set their goals higher, and to accomplish them one way or another. Lee rides to help him recover from a major accident that left him in a coma and later in a quadraplegic state.  To learn more - go to: http://www.mybigride09.com/

Reverse Gear is proud to sponsor all of these events. And these folks are certainly inspiring me to spend more time on my own trike than in the office… << more to come>>>  

Our first blog told you how we got started - with the support of many friends along the way. We would be remiss if we did not thank a few others that have been involved in the launch of Reverse Gear Inc.

Our first customer was in PA. We want to thank Rob Gentry and Alicia for organizing a great recumbent cycle event, and for allowing us to showcase Reverse Gear clothing for the very first time - at both the pub night and the RBR rally. Rob’s site has many great photos of the event. While the cycling was great - the evening get-togethers with the other riders and sharing stories was also a wonderful way to get us back into the NA cycling scene (after being in Australia for 8 years). And of course there is the infamous story of BentJay with a squirrel in his lap. It’s going to be  a challenge for anyone to top that one.

Our first on-line customers found us because Bentrider Online featured the REVERSE Gear^TM launch - now relegated to the June 2008 archives. Len and I find it hard to believe that we’ve been around long enough to be “archived”. (Actually I meant REVERSE Gear^TM - not us!!!) Thanx to Bryan Ball for our first product review.

While the on-line orders were testing the REVERSE Gear^TM website, we were tearing across the USA landscape - state-by-state - on our way to CA. We cycled in a few wonderful places like Vail, CO which whetted our appetite for more. But we were rushing to get to the first Bent-up rally. So we were a first at a first, and Bent-up became the first dealer to carry REVERSE Gear.  We want to thank Dana and Neal for their hospitality and for encouraging us to take the cross-country tour to ride along the beaches. I love beaches and found the route along the boardwalk from Will Rogers to Redonda Beach is outstanding. I hope they do a second annual Bent-up Rally and we can go again.

On the way home we stopped at several dozen recumbent shops to meet fellow ‘bents and cycled in many states. One of those memorable rides was in Chicago from the Amlings location to the Chicago Botanical Gardens. Even though it poured rain the entire time the ride along paved bike paths, which Joe and Julie at Amlings had recommended, was most enjoyable. Later that day, Amlings became dealer number two. Thanx Joe and Julie.

We then returned to Canada to manufacture the fall line. And in those following weeks, the folks at Neighbourhood Transportation Recumbent and Foldable Bikes found out about us and became our third dealer.

 In August, we headed west again to WI and the 16th Midwest Recumbent Rally at the Hostel Shoppe. Again we participated in rides and displays of REVERSE Gear^TM . And before we headed home, Hostel Shoppe also decided to carry the REVERSE Gear line in their shop.

 We would like to thank Rob, Dana, Joe, Bruce and Rolf for supporting our early endeavours in this new adventure. And thanks to all of our customers in Canada, USA, France. Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, Japan and Australia. We know we won’t always be able to “give thanks” to individuals but we wanted to acknowledge the ones that we can.

“Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse. ”
Henry Van Dyke