Sunday, March 20, 2016

Quick update

So, for those of you who missed the first installment you can read it here.

Just to keep all of you up to date, I have managed to get the majority of both trike frames built. Some of my welds look like a giant metallic bird pooped on the tubing but that is what they invented grinders for. I can only hope that there will be enough strength in the welds to hold these trikes together. Another reason I am building them so far ahead of the actual trip. I am not positive but I think it could hurt to have the frame crack while we are riding across PEI, both physically and financially. If they break closer to home it will only hurt physically.


Route planning is still ongoing but I have learened of Confederation Trail. When Prince Edward Island’s railway was abandoned in 1989 Islanders were quick to notice a unique opportunity. The idea of a tip-to-tip shared use walking and cycling trail in the summer and a snowmobile trail in the winter was born. With beautiful rolling hill scenery , quaint villages and broad bay seascapes, the Confederation Trail is PEI's portion of the Trans Canada Trail.

The 410 kilometers of rolled stone trail has gentle gradients which never exceed 2%. This Island wide exploration corridor is ideal for visitors of all ages and fitness levels. The main trail starts in Tigerish at kilometre 0 and ends in Elmira at kilometer 273. Branch trails extend into the heart of Charlottetown and to the waterside communities of Souris, Georgetown, Montague, Wood Islands, Murray River and Murray Harbour plus the link to the Confederation Bridge in Borden-Carleton. {Shamelessly plagerized from a Confederation Trail brochure.}

I am also going to have to locate a shipping company that will be willing to move our trikes across this fine country for us with  out using our whole budget. I found one that claimes to be able to move bikes for $150 but only if they fit in a specific size box. So, that search continues. Right now I am thinking that Air Canada Cargo might be the best way to go. They seem to have a reasonable rate and we can actually rent a half container from them and they will ship it to our destination and store it for upto six days with no extra cost. So, we could fit both trikes and most; if not all; of our gear in the container and ship it out almost a full week before we go.




Sunday, March 13, 2016

New Adventure

Here we go a new adventure has begun. I am not going to try to tell you that I will keep this blog loaded with information and update it every week but I will try to post a few thoughts from time to time. Esspecially with big news and milestones about this adventure.

Dea and me a couple years ago. 
The year was 1996, the location; 21 Woodland Drive, Lacombe, Alberta. The event: the day I promised to love and honour, cherish and care for, in sickness and health, through richer or poorer for better or worse until death do us part, the most beautiful woman in my world. Since then, our lives have brought riches and poverty, sickness and health, good times and bad times but through it all we are still married. We are quickly crowding up onto 25 years of wedded bliss and we thought it would be cool to do something special to commemorate the event. We thought of a tropical vacation but, all of those are really expensive. We thought of going out for a nice meal but, that doesn't seem special enough. We thought about renewing our vows but, that has been done to death.

The adventure we have setteled upon is a tour of one of our fair provinces. Now we are not talking of your average tour, that would be far to pedestrian for a 25th wedding anniversary. No, we are planning a bicycle tour of our island province; Prince Edward Island. Well, actually, a recumbent trike tour to be specific. I know what you are thinking, "Don't recumbent trikes cost almost $5,000 each? So, it would be cheaper to go on that tropical vacation." Well, yes the trikes do cost a lot but only if you are not will to really make this an adventure! I am currently in the process of building our trikes! That's right I am fabricating our trikes from steel and scrap bikes!

Did I come up with the plan on my own? Nope, I have Atomic Zombie bikes to thank for the plans. So, right now, including the plans and steel; thus far I have invested almost $200 for two trikes.

This is the plan I am working from, I have a small suitcase MIG welder and I have built most of the frame of the first trike and am well on the way to the second one as well. I will be adding a large cargo box on each trike as well as batteries for lights and charging phones and my laptop. I am hoping to be finished the trikes early this summer so we can start training for the two weeks we will be in PEI. I have also decided to start this blog to keep you guys up to date with the build process and planning of our little adventure.

As you may well imagine there are a million details we need to work out. You know minor things like; food, shipping the trikes to PEI, shelter and of course the route we will ride.