Reverse Gear Blog

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…

I’ve just come back from High Park where I chased Len and Richard up and down a few hills for 29.6 km. It was fun, especially when they bought me an ice-cream (which I deserved of course).

But the best part was the escort that Blind-Guy Biking got when about a dozen kids in the park followed them and asked Richard a zillion questions about his cool trike and his blindness and the reason for the x-Canada ride. I think this is probably a sample of what will be happening everywhere we go. But the best part of all was the fact that the kids wanted to make a donation to the cause so we got our first $4 in loonies.

The training ride actually raised a total of $8 because we also received a couple of toonies from two young ladies who talked to Richard while I was eating my ice-cream.

So my first training ride was fun and great weather and profitable for Richard.

Len is cycling across Canada this summer with Blind-Guy Biking, to raise funds for a program that Richard created called Pedal for Medals. They have been planning this trip for many months and Len has been helping Richard acquire a customized Greenspeed tandem for the trip. Not sure how many x-country trips have ever been done in Canada on a tandem trike but this one will certainly be unique. The tandem arrived this week.

I was envious because I love to travel (the gypsy in me), love to cycle, and love meeting people. And they were going to be doing that for 3 months without me.  

But now – they are not – going without me, that is! Last weekend, I decided to join them. I still haven’t figured out all the details (leave from work, who will water the plants, etc.) – but those are only details. The decision to go was the “big ticket”. And I am so happy that I have made it. Life is too short to not being doing the things that I want to do.

There are two reasons why the decision was easy to make – besides the “fun” that I will have cycling/travelling some 10,000 km. The first one is that I have been diagnosed as pre-diabetic. It’s genetic and I should be able prevent it from becoming diabetes through diet and exercise. But I was still shocked to learn that in spite of all the “right-living” I was already doing, that this was happening to me. So I need to do more “right-living” if I am going to stay healthy and this cycle-trip is one of those things that I can do for myself.

The other motivator was the recent passing of a friend. She retired on January 1st and by end of February she was dead. It was a shock to everyone. When I saw her in November we talked about how much she was looking forward to a new relaxed life with her grand-son (born in December) and doing some renovations. I was so sad, especially for her family. (My heart goes out to them.)

Today, I know I am blessed with an opportunity – this gift – to join Len and Richard and Anna and the team. While I hope to  contribute to the goals of Blind-Guy Biking, I am really doing this for Numero Uno – ME. And I am so happy that I have made the BIG decision to go…  

<< more to come on our adventure – they say that I have to start “training” today because we leave in a month – training yuch!!! I just do this for FUN!>>

Guess I might have to learn to “zip my mouth” about Len not using the specially designed zippers on his Reverse Gear. Can you believe that I did exactly the same thing today? A case of the “kettle calling the pot black” – I think.

I was so lucky that I did not lose anything. After having a coffee with a friend, I unlocked the trike and put the keys in the side pocket of the RG vest. But three blocks later I was lucky – to catch my key ring with all my bike lock and house keys about to slide from my pocket and on to the street. Wow that was a lucky catch.

So I need to remember to zip the pockets on my vest and jerseys before I start to cycle. After all that’s why I had the idea in the first place – to keep the valuable stuff from falling out, especially in the recumbent position.

I promised myself to never leave the pockets un-zipped again!!! And to keep my mouth zipped if Len makes the same mistake more than once. But hopefully we have both learned the importance of zippers when cycling.

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>>>  

We went to the Toronto International Bike Show on March 13, sponsored by Shimano, Pizza Pizza and Pedal magazine.

It felt like spring that day so it seemed like a good idea to replace our Shimano cycling sandals which have served us well for more than ten years. However we decided to try something different – the Keen commuter cycle sandals. I think the concept of a closed toe is good idea on the tricycle. I also liked the adjustability of the bungee cord style closure so I can adjust as the day gets hotter and my feet swell. Ahhhhh – dreaming of summer days when that will happen again!

Well it isn’t summer yet so I tested them in the apartment all weekend. They were very comfortable and I am now ready for some serious test-riding – so bring on summer!

As I said in my last post, it’s too cold to go riding, so I have spent most of my day on the Internet reading blogs and e-zines and discovering all sorts of “neat stuff” about recumbents and cycling in general.

I will share more of it over time but two items I wanted to share with you right now are:

1. A book about recumbent cycling available from “Out your backdoor“ Written by Gunnar Fehlau and published by Out Your Back Door Press, this book covers the history, science, design, racing, touring, construction and resources for recumbents…and much more.
2. A photo competition for cycling. Some of the entries – showing bicycles and cyclists all over the world – are amazing. I wouldn’t want to have to pick the winner! See them at this great site called ecovelo

Len got up bright and early to the sunshine pouring in the bedroom window. I rolled over and asked him to go to the market by himself as I thought it was going to be too cold to ride. So into his cycling gear  – complete with goggles and face mask – and away he went. Half an hour later the door opens and he’s back, without the groceries!!! He said he only got half a mile away and his gears wouldn’t work. That’s the third time this winter that he hasn’t been able to ride because something just froze up. I just checked the “weather” and it’s only -16C but the windchill is -25C, and SUNNY.

So he’s now off to the market on the streetcar and I am happy that I made the decision to stay here in the warm office and work this morning. Spring cannot come too soon for us.

It’s been a cold and windy winter in Toronto and lots of snow too. Last year we had  a record amount of snow. This year it may have been less but it has come in big dumps. So at the end of February we are still experiencing -20C and still wearing the gloves – every day. And I am getting tired of being all bundled up!

In fact this year I found the Saturday morning trip to the market sooooooo cold that we went shopping at Mountain Equipment Co-op (a great place to get gear) on our way home a few weeks ago for face protection. I bought Bolle ski goggles for my eyes and a neoprene face mask with a cut-out for breathing. They actually work quite well to keep me warm.

Now I just need to find something to keep feet warmer so that I don’t come home with my childhood frostbite reactivated (as has happened several times this year).

While the arctic weather gave me a chance to test our winter gear, including my new Woolybutts, I am so looking forward to spring.

How many days did that groundhog say we had to wait?