Reverse Gear Blog

Morning commuters

Negotiating traffic

Judi just returned from 3 weeks in London, UK visiting her son. She didn’t have the chance to cycle there but her son does about 1-2 times a week. She was surprised to see so many commuters take to the road in such a busy city. They do have the advantage of being able to use the bus lanes which are prohibited to cars. However the number of buses means there is regular traffic behind or in front of every group of cyclists in the mornings and evenings. And some roads don’t have the specially marked bus lanes.

Folding bikes everywhere

 Everywhere she went there was evidence of cycling: on the roads in the city; along the canals on designated shared paths (walking and cycling); on some of the highways; and on cycle paths directly alongside many of the highways.  Throughout London there was also plenty of evidence that it was a bike-friendly city by the number of bicycle racks everywhere, especially at major sites. Rumor has it that the new Mayor cycles – so there may be even more improvements in the cycling infrastructure.

She saw lots of people with folding bikes for convenience, but she did not see even one recumbent in the 19 days that she travelled.

Waiting for the new hire bikes

If you are planning to travel in London, you may want to check out the new cycle-hire system which was just being installed. It’s a great way to see the city and is intended for short trips between subway stations. While it has been designed for locals, it can also be used by tourists. And it’s easy to use with a credit card. This site gives you information about cyling in London, including the new bike hire system.

Parking everywhere

If planning a trip to UK and you do take your bike over and/or have access to a cycle while there, you should pick up a copy of the book: Britain’s Favourite Pub Walks and Cycle Rides.
Judi bought it for her son because it had the word “pubs” in the title. It was very informative with a four-page description of each route and pub including photos and maps, of which there were sixty in total. It provided start and end points, routes, minimum time to do it, length, level of difficulty or danger, why you would want to do it. About the pub they told you directions, parking facilities, food, and they even told if it was a free-house and what kind of beer was sold. Each town / pub had a charming historical story as well.

If you go, let us know if you see any recumbents while you are there…

I was impressed and motivated by Lucinda Chandler even though I only met her once – briefly at the Midwest Recumbent Rally in 2008 when we launched Reverse Gear. I found her to be enthusiastic and informative about recumbent touring. She offered to give our recumbent clothing a try and I said I would be in touch.

In February 2009, we arranged for her to test some of our gear on a trip she was taking to Costa Rica. When she returned, she said that she “was very happy with the fit, feel and look of the garments”. Even though she was suffering from Dengue Fever from the trip, she took the time to write a full review of the jersey and shorts for us and posted it on her Pink Trike Adventures site also.  

When I had first met Lucinda, I also found the fact that she rode a trike across the USA to be very motivating personally. I thought of her accomplishment many times when I was planning to cycle solo across Canada during our sponsorship of the Blind Guy Biking Tour, in which Len was riding as co-captain on the tandem. When I had told her of my plans by email, I received this response:

Have you started your cycling Canada trip? Good wishes to you both. Just hang in there when the times get tough (they will pass) and you will get through it! Just remember that any difficulties, life stuff that comes up, etc… are all part of the adventure! And, really embrace the feeling of accomplishment from what you have done at the end of each day! On your “break days” try to get something in from your “normal, every day life” that makes you feel good….for me it was visits to the spa/salon and going to see movies…
Miles of smiles,
Lucinda

So it was a bit of a shock to see the news on the recumbent blogs and forums this past week that she had passed away.

It was even more of a shock for me when I read this article entitled Lucinda Chandler Finds Her Legs, written only two months ago that tells us all of the personal challenges that she had overcome in her 43 years.

I cannot imagine how her family and friends feel to have lost such an incredible role model at such a young age. How could one woman have done so much? I hope that her spirit continues to inspire many.

I know when I get on my trike and I am out riding solo again in some part of the countryside, I will think of the lady with spunk on the pink trike and be motivated to continue the “adventure” as she had advised in her last email to me…

No this is not our opinions of how you should “parent” your children. It is however a notification that recumbent riding and the wearing of REVERSE Gear is about to make it into mainstream TV programming – on a new show called PARENTHOOD.

While we were travelling in Florida in March we received a call from a young woman asking for help on how to enter a credit card transaction into our shopping cart. When we explained the use of PayPal she informed us that the purchase was not for herself but for the wardrobe department of NBC. She explained that she was trying to purchase a  jersey for a recumbent rider in an upcoming episode that was being filmed the following Friday. Not wanting to delay shipment while we sorted the payment options out, we shipped her a Mulga-3 jersey and a pair of the unique Ironbark shorts immeditaely. A few days later we signed the release forms.

We are no doubt thrilled that someone can/will ride a recumbent on a popular genre show. The exposure will be good for the industry overall. We are even more excited that the rider will be properly attired in a spiffy tri-color recumbent-specific jersey with front zipped pockets and classic lycra shorts for the shoot. We know that shoots can take a long time and we are confident that Phil Abrams who plays Phil Lessing in the show will be comfortable for however long it takes for his ride across our small screens.

The character Phil Lessing has already made his first appearance in Episode Two of the 2010 premiere of Parenthood.

We consider ourselves very fortunate that we had just bought a new TV in early March so that we can now receive the free-to-air post-conversion HDTV signals in our RV. So when Phil graces the screen in bright blue and orange on May 4. 2010 we will actually get to see him. We hope you will too.

Let us know what you think of recumbent riding in mainstream television by posting your comments below.

The following is from the summary of the show provided by NBC:
“Parenthood” is a one‐hour drama inspired by the box‐office comedy hit of the same name about the Braverman family.  The dynamic star‐studded cast includes Peter Krause, Lauren Graham, Craig T. Nelson, Dax Shepard, Bonnie Bedelia, Monica Potter and Erika Christensen. Executive producers are Oscar winners Ron Howard and Brian Grazer (“A Beautiful Mind,” “Frost/Nixon”), and Jason Katims (“Friday Night Lights”), who wrote the pilot episode. Emmy winner Thomas Schlamme (“The West Wing”) is the director and executive producer of the pilot. “Parenthood” is from Imagine Television and Universal Media Studios.

We plan to feature stories about ‘bents and riders, and tips to make the ‘bent experience better. If you want to share a story or tip with us, send it along to Judi.

Here’s a useful tip for bicycle grease!

To remove grease, from skin or from your clothing, rub in a dab of toothpaste. Rinse immediately to prevent bleaching. Works wonders!

If you get grease on multiple clothes and need a product for the laundry cycle, we can recommend Caeran stain remover. Judi has been using their products on tough stains for three generations now.

C.A.E.R.A.N Caring And Environmentally Responsible And Nurturing is 100% Canadian. To see their full line of products, please visit www.caeran.com Please reference “Consultant ID# 10-0100-1076″ under special instructions at the Check-out.

If you have any questions about the products, or to place an order directly, e-mail Judi’s daughter 

Six months without cycling is starting to feel like withdrawal from an addiction now. For many good reasons, we have been off the trikes since we returned to Toronto from what turned out to be our half-cross-Canada excursion.

When we seperated from the Blind Guy Biking (BGB) tour we decided to spend a few weeks with Judi’s family in Winnipeg. We helped her dad sell his home and have a long-time-coming garage sale. As a result of the tour, Judi got the travel bug and she decided that we should buy an RV. In fact, she thought that if we bought it in Winnipeg we could use it to get home. We were unsuccessful however in our first bid so we left instead in a Dodge Caravan borrowed from Judi’s sister to get us home. It was a great vehicle for us because the two trikes fit in the back nicely.

Once back in Toronto the gypsy blood did not stop flowing. We continued to look for the perfect RV to suit our needs. The most important one was the ability to carry the two tricycles in the `basement`underneath. At the beginning of August we found a used 38-foot diesel pusher and thus started the next Judi & Len adventure.

We would sell the downtown Toronto condo and take to the road full-time – with the two folding GT3 trikes safely tucked underneath along side the golf clubs and with the Greenspeed tandem trike (GTT) perched on the roof of the  Caravan, which we could now tow behind. The Caravan would also serve as storage for the REVERSE Gear sample inventory which we could take with us to show retailers and cyclists – wherever we ventured.

The first trip took us to Interbike 2009 in Las Vegas in September to promote our new 2010 product line, and meet retailers and recumbent manufacturers. We received an encouraging reception.

During the Vegas trip, we discovered that the RV required a few repairs (covered under warranty). However waiting for the parts to do the repairs delayed our departure from Canada until mid-November.

 It`s now mid-December and we have now arrived in Florida where we have started our tour of the local recumbent retailers – finally!    

Suddenly, the withdrawal symptoms are having their effect. We are both keen to get back on the trikes. And the warmer weather is urging us on. 

We will update the RG blog periodically to share:

• what we learn from this new nomadic lifestyle;
• where we are or have been cycling – just in case we can join you; and
• who we are talking to about REVERSE Gear along the way.

We will occasionally also post to Twitter to tell you where we are or plan to be.

If you have any tips on where we should cycle, please share them with us by email to judi at reversegearinc.com or give us a call at 910-599-3939 (our new USA cell). We hope to see you ‘on the road’.

If any of you have ever felt the sting of nettles you know how uncomfortable it can be. So if you were out on a training ride, you probably wouldn’t ride into a thicket of nettles – right? Well I didn’t  intend to, but…

As I approached a very short steep hill in the wrong gear, I really didn’t think that was where I would end up. Wrong gear meant my legs wouldn’t take me up – so I rolled back to try again. You can do that on a trike. Then suddenly “ouch” – I had rolled off the path backwards – into the nettles.

The good news is that I didn’t sit in them (like the ant hill) and the sting went away before I finished the 94 km training ride .

It was a great ride with Mary and Louise (who are riding to Conquer Cancer in a few weeks time).  I cycled for 6 hrs 11 minutes and averaged15.15 kmph. I think that I have proven to myself that I can manage about 100 km a day in average terrain. Feeling confident that I can have some reasonable days on the cross-Canada tour.

Stopped on my way home to buy a new blue rack bag and new red panniers to match my red & blue trike. That should be all of the shopping for now. Both me and the trike will ‘look good’. Even if we don’t go FAST!

So I think I will be ready to go at the end of the week (May 30th).

I know that we are about to ride more than 8500 km and that I should be training to get my mind and body ready for the Blind Guy Biking.  But since I am not athletically-inclined, I can find a zillion reasons for not doing it – “it” being the dreaded “training” word. And here are some recent ones:

1. On Thursday, we were putting new bookcases in the office so I convinced myself that all of the heavy-lifting of boxes of files would qualify as weight training that day. (It does – right?)
2. On Friday, I took my trike in for a tune-up. Doing a long training ride right after to make sure it was well-tuned would have been a good idea. But I thought it was a better idea to go shopping for some new fuchsia gloves and socks to match my fuchsia and black REVERSE Gear warm weather outfit (jersey, camisole and shorts) and red gloves and socks to go with my new RG jersey. And so I convinced myself that the short, fast ride from Urbane Cycle to MEC was “sprint training”.
3. On Saturday, it was raining.  Len said that I will need to ride even if it is raining on the trip, so it is good for me to ”train” in the rain.  My response: “Exactly – so why would I subject myself to it now when I don’t have to”.  So I stayed inside and worked on the route and maps instead.
4. On Sunday, it was cold. Since I have previously been in the Rockies in early June and know it can snow there at that time of year, I felt that I should prepare myself for it, but…  then again maybe it won’t snow this year so I won’t need to train for “cold weather”.  Besides, I rode to the St. Lawrence Market all winter so I already know I can do “cold”!!!
5. On Monday, I had two excuses – my grand-daughter and my music.  I think taking my grand-daughter to the swimming pool is a good substitute for cycling.   I was using my legs as I flutter-boarded across the pool.  Tomorrow when I get around to really “training” those leg muscles, they should be nice and supple (I hope). 
6. This afternoon, I am loading my new iPod.  While it may not be training, it is an essential part of the preparationfor the trip.  I cannot imagine being out there for 3 months without all of my jazz and country favourites.  Not to mention my classical music to go to sleep to.   Hmm, maybe after pedaling for 5-7 hours a day I may not have much trouble falling asleep – just maybe?

Well stay posted to hear more about our “training”, I do intend to start sometime before we leave next week…

When I was younger, my mother used to say I had “ants in my pants” to describe my high level of energy and activity. But yesterday while doing a  training ride for the Blind Guy Biking tour – I actually did have “ants in my pants”.  And boy did they hurt. I do not know what made me ride home faster – the ant bites or the fact that it was “raining cats and dogs”.

So you are probably wondering – how did the ants get there?

Because it is not summer, many of the toilets in the parks along the bike trails are not yet open. Having drunk copious amounts of water, and being in need of relief, I raced back to one that I knew was open along the trail. Ooops, we missed the sign-posts and were now several minutes past it. I did not want to go back up the big hill so I decided the bush would just have to do. (Practice for the many times crossing Canada this summer where I will be between towns etc.)

As I walked back to the trike I felt a sharp prick. Thinking that I must have  picked up a twig in the soft fleece of my REVERSE Gear tights  I reached inside to remove it. What I pulled out was a big black ant. Suddenly – ouch – another prick on my hamstring.  And out came another. Two ants – but six big painfully itchy welts when I came home.

I could not wait to get into the whirlpool to soothe my cold, soggy, itchy body. Not surprising, I had done only 43 km rather than the 60 -80 that was my goal when I woke up in the morning.

Also not surprising, I decided that I would rather stay at the computer on Sunday and work on the route plans and the media kits for the cross-Canada ride than cycle in the chilling 6 -12 C that greeted us on this sunny Mother’s Day.

Greeting to all of the mothers out there, including my friends, sisters and daughters. Hope all of you had a wonderful Mother’s Day. I certainly had a productive one – at home! No ants – just me and a warm cuppa tea this afternoon.

We leave to cycle cross-Canada on May 27 as part of the Blind-Guy Biking campaign to raise funds for Special Olympics, etc. Richard Holloway is the ”Blind-Guy” and Len will be his captain for much of the ride.

Richard and Len start training on Lakeshore

For them the ride involves getting the tandem recumbent tricycle ready (which only arrived mid-April from Greenspeed in Australia and was put together by Urbane Cycle in Toronto) and of course planning the logistics of the trip. They are also trying to get as many training rides in as possible before we go – like the one in High Park last Saturday to break-in the brakes and the one this Saturday to work through the gears on a few hills in Caledon.

I decided to join them on this adventurous ride – for my personal health and happiness. And since I will be going along for the ride I will obviously be contributing as part of the team. So when not riding (or completely exhausted from chasing the tandem up and down hills), I hope to help with PR and cooking etc.

I suppose I should train also if I am going to try to “keep up” with them on the road. But my preparation for the ride mostly involves visiting as many of my  friends and family before I leave and maybe catch up with a few while I am on the road too. So this weekend was busy with friends visiting on Friday night and grand-kids visiting from Kitchener. It was a perfect weekend – time at the park, a few swims, and even an early morning jaunt to Fort York to watch their mom and dad finish the Sporting Life 10 km race in excellent time. It may be my last visit with them until September and had to make it a good one.

So I really haven’t had time to ride my trike. But I’m still confident that once we get out there on the ride that I will get in shape quickly. I am such an optimist…