The very first ride day!

We have just arrived in Utrecht and we are staying in the coolest building ever. It is actually my dream place to live: a huge semi abandoned office space that has been reclaimed by 4 people to keep others from squatting. It is massive and spacious and likely going to get knocked down in a year. Seeing everyone’s expression when they walk in the door after doing our first 40km of the trip is awesome.

The first real ride of the trip was pretty picturesque. We rolled through plenty of small towns all while having our own separated bike paths from the cars. I think the distance was also the perfect amount to get started with. It allowed us to get our feet wet without anyone worrying about not being able to do it. It also, at least for the first couple groups, meant we were at our destination by just after 2pm.

Our trip has not been all peaches and cream so far though. We were unable to get a couple more tents yesterday so some people got very cozy last night. Really it is just more team bonding though. Gene also had a pretty spectacular wipe out today where he wound up going over his handlebars, down a small embankment, and into a ditch. Luckily he is fine and other than being a little smelly and wet nothing was damaged.

I’m also not alone in the flat department! Three other people blew out their tires pumping up them up. Luckily all of them had seen me change mine earlier in the day so they had a pretty good idea of how to do it when the time came. I guess we are all too strong for our own good.

That’s all for now, I think we are going to be a very happy bunch tonight.

The tour has officially started, almost

The trip is officially underway! Well, at the very least we are now midway through orienting oursevles to one another; the city on the other hand is still proving a little difficult to navigate for a few people. Day one was a nice mix of time to chat about our concerns and feelings towards the ride and practical riding tips. We also had a great picnic lunch with the local Bahi group who came to wish us well on our trip. I think they really managed to inspire some of the group and it was the perfect way to start the adventure we are getting ready to fully embark on tomorrow.

I would also like to say that I become the first person to get a flat tire. Yes, that's right, I actually managed to get a flat tire BEFORE the tour even started. Apparently I was a little over zealous with my pumping and I ripped the valve right off. I then had to change it another time because I put in the wrong tube, so I think that means I get to help lead the tire changing session we are doing tonight.

As for the last couple days they have been a blur. I finally managed to get a full night's sleep for the first time - previous to that I got 2, 6, and 4 hours respectively. I actually didn't get out to do many of the "tourist" activities in the city. Instead I spent most of my days meandering the streets on foot or by bike. It really was a nice city to just wander around in, taking in the way of life.

I will say that I love that bikes are the dominant method of transportation here. They say there are more bikes than people in the Netherlands and I think in Amsterdam specifically the ratio must be 4 or 5 to 1. It makes me wish that Vancouver was more bike friendly, and I thought we were doing pretty well before I got here.

I think that's about all I've got for now, Internet is short and I'm a little sunburned - it's been smoking hot - so my brain feels like mush. I'll try and upload more pictures at a later date when we get more than a 20 minute bursts.

Day 1 - I'm in Amsterdam!

I’m currently holed up in a room that I swear if it had a ceiling fan could be straight out of Apocalypse Now, although that could just be the heat or lack of sleep playing tricks on me. Holy crap I am in Amsterdam. How the hell did that happen? I think I had a minor panic attack on the plane – judging by the very worried expression of the kind British women next to me when I woke up – the gravity of this trip is actually starting to set in. But I am getting ahead of myself so lets back track a little.
I woke up June 24th PST at around 9am. Before I would wind up in the state I am currently in I would make it until June 25th 9pm CEST before really getting any sleep. Not a bad start to the trip. The 24th started out uneventful enough: it had to; we still had no power so there was nothing to make any noise. After waking to yell at the landlords to try and rectify the situation I decided there was nothing I could do at home without the internet so I wound up going to Starbucks to find theirs broken as well. By this time I was feeling akin to a street addict shaking so I drove up to SFU to sit in the parking lot and borrow their internet access. I justify all of this by claiming the need to have checked my e-mail to confirm very important things about my trip. Going to SFU also had the added bonus of getting to give Lauren another hug and kiss goodbye.

I then finally got a call from my would-be ride to the airport, and was thankful that he would still be able to deliver me. He would have to take me there 2.5 hours earlier than the 3.5 I was planning on being there before my international flight but worry not, this time would not be wasted. Once the KLM (Dutch Airlines) desk finally opened I was informed that my bike needed a box to get on the plane, the handle bars needed to be spun and the pedals needed to come off. I will deal with each of these issues in order of prevalence.

The bike box: I had phoned YVR last week and asked to speak to the KLM representative who informed me that although a box was recommended that I would be fine if I showed up with my bike as is and they would give me a bag to stick it in. Upon arriving at the terminal I was informed that this is NEVER the case and I couldn’t possibly have spoken to a KLM representative unless I phoned the Netherlands. I of course am a Capricorn and very stubborn so I calmly explained my plight and a rather kind flight attendant scoured the airport for any extra bags she count find of any size and after about an hour and a half produced three midsized ones that would partially cover my bike and some tape.

The handle bars: Now this I think is just silly. Due to the way my bike is designed when you spin the handlebars it actually makes the bike wider and much harder to fit into various places. If I took them off it may be easier and almost make sense, but I was only told to spin them. I tried to explain the laws of physics to the flight attendant but I think she could sense my fine arts degree and insisted I spin

them.

The pedals: I felt that these became somewhat of a moot point once the handlebars made the bike bigger but again it was insisted that I take them off. I explained that I actually couldn’t, it was too difficult with the tools I had on me, but this didn’t seem to register. Apparently she assumed that if I was going to do this crazy bike trip I was claiming to be on that I would have all of the correct tools to break down my bike, including the special wrench for pedals. At this point a very nice German cyclist came to my help and ran all over YVR trying to find a construction worker who happened to have a larger wrench that would fit. He did manage to find a big wrench and larger construction worker but neither worked. I just padded my pedals and put more tape around them. So I suppose I kind of won that point. On the upside I made a new German friend, and although he doesn’t live on our route we did have a lovely dinner together.

The actual plane ride itself was probably the bumpiest ascent that I had ever experienced but the rest of the flight went rather smoothly. I arrived at the airport to find all of my bags intact and bike pretty much fine. Somehow they managed to pull the seat apart but they didn’t break it so that shouldn’t be a big issue. Oddly enough though, Amsterdam doesn’t have a special pickup window for sporting goods and bikes like Vancouver. I found my bike randomly sitting next to a door guarded by no one so I just took it and carried it on my way to the train, which whisked me directly down to the city centre.
From there I got only minorly lost trying to find my Hotel but checked in no problem. The most amusing part of that story is that a very kind Dutch woman came to my aid while I was looking at my map and attempted to help me find my Hotel. The only problem was that I was actually standing right in front of it and hadn’t realized it but she didn’t lead me too far afield before we found our way back.

I then met up with another one of the riders, Gala, and we set off to explore the city. I was wearing my Global AFC shirt and Gala had her Elan bike and we were almost instantly recognized by two other riders on the trip, Charles and Jake, so we located some food and a bottle of wine and did what all tourists should do: sit in the middle of “The Dam” on the steps and people-watch.

So I think that is pretty much what has happened in the last 29 hours. I am going to attempt to get to sleep now and hopefully be able to make it through the night. I’m in Amsterdam… wow.

Video Blog 1 - Pre-Packing

Click to Play

This is the first video with the Kodak Zx1 that Kodak graciously donated for the trip. It's a great little camera and I'm very excited to see how this is going to allow for some video blogging on this trip. This video is just a short clip showing my bike and the various items that I'll be taking along with me. Enjoy :)

Formats available: MPEG-4 Video (.m4v)