Sorry everyone, we have been pitifully slow at updating the blog over the last week. Our energies have been devoted to visiting, shopping, and sorting through all our stuff. After a week, we are definitely feeling more at home back in Canada and our ready to get back on the road.

We went to Vancouver on Tuesday to spend a day visiting with our friend Meike and her kids Kate and Lucas. We enjoyed a wonderful hot pot dinner at the Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot – the same restaurant chain that we enjoyed so much on our last day in China (in Tanggu). We can attest that the Canadian version is almost as good, and the Tuesday night all you can eat special was a nice bonus. The one almost touristy thing we did was to drive over the new Golden Ears Bridge in Vancouver – opened on Tuesday, apparently just for us. It was great to spend some time visiting with Meike and her family. We wish her a speedy recovery and will continue to send lots of energy from our yoga practice to her.

We have been staying with Rowena, another of Becky’s friends from university, in Victoria in her lovely new condo blocks from downtown. We did not get as much time visiting as we would have liked, but it was definitely nice catching up – thanks so much for your generous hospitality Rowena! On Thursday night, Rowena brought us out to the weekly Victoria Couchsurfing shindig. It was nice to meet several of the Victoria couch surfing hosts, and another surfer – Wayne who has been driving his RV around Canada for more than a year!

Thanks to Scott’s parents, we had a big box of spares waiting for us, and were able to replace tires and shifters, and replenish our stock of brake pads and other bits and pieces. Our bikes have had a tune up, at Fairfield Bicycles, which actually stocks our bikes and even Rohloff hubs! Amazingly, our chains were measured as “no stretch” and given the thumbs up, so we did not need to replace them. Not bad for 5000 km – it appears the SRAM PC-870 chains are much more durable than the stock PC-830 chains provided by HP Velotechnik, which had damaged the rear cog after less than 4000 km. The guy at the shop thinks they might make it all the way back to Ottawa – but if not, we will have a few opportunities to change them. The bikes are now ready for the next phase of our journey.

Packing prove to be a challenge, as we had to sort through everything, figure out what needed replacing, replace it, and then figure out what needed to be shipped to Kitimat for possible use in Northern BC and what needed to be sent home. We thought that getting the large parcels to the post office would be a real challenge but in the end, we were able to strap them to the back of our bikes for transport. We mailed 20.6 kg home and 7.4 kg to Kitimat – we hope our bikes will be feeling a fair bit lighter now. (To be fair, we also received about 20 kg here, some mailed ahead from Singapore as well as the spare parts from Scott’s parents, but we’re still a fair bit ahead – especially since we are now carrying all our cold weather gear again).

Our planned journey for June and July currently looks like this:

• June 20 – 28: Ride from Victoria to Port Hardy via Salt Spring, Comox, and Campbell River
• June 29: Ferry from Port Hardy to Prince Rupert
• June 30-July 1: Ride from Prince Rupert to Kitimat
• July 1 – 5: Visit with Becky’s parents, attend Becky’s 20th high school reunion
• July 6 – 11: Ride from Terrace to Prince George
• July 13 – July 31: Ride from Prince George to Saskatoon via Jasper, Icefields Parkway, Saskatchewan crossing, Rocky Mountain House, and Red Deer
• Aug 1: Attend Jodi and Cameron’s wedding in Saskatoon
• Aug 2 – Aug 8: Ride from Saskatoon to Winnipeg

We have not yet decided what we will do after Winnipeg. We have the option of either a cross-Canada ride via the Trans-Canada north of Lake Superior or change to a cross-North-America ride via some less busy roads south of Lake Superior. If you have any advice on routes, we would love to hear it.

Little Sheep restaurant – clearly the same chain as in Tanggu, China, but this time we can read the tagline.

Us, enjoying the hotpot. The spicy half was a bit much – even for Scott and Kate, but everyone was happy with the original flavour.

Golden Ears Bridge

Coastal Celebration ferry. It’s one of three brand new ferries, which are the largest double-ended ferries in the world. Not just ramps at both ends, but two bridges, two props, two engines…

Some of the stuff we’re sending home

Scott’s clothing pile

The following countries did not require visas: United States (the first time), Spain, Italy, and Greece.

The only visa we have left to purchases is Laos, unless we decide to travel through Vietnam, in which we’ll need that visa too. To reduce hassles at the border, we’ll try and get the Laos visa when we are in Bankok.

Turkey COST: 45 Euro each

We acquired our Turkish visa at the border upon entering the country. The process was trivial, and we paid for the visa with Euros.

Syria COST: $141 CAD each

Since the timing worked out, we applied for our Syrian Visas in Canada – although it was certainly possible to get a visa at the border. Having the multi-entry visa made the border crossing much easier, and gave us more options when we took the bus from Amman to Damascus. The visa itself said it was a 15-day multiple entry visa; however, we successfully used it twice with more than 15-days between uses, and we were in Syria for 11 days the first time and 9 days the second. We had applied for a 60-day visa, so we suspect what we actually had was a 60-day visa, but were required to check in with Visa officials after 15-days, which is a standard requirement for most non-Arab foreigners.

Note that Syria also charges an exit fee. We paid 500 Syrian Pounds the first time we exited in 2008 and 550 SP the second exit in 2009. We suspect the second was just an annual cost adjustment.

Syrian duty free only accepted payment in USA Dollars, which was unfortunate, as we had hoped to use up our Syrian Pounds there.

Jordan COST: $10 Jordanian Dollars each

Upon arriving at the land border crossing in Jordan, we needed to purchase the tourist visa. The fee had to be paid in Jordanian dollars. Fortunately, they have official exchange counters available to exchange currency for anyone who requires it. Once we handed over our money, the visa was issued immediately, and the customs official welcomed us to Jordan.

Note that Jordan also charges an exit fee, which must be paid in Jordanian Dollars.

Singapore and Malaysia COST: Free

Upon entry into both Singapore and Malaysia, we were issued a visa for free. For Singapore we were given 30 days and for Malaysia we were given 90 days.

Thailand COST: $50 Singapore Dollar each

Since we had heard from other cyclists that the Thailand land crossings were only issuing 15-day visas, we applied for a 60-day visa while in Singapore. The process was pretty simple – go to embassy in the morning, fill in form, submit with $50, return the next day after 2 pm to retrieve the visa. No problem. We have since heard from Kat and Mike (http://katandmikebike.com) that they received free 90-day double-entry Thailand visas in Kota Bahru Malaysia.

China COST: 130 Malaysian Ringgit plus 150 RG express fee each

We noticed that the application form for the Chinese visa in Singapore required much more detailed information than the application form in Malaysia. So, we recommend getting the visa in Kuala Lumpur rather than Singapore if you have the option. We only applied for a 30-day single entry visa because that is all we will require for this trip, but the form had boxes for longer duration visas. The process was very simple, fill in form, submit, pay, pick up visa. We paid for the same day processing, as we needed our passports for the USA embassy the following day. Normal processing time is 4-5 days. They also have quick but not express 1-2 day service. We were surprised at how easy this turned out to be.

USA COST: 485 Malaysian Ringget plus 32 RG administration free each

The USA Visa was by far our most expensive visa, and most annoyingly the one we did not really need. NSB, the company that operates the freighter ran into a problem a few years ago with a Canadian citizen being denied entry to the US due to lack of a visa. The Department of Homeland Security required that the person be removed from the country and caused a delay in the ship’s cargo operations, which is very expensive. Even though our travel agent has a letter from Homeland Security and we had a letter from the USA Embassy in Singapore stating that we did not need a Visa, the company would not allow us passage on the freighter without a USA Visa. So, we applied for a Visa while we were in Kuala Lumpur.

The visa process involves filling out a form online, paying the visa fee at a specific bank (the Alliance bank), booking an appointment, and then going to the embassy for fingerprinting and an interview. Scott spent several hours agonizing over the forms and the various pieces of paperwork that we might require. After paying the fee, we had to wait overnight to book the appointment. There were several appointment options, the soonest being the next day (that is 2 days after paying the fee).

When we arrived at the USA embassy, we:

1. registered at information to receive a guest pass
2. went through security screening (metal detector)
3. checked our cell phone (you can’t bring any electronics in)
4. entered the main building where we again went through a metal detector
5. took a number and waited until we were called
6. upon being called, our paperwork was validated and we were again sent back to the waiting room
7. upon being called the second time, our finger prints were taken and we were again sent back to the waiting room
8. upon being called the third time, we were briefly interviewed. The interviewer asked one question “Why are you here?”. Once we explained, she approved the visa. She mentioned that having the visa may cause us to need to answer additional questions at the border, which we also were concerned about, so she kindly added a note to our files to hopefully prevent future problems.

The interviewer let us know immediately that we would receive a visa, and provided us with the claim forms for our passports. The actual visa processing occurs overnight, so we pick up our passports the next afternoon. The interview at the embassy took about 2 ½ hours (including wait time to get through security).

We almost completely screwed up picking up our passports with USA visas. We saw the address and were looking for the WISMA building. To our surprise, there were many Wisma buildings. Becky was wondering just how rich this Wisma guy is anyways. We have since learned that Wisma is “building” or “plaza”, and the important part of the address was the three letters after the word Wisma, MCA – oops! Fortunately, we were going in the right direction and found the correct building to collect our passports.

The interview is posted on the CBC website here. Note: Requires Real player to be installed.

First, the freighter companies no longer accept packages for travellers. We had planned on receiving resupplies parcels as we arrived at each of our freighter trips. We now need to figure out how to receive packages within the cities of departure and manage picking them up.

Second, even though we specifically asked the question when we did our original immunizations, it was made clear that freighters that pass through either the Suez or Panama canals require Yellow Fever immunizations. Because our second trip requires a Suez transit, we needed to get the additional immunization. This isn’t a huge deal, just one more thing to add to the list of many other things that we need to do before we leave (theoretically on Friday!).

We are making progress packing up the house.

All our packages have arrived in Ogdensburg, so tomorrow I’ll be driving out to pick them up.

In all the craziness things are coming together … but I don’t yet feel 100% that a Friday departure is going to happen. Oh well, what happens happens .

We are going, heaven knows where we are going, but we know with-in.
And we will get there, heaven knows how we will get there, but we know we will.
It will be hard, we know, and the road will be muddy and rough, but we’ll get there, heaven knows how we will get there, but know we will.
Woyayaby Loughty Amoa, Solomon Amarfio, Robert M. Bailey, Roy Bedeau, Francis T. Osei, Whendell K. Richardson, and Mac Tontoh

Today’s church service started with this song, which really resonated with me. It was like the song was written specifically for us and was appropriate to mark the beginning of our journey.

Technically speaking, our journey doesn’t begin until July 4th, when we leave Ottawa for our world tour, but in some ways the beginning is tomorrow. Tomorrow morning (or more likely afternoon looking at how organized we are – NOT) we will load up our bikes and begin our shakedown cruise around Lake Ontario. I can’t believe the time has finally come. I only with the weather was a little more agreeable.

This trip will be a journey in more ways that one. It will be a spiritual journey and an emotional one, in addition to the physical journey. So, although we have an idea where we are going physically, it is the spiritual and emotional journeys where we know we are going, but we don’t really know where!

• June 2-7: Ottawa to Rochester (approx. 420 km in 6 days).
• June 8-10: Off bikes. Visiting Becky’s family, getting bikes tuned.
• June 11-22: Rochester to Ottawa via Toronto (approx. 800 km in 12 days).

Here is the plan for immediately after the shakedown cruise:

• June 23-27: Pack, prepare, take first aid course.
• June 28: Open house.
• June 29-30: Finish packing.
• July 1: Canada Day.
• July 2: Moving day (all furniture leave the house).
• July 3: Pack up bicycles – final gear organization.
• July 4: Departure.

View Larger Map

For the first part of our trip we will be riding east from Ottawa (our home). The route will be:

• Ottawa – Natashquan, QC (1500 km)
• Ferry to Blanc-Sablon, QC
  This ferry runs only once a week. If it doesn’t look like we’ll make it for July 24th, we’ll pick it up on the 23rd at Sept-Ilse.
• Ferry to St.Barbe, NL
• St. Barbe to St. Anthony, NL (100 km)
• St. Anthony to St. Barbe, NL (100 km)
• Ferry to Blanc-Sablon, QC
• Blanc-Sablon, QC to Cartwright, Labrador (410 km)
• Ferry to Lewisporte, NL
  This ferry runs only once a week, so if we arrive a day late, we’ll take it up to Goose Bay for a brief visit before heading to Lewisporte.
• Lewisporte to St.John’s, NL (650 km)
• St. John’s to Argentia, NL (140 km)
• Ferry to Sydney, NS

This portion of our trip is planned from July 4th to August 26. We do have some flexibility, so we may extend it to Aug 30 if we need the extra time.

If we are feeling brave (or crazy) we may join Atlantic Cycling for their annual three day tour of the Cabot Trail on Labour Day weekend. Maybe by then we’ll be up for tackling the hills!

Once we complete stage 1, we’ll have a short visit with Scott’s sister and family in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Then, we will need to find our way to Charleston, North Carolina where we catch a freighter on or about September 21st to Antwerp Belgium.

This is a story based upon the events of Wednesday, May 14, 2008.

We headed down to Alfred Station NY to pick up our new bikes, and then onto Stony Fork Pennsylvania to camp. It had been warm during the day, but as evening approached the temperature dropped. On the drive down to Stony Fork a few spits of rain came down from the sky. The weather was not looking promising.

We discussed the option of taking a cabin rather than camping, since we were both cold and the weather was not looking good. When we arrived, we asked, only to discover that all the cabins were rented. Our options were tenting or backtracking to find a hotel. It was already 8 pm and we were hungry and tired after a long day, so we opted for camping.

We selected a campsite and quickly began our regular camp chores: Scott setup the tent and I prepared dinner. I immediately added a layer of clothes, and the chill I had went away. Once I was warm, I began to enjoy the camping experience. By the time the tent was set and dinner was ready, it was 8:30 pm and the sun had set. We ate dinner with the last whispers of twilight.

During supper we heard a loud whiny crying sound. I suggested to Scott that the sound was from an odd bird: the sound was vaguely Canada Goose like. Scott suggested that the bird was clearly in some kind of distress. Within a couple of minutes we heard a loud crashing sound in the woods approaching our campsite. It was clear that a large animal was in the area. I started talked to Scott loudly. We pointed our lights in the direction of the sound, asking what or who was there. I also looked for some metal, and began banging the pot lifter onto one of the pots. At the sound of the metal clinks, the motions of the loud animal appeared to quickly move away from our campsite. Scott suggested that it might have been a deer. In the back of my mind, I was thinking that it was much larger than a deer!

We finished our dinner and cleaned up. We did not hear the whiny crying or loud animal again.

After supper we recessed to the tent for our evening reading and sleep soon followed. We were both exhausted after a long day of driving and cycling. I was surprised at how well I slept – in the back of my mind, I was pretty certain that the “large animal” I had heard was a bear, and that the whiny crying was that of a bear cub.

In the morning, we received confirmation. When we talked to one of the campsite conveners, he mentioned that a mother bear was in his dumpster and that there were two cubs whining or crying as they were not big enough yet to crawl in themselves. Several people at the campsite saw the bears on the other side of creek while we were enjoying our dinner – blissfully unaware of the bears presence.

I am glad the bears were around while we were having dinner and not later in the night when we were sleeping. We were able to scare them off, and they did not return. We did ensure that we had a couple of metal tent pegs at our reach, so that we could bang them together if we heard any “large animals” rustling through the woods. I was amazed at how well that worked (or at least it gave us the appearance of being effective!).

This was a painful process.  Although I’m sure I’ll never look at many of them again, they represent knowledge hard-obtained, over my five-year undergraduate degree.  With my poor memory, they are also touchstones reminding me of events and activities I had otherwise forgotten.  Among the treasures I discovered were:

• A journal I kept during my Religion and Ecology course
• A technical report on my implementation of Internet tools at Northern Telecom in 1994, including Usenet, Gopher, and that most modern of tools:  World-Wide-Web, with Hypertext links!
• A number of lab reports and commerce papes which brought back fond memories

I kept most of this, as well as many of the notes from my commerce courses, but the majority of Physics, Math and Engineering Physics notes went into the recycle bin.  As I let them go, I felt like the knowledge contained in them was lost, but I reminded myself that it was unlikely I would need it again.  If I do, these are not insights into the nature of the universe, they’re undergrad course notes.  Somehow, I’ll find the information again, probably faster than if I had to dig through my course notes.

I’m glad I finally did it, and also that I took the time to glance at everything, say goodbye to the things I discarded, and keep a few of the small treasures.

On the freighter front, the boat we were hoping to take from Montreal is no longer running on the route, so we are now looking into US departures. There are no US departures to Italy that take passengers for segments. I’ve managed to get a tentative booking from Savannah Georgia (we are looking to change the pickup to Charleston NC) to Antwerp Belgium on or about September 19th. This works well as it gives us a little bit more time to get to the boat.

We’ll also have an updated Newfoundland and Labrador itinerary based upon some advice from Gary at Atlantic Cycling.

We have:

• Completed our immunizations (all that needed to be done before we leave North America. We still need to take the Cholera vaccine just before we leave North America).
• Completed our Servas interviews. We have our signed and stamped letters of introduction. We are awaiting host lists, so that we can begin connecting the people we hope to meet throughout our trip.
• Rented our house for July 15th.
• Began packing up the house, giving things away, and moving things into our storage locker.
• Sold my car.
• Reserved the ferry from Natashquan to Blanc-Sablon, Quebec for July 24th.
• Reserved the ferry from Argentia Newfoundland to North Sydney Nova Scotia for August 26th.

Our bikes shipped from Germany on Monday (May 5th). This is a little later than we had hoped, so it it doesn’t look like we will be going to pick them up this weekend. We are crossing our fingers in hope that they arrive in time to pick them up on Wednesday or Thursday next week.

Our current plan is to leave Ottawa on June 2nd for a trip around Lake Ontario. We are now heading towards Niagara first. We plan to visit my extended family around June 7-8, and then make our way to Alfred Station, NY for a bicycle tune up on either June 11 or 12. We also wish to visit some folks in Rochester NY on our way home. We need to be home by June 22, which means we might need to take a train from Kingston to get back to Ottawa in time (although, it might be just as easy to ride!).

I had been rather anxious and stressed lately. I had not been sleeping well; my dreams filled with worry over all that still needs to be done before we can depart on our trip. A few days ago, a friend inquired about when my car would be for sale. That is when it began to really sink in. We are actually going to do this trip! Adding to the need to sell my car, I was at the end of a six-month contract. Once that finished, I would be working full-time at packing up the house and preparing for the trip.

A big area of concern for me was the lack of a decision regarding bicycles. At the best of times, I do not handle uncertainty well. That may be one of my greatest challenges on this trip, the uncertainty that is necessarily part of a long bicycle journey. Regarding bicycles, we liked the idea of riding on recumbents, but were not certain it was the right approach. We decided to make a pilgrimage to the BicycleMan in Alfred Station New York to try different types of recumbents and see if they were right.

On Wednesday, April 2, 2008 after work, we packed up the car and headed towards Alfred Station. Our plan was to drive most of the way there, spend the night in an inexpensive hotel, and then arrive at the store shortly after it opened on Thursday morning.

We arrived at the hotel after midnight. I was exhausted. I was both excited and afraid. I had grand expectations about the bicycle shopping experience. I was afraid that the experience would be negative and that we would not find the right bikes. I was afraid that my excitement was leading to unrealistic expectations, which in-turn, would lead to disappointment. At one point, I turned to Scott and told him “I need to remember to enjoy the experience.” I needed to put all my hopes and dreams of the future aside, and enjoy each day for what it was. I decided that I would take the one-day-at-a-time approach to this bicycle shopping experience.

Thursday began with bright sunshine and crisp air. It was hovering at around 8 degrees Celsius (about 45 degrees Fahrenheit). We arrived at the bike store at 10:30 am, after a 90 minute drive. After two cups of coffee, my brain was focused on finding restroom facilities!

The Bicycle Man store is in an old school-house on a busy street. We walked in the front door and were greeted by a shop packed full of recumbent bicycles. There were at least 60 different bikes, with many different designs. There were three wheeled tricycles (trikes) and two wheelers; bikes that were low to the ground and others that were higher up; long wheel-base bikes and short wheel-base bikes, and there were even a few tandem bikes too. There was definitely a wide variety. I scanned the room, looking for the one brand I was familiar with, and tried to make sense of the chaos of other bikes.

After a minute or two of looking around, Titus, one of the mechanics, appeared from the back of the store to greet us. We provided him with a brief summary of our trip and told him we had come to test ride bikes. I asked for advice on which bikes to try out. Scott also listed the specific bikes he had researched prior to coming. Scott had done a lot of research before coming and he had several email discussions with Peter about bikes to test ride. In addition to the bikes we had on our list, Titus recommended that we try out the Linear Limo 3.0 (Linear), which was manufactured at the store.

I asked about where we could test ride. Titus suggested the church parking lot across the street. He also said if we wanted a little longer stretch to ride, that there was a quiet side street about 200 yards down the road to the left. I was immediately concerned. We had come a long way (six hour drive) to test ride bikes. I was expecting to be able to take bikes on longer test rides. This did not align with my expectations. I reminded myself that this was just the first step, and I had to take it one step at a time, and just enjoy the experience.

After a quick trip up to the local service station (the Bicycle Man does not have running water, and the composting toilets were not yet open for the season), we headed out on our first test ride of the day. I had an HP Velotechnik StreetMachine (StreetMachine) and Scott had an Oracle Omega Tour (Omega). We necessarily started out on the church parking lot, as riding a short wheel-base recumbent can take a little while to learn. We quickly graduated to the side street which was just over 1 km long.

Once we completed riding the side street, I wanted to do a quick change over between bikes. I saw that the Omega and StreetMachine were very similar. I wanted to do an immediate comparison while the memory was still fresh. We returned to the bicycle shop and looked for assistance. There were other customers at the shop now, keeping both Peter (the Bicycle Man himself) and Titus busy. After standing around in the shop for awhile, the bikes were reset and we were ready for our second test ride. Titus came out of the shop and brought out a Linear for us to try as well.

The second test ride did not go well for me. I got the bike to the church parking lot only to discover that the chain was so long that it was getting caught against itself at the back. I had to walk the bike back over to the shop to see if it could get reset. I caught Peter’s attention briefly and he recommended that I only use certain gears. I decided that rather than taking such a restricted ride, I would try out the Linear. So, our second test ride of the day was Scott on the StreetMachine and me on the Linear.

We did a third test ride, with me on a RANS Rocket before stopping for a late lunch. I felt like we were spending too much time standing around in the shop and not enough time actually riding bikes. I felt that we had a lot of ground to cover and not a lot of time in which to do it. I was afraid that we would not find bikes in the next two-and-a-half days and that we would return home without having resolved which bikes we would ride on our trip.

At lunch I shared with Scott my concerns and my desire for a strategy for after lunch. We were aware that the weather for Friday was not favorable for test riding, so we needed to make a preliminary decision that day. We decided that after lunch, we would focus on trying the bikes that were on the list Scott had put together.

I reminded myself constantly to let Scott take the lead in this decision making process. He takes a lot more time to make decisions, carefully researching and thinking through the alternatives. I am more impulsive and not always happy with the results. So, I tried my best to let this decision occur at Scott’s pace not mine.

After lunch we returned to the shop. There was a delay before we picked up some different bikes to ride. Titus asked us which bikes we wanted to ride. I was looking for advice on what we should try out, but to me, he did not appear confident in his recommendations. I did not feel that he really understood what type of bike would be best for our tour. It became clear later that Peter was the best one to answer a lot of our questions about the different types of bikes. Titus helped us a lot in setting up bikes for us, but he didn’t have the same background on the different bikes (and the various trade-offs for each bike).

I was feeling the time pressure again, and wanted direction from the experts at Bicycle Man. I did not feel like I had the time to just randomly try bikes, rather, I wanted my test riding to be more structured. So, in the end, we used Scott and Peter’s list to determine which bikes we would try out.

We did three more test rides after lunch. During one of these rides, I paused a moment to take a deep breath. I reminded myself again to enjoy the experience. In that way, bicycle shopping is like sex. If you spend all our time worrying about the final goal, you miss out on the joy of the experience. If you instead, spend your time focusing on enjoying the entire experience, when you reach your goal you are much more satisfied.

In one of our between ride breaks at the shop, we met Bryan, the editor of ‘Bent Online. Bryan mentioned that the Oracle Omega City (City) was a smaller version of the Oracle Omega Tour and that it might be easier for me to try. Scott really wanted me to try an Oracle Omega, so we setup the City to fit me. I took it out to the parking lot for a short spin. It didn’t work for me, I couldn’t reach the handle bars. I also found the seat to be uncomfortable and the built-in headrest banged against my helmet.

Near the end of the day, we concluded that we preferred under-seat steering, and had a short list of two bikes: the StreetMachine and the Linear. Our next step was to take the two finalist bikes out on a more challenging test ride. We wanted to try the bikes out on dirt roads and hills. We were thinking of the more rigorous ride for Friday, but Peter encouraged us to take the bikes out Thursday evening to avoid riding in the rain on Friday. He directed us to a hilly gravel back road and let us take the bikes out just as the shop was closing. We were to return them to his front porch (next door to the shop) before dark.

Our final test ride proved to be a challenge. The hill was rather steep, and I was surprised at how difficult it was to ride the bike up it. Part of the challenge was that you were riding slowly, which meant that it was much more difficult to balance. I actually fell over when trying to start the StreetMachine when going uphill. The good news is, the fall was not nearly as traumatic as a fall off my diamond frame bike. It was much easier to “roll” while falling, which significantly reduced the impact on my poor body!

The down hills were interesting too. I found that the Linear (with its long wheel base and no suspension), would cause a vibration on the washboard that made my eyes go fuzzy. The Streetmachine with its full suspension could bounce over the washboard comfortably, but when the frequency was just right you would bounce too much and start to lose control. Fortunately, this was easily solved by applying the brakes slightly, so that you didn’t hit that resonance speed.

The end of day ride was delightful. Although the Linear was a nice ride, we both preferred the feel and maneuverability of the StreetMachine. From my perspective, we had made a decision!

Friday morning we awoke to a lot of rain. We lazed around in bed for a while before dragging ourselves up and preparing for another day. Since it was raining, we were not going to be riding; however, it was a great opportunity to hang around the bike shop and get our many questions answered.

We spent most of the day hanging out at the shop. I reminded myself to relax and just enjoy the experience. Peter, Keith (the service manager), Bryan, and Titus were all there. We spent the day chatting about a variety of things. Stories were shared about bicycle touring and totally unrelated topics like computers and military service. Throughout the day, I found myself discovering new questions and receiving great advice. I don’t think I would have learned nearly as much if I didn’t spend the time hanging out. Peter was interrupted every time the phone rang. Often the questions asked by the caller prompted a series of questions from us, or story from one of the guys at the shop.

Near the end of the day, we reviewed the price sheet for the StreetMachine. The weather report called for beautiful weather on Saturday, so we planned to go on a longer ride. Peter warned us that the shop would be busy on a beautiful Saturday. Keith drew us a map of a route that was about 45 km long, that involved rolling hills , a long gentle climb and a steep downhill. At 6pm we were kicked out of the shop as it closed for the night.

That evening, Scott spent a lot of time debating. He didn’t think I had given the City a fair try on Thursday. In discussions with Peter and Bryan on Friday, he saw that the handlebars could be raised several inches from where they were, so he thought the bike could be adjusted to fit me better. Scott found the Omega’s ride to be comparable to the StreetMachine, the Omega was much less expensive, and it was made in Canada. I think the latter influenced his opinion more than he would admit.

On Saturday morning, I agreed to give the City a try. If I could make it fit, we would try both the Omega and the StreetMachine on a longer ride. I was still hesitant and a little frustrated. I had thought we had made a decision, and I really didn’t want to waste time test riding something that I didn’t like. However, I reminded myself that this is about being certain, and if Scott had doubts, I had to ensure they were addressed. So, I agreed to give it a try.

My second City test ride was longer than the first. I did ride it the full length of the side road. The handle bars were raised as high as they would go. I found I could reach them much better, but a slight stretch was still necessary to grasp them fully. With the seat adjusted to my body, it still didn’t fit as well as the StreetMachine. Also the headrest was still very uncomfortable with my helmet on. The headrest could be chopped off, but the other problems were harder to fix. Perhaps the bike could be made work for me, but I really felt that it was a compromise. I didn’t want to compromise when I knew there was another bike that fit better. We decided to give up on the Omega and go back to the StreetMachine.

When we got back from our test ride, several other customers had arrived and the shop was starting to feel chaotic. Scott and I setup the two StreetMachines and took off for the 45 km ride that Keith had recommended. Scott setup his bike with a pannier full of bricks, so that he could feel how the bike rode with a load.

The long ride was glorious. The rolling side road had almost no traffic. The rolling hills provided me with an opportunity to discover how a correctly-adjusted seat back could be used for increase power when climbing hills. Riding down the hills was exhilarating. I love the feel of the wind on my face, especially when the air is fresh and free of pollution. When the side road ended we joined along a busy stretch of highway, which had a good shoulder. Although the road was not nice, it provided a level of confidence that we could ride on busier roads.

Then there was the big climb. The hills seemed to be going up forever. At one point, Scott got a little bit too close the soft shoulder and fell over. Fortunately, it was not a far fall and he was not hurt. We continued on the climb, for what seemed like forever (about 8 km). Once we reached the top, the trip down was an adrenaline rush. It was all downhill with many different turns in the road. I was glad that we did not climb in that direction, as the downhill was much steeper than the uphill. Forty-five minutes of climbing was reduced to less than 10 minutes of downhill.

When we returned, the shop was even more chaotic than when we left. Titus had left for the day, and Peter was the only person in the store. There were at least five different customers trying out a range of bicycles, and Peter was being pulled in many directions at once. We chatted with several of the customers and shared our experiences, limited as they were.

Scott spent some time with a lady who had a stroke two years ago and was back on a bicycle for the first time. He helped adjust her handlebars to get better control. She was struggling with turning but having a grand time enjoying the experience. Scott also had difficulty turning with the new recumbent he was trying, so he was able to share that learning to turn wasn’t necessarily easy on a new bike. He said later that the glow on the lady’s face was one of the highlights of the weekend for him.

At the end of the day, we agreed that the StreetMachine was the right choice for us at this time. We would figure out the details over the weekend and place the order on Monday, which coincidentally was the seventh anniversary of our engagementJ.

I am really glad we went and I am really glad we spent three days there. I am also glad that the weather was awful the second day. The time we spent hanging around the shop allowed us to get to know the people there much better than we would have if it was busy or if we were out riding the whole time.

Bicycling shopping provided a short insight into one of the lessons our trip will bring us; the need to slow down and enjoy the experience. We will need to remind ourselves to for live for the day. The past and the future are there, but they are not today, so do not regret the past or worry about the future. I have spent too much time anticipating and imagining this trip. I need to let go of my imagined trip so I can enjoy the actual one as it happens.

The HP Velotechnik Streetmachine Gte won for us because:

• It fit Becky better (seat fit well and she could reach the handlebars easily).
• It has low-rider racks available direct from the manufacturer (you can retrofit a lower rack on the Oracle Omega, but that is a work-around).
• HP Velotechnik has a proven reputation doing the type of long-distance riding we intend on doing (the Oracle Omega is probably fine too, but is relatively new to the market).

Scott still feels a bit guilty about not supporting a Canadian company, since he was happy with both. The Gte fit Becky much better though, and it is far easier to carry spares for only one set of components.

So, the order is in. We ordered two mostly identical bikes, each with a bunch of upgrades:

• Rolhoff hubs
• Avid mechanical Disc brakes
• Upgraded shocks (DT-SWISS XM180 rear and MEKS SASO Carbon AC front)
  
• Marathon Plus 47mm tires
• Airflow seat cushion (we tried both, and the Airflow is much nicer)
• rear and lowrider racks, mudguards
• Becky also got the shorter 152mm cranks

Here are some photos of our longer test ride (40 km). Scott is carrying 30lb of bricks and water bottles in the panniers to get a feeling for how the bike performed when loaded. These are Peter’s demo bikes. Scott’s bike will look similar (orange) and Becky’s will be yellow (RAL 1018).

I had been hoping to be able to see a Rohloff hub in action (and maybe even ride a bike with one), but even at BicycleMan they’re pretty rare. They’re much more common in Europe, but in North America everyone uses derailleurs instead of hub gears. Peter mentioned that some of that is related to different import duties for hub gears vs. derailleurs in Europe. In any case, the Rohloff is very expensive here (a 35% premium on an already expensive bike by my calculations), but it does provide a much better-encased shifting system, and has proven to be very reliable for many people on long tours. That said, the Shimano XT system is very good, and extremely refined. I expect if we go the XT route we’ll spend more time maintaining the geartrain, where the Rohloff is very low maintenance. However, if something does go wrong with the Rohloff, very little is user serviceable, and what we could service is very different from a normal geartrain. We’ll need to do some work learning to adjust the cables on the Rohloff before I’m comfortable, but I need to improve my bicycle maintenance skills in any case.

Another option is the SRAM Dual Drive 24-speed (this is the base configuration on the StreetMachine).  For extremely long distance touring, I think this has the downsides of both a hub and derailleur. It is difficult to service and get parts for the hub, and the cassette and derailleur are exposed to mud and dirt, requiring more frequent cleaning and maintenance.

Along with extensive conversations with Peter, Bryan Ball (managing editor of ‘BentRider Online) happened to be in the shop, so we picked his brain for several hours too. It was very helpful talking to all of you, thanks guys!

Our final contenders for our trip were the HP Velotechnik StreetMachine Gte (Bryan’s review here), and the Oracle Omega City and Tour (Bryan’s review here).

We rode the StreetMachine and both Omegas on Thursday, and I liked them all, but Becky had trouble getting either Omega set up for her. The biggest issue for her was reaching down to the handle bars. This is partly because the under-seat steering bar under the frame makes it a longer reach to the handlebars. This can be partially corrected by adjusting the handlebars higher (as shown in the first picture here), but it wasn’t enough to make Becky comfortable on the Omega City on Saturday.

When the handle bars were moved up to the highest position, she could reach, but it was a stretch, which meant it wasn’t a natural position. Even a short ride led to fatigue in her arms. Winner: StreetMachine

She also found the headrest very uncomfortable with a helmet on, and it is not removable. Peter recommended cutting it off with a hacksaw, but didn’t want us to do that to his demo bike (I wonder why?). The StreetMachine has a removeable headrest as an extra-cost option. Winner: StreetMachine

The shorter wheel base of the Omega City results in the seat being slightly higher than the Omega Tour, so the Tour might have been a better choice. Unfortunately, the chain length on the Omega Tour was set up for someone my height or a bit taller (6’0″) and when we brought the boom in to allow Becky (5’6″) to reach the pedals, the chain was too long to allow her to shift. HP Velo provides a front boom quickadjust with quick-release levers and chain length compensation for this sort of demo environment – Oracle may want to consider something similar. Winner: StreetMachine

The other missing bit on the Omega is a second pannier rack below the seat. There may be an aftermarket rack option for under-seat panniers, although it requires some adaptation. Winner: StreetMachine

Becky also found the seat on the StreetMachine fit her better than the Oracle seat. We tweaked the seat adjustment a bit, but couldn’t make it as comfortable for her. Maybe with some more tweaking we could have fixed it though. With the StreetMachine, the seat needed adjustment too, and when we got it right, Becky felt her power increased significantly as she could push off the rigid seat with more of her core body strength. Winner: StreetMachine

Both of us found the Oracle Omegas rode very well, handling potholes and gravel well. We took all the bikes through potholes, gravel roads and washboard, and they handled the conditions with aplomb. Winner: Tie

The Omega is also designed and built in Canada, and is much less expensive than the StreetMachine in the configuration we’re building (close to $1000 cheaper). Winner: Omega

Conclusion

Overall, I found the Omega Tour very comparable to the StreetMachine, and would seriously consider it. (I spent very little time on the Omega City). Becky had problems getting either to fit her well, but I’d recommend anyone interested in a StreetMachine (or an Optima Dragon or Lynxx) to seriously look at the Oracle Omega City or Tour. It is well worth doing an A-B comparison.

Update 2008-04-27:

I just discovered that Anna Lee Husband, owner of Oracle Cycleworks, has started blogging as well, and she put a post up a few weeks ago responding to our experiences here. I’d encourage folks reading our experiences to check out her post, and talk to Oracle (which we have not done):

http://oraclecycleworks.blogspot.com/2008/04/scott-and-becky-go-east-blog.html

I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride my bike
I want to ride my bicycle
I want to ride it where I like
by Queen

Change the word “ride” to “buy” and you’ll have the song that has been going through my head for the last day and a half.

We have this grand plan of riding our bikes around the world, but we haven’t yet identified what “our bikes” will be. We each currently have mountain bikes and touring bikes, but we are not certain that either are ideal for the trip.

Unfortunately, I find that my road bike causes stiffness and pain in my upper back. I also fine that my wrists and hands can get very unhappy. We read about recumbents as an option, but hadn’t really tried them … until today.

We have ventured to Alfred Station, New York to visit Peter Stull – the Bicycle Man. Peter’s shop is in an old building that was purchased for $5,000 in 1979. It doesn’t have running water, but it does have electricity, composting toilets, and a lot of recumbent bicycles (14 different brands and around 100 bikes in stock). I did notice a few regular road bikes and mountain bikes hung from the ceiling too, but his shop definitely focuses on recumbents.

One thing about recumbents is that they are all different. This meant that you need to test drive quite a few to determine which suit you best. It has been quite the alphabet soup trying to sort through the taxonomy. USS vs. OSS, SWB, LWB, CWLB… Fortunately Peter has a nice glossary on his website, which we studied before arriving. Recumbents aren’t just different from regular bikes – they’re very different from one another too!

The bikes we rode today included a variety of features such as:

• Under-seat, under-bar steering. (USS)
• Under-seat, over-bar steering. (USS)
• Over-seat steering. (OSS)
• Big back tires with small front tires (26″ or 700c with 20″ front).
• Big front and back tires (26″ or 700c).
• Small front and back tires (20″).
• Short wheel-base. (SWB)
• Compact Long wheel-base. (CLWB)
• Long wheel-base. (LWB)

Today, Titus (one of the guys working at the BicycleMan store) helped us try out:

• HP Velotechnik Streetmachine Gte (USS, SWB)
• Oracle Omega City, Oracle Omega Tour (USS, SWB)
• RANS Stratus LE (OSS, LWB)
• RANS Stratus XP (OSS, LWB)
• RANS Rocket (OSS, SWB)
• RANS Velocity cubed (V3) (OSS, LWB)
• Longbikes Slipstream (USS, LWB)
• Linear Limo 3.0 (USS, LWB)

Note, I may not have the classifications 100% right. I’m not clear on short wheel base versus compact long wheel base. Here are a few action shots …

Scott on an Oracle Omega Tour.

Becky on a Linear

Scott on a Linear.

Becky on a RANS Stratus LE.

Becky on a RANS Rocket.

Becky on an HP Velotechnik Streetmachine Gte.

Scott on the HP Velotechnik Streetmachine Gte.

I am inspired by Kevin Kelly’s 2007 Christmas Essay about willingness to accept generosity, although it will certainly require effort to reach out past my shyness and ask.

One might even call the art of accepting generosity a type of compassion. The compassion of being kinded. One year I rode my bicycle across America, from San Francisco to New Jersey. I started out camping in state parks, but past the Rockies, parks became so scarce I switched to camping on people’s lawns. I worked up a routine. As darkness fell, I began scouting the homes I passed for a likely candidate: neat house, big lawn in the back, easy access for my bike. When I selected the lucky home, I parked my bag-loaded bike in front of the door and rang the bell. “Hello,” I’d say. “I’m riding my bike across America. I’d like to pitch my tent tonight where I have permission and where someone knows where I am. I’ve just eaten dinner, and I’ll be gone first thing in the morning. Would you mind if I put up my tent in your backyard?”

I was never turned away, not once. And there was always more. It was impossible for most folks to sit in their couch and watch TV while a guy who was riding his bicycle across America was camped in their backyard. What if he was famous? So I was usually invited into their home for desert and an interview. My job in this moment was clear: I was to relate my adventure. I was to help them enjoy a thrill they secretly desired, but would never do. My account would make an impossible dream seem real and possible, and thus part of them. Through me and my retelling of what happened so far, they would get to vicariously ride a bicycle across America. In exchange I would get a place to camp and a dish of ice cream. It was a sweet deal that benefited both of us. The weird thing is that I was, and still am, not sure whether I would have done what they did and let me sleep in the backyard. The “me” on the bicycle had a wild tangled beard, had not showered for weeks, and appeared destitute (my whole transcontinental trip cost me $500). I am not sure I would invite a casual tourist I met to take over my apartment, and cook for him. I definitely would not hand him the keys to my own car, as a hotel clerk in Dalarna, Sweden, did one mid-summer day when I asked her how I could reach the painter Carl Larsson’s house 150 miles away away.

The other option is to stealth camp, which requires finding a quiet corner of wilderness (or abandoned area). This will require a fair bit of bravery the first few times I expect. I try to remind myself that it’s all about opening myself to the experience.

On a more practical note, I found a great article on erecting a tent in the rain which clarified my thoughts about that. I’ve always done the “spread out the the fly first” approach, but never with the elegance of the author’s approach. I’ll try it with our Mountain Hardwear Viperine 3 and see how it works. Since the poles anchor to the tent with clips and not sleeves, we should be able to do it.

Shakedown cruise is a nautical term in which the performance of a ship is tested. Shakedown cruises are also used to familiarize the ship’s crew with operation of the craft.

In our case, our shakedown cruise is an opportunity to test out all our gear and processes to ensure that it all works out. It will also give us a sense of how far we travel over a longer span of time. We will be riding for 2-3 weeks in June, which at the time will be our longest self-supported cycling tour.

The route we are currently thinking of is relatively familiar to us, as we have driven most of it (although that was on major highways which we will not be using). The route has us leaving from Ottawa and circumnavigating Lake Ontario. The Canadian portion of the trip has a trail, the Waterfront Trail, which certainly makes the riding easier. It will be interesting to see how different our times are between minor roads and trails.

We met some people from the First Unitarian Church of Rochester at a conference last month, so we’re planning to stop in Rochester to see them. With luck, we’ll time it right so we’re there on a Sunday.

There’s a new edition of ‘Round Lake Ontario: A Bicyclist’s Tour Guide, coming out, which we could get, although I saw an interesting third-hand comment against it in a crazy-guy journal post.  I think experimenting without a guidebook will force us to ask more questions and interact with more people, which is part of what this trip is about for me.  (Yes, I am that stereotypical male who hates asking for directions).

I say reserved rather than bought a ticket because there are a couple more hoops we need to jump through yet. We need to purchase insurance and send along our policy numbers to the booking company. We are waiting for the fine print of a policy to arrive in the mail, so that we can decide where to buy the insurance. We’ll be getting a policy for our entire trip (emergency medical), so that complicates the decision a little.

The booking company is also saying that we need to get a doctors note not more than 30 days before the trip, and that they cannot issue the ticket without the note. This means we need to see a doctor while in Turkey or Greece to get the forms completed. Our agent was going to see if this was really necessary given our ages. A lot of freighter travelers are in their 70′s, which makes the medical form important; however, we are hoping that the freighter company will wave that requirement for us.

We will be staying in the owners cabin on the Hanjin Athens. The freighter companies have a neat utility that lets you check where in the world the ship is at any given time.

We have not yet booked anything to get us from North America over to Europe. We are waiting to hear about whether the Canada Senator renews its charter, expected in May. If it does, we’ll need to see if the timing works to take it from Montreal to Gioia Tauro, Italy. If the Canada Senator does not renew, then we will need to take one of the ships from Savannah Georgia to Italy (there are three or four listed). Savannah is a little further south than we wanted, so we would need to take a train from Boston to Savannah, as it would take too long to ride that distance.

I do want to learn at least a few words in the major languages we’ll encounter, and I have been gathering up a list of resources. The list of languages is pretty long, but at least we have some long freighter voyages to study. I’m planning to start with Turkish and Arabic, and then move on to Mandarin. We’ll be spending a bunch of time in countries where other languages are spoken, so I hope some of this early study will help loosen up the corners of my mind dedicated to language.

• Our local library has a variety of Berlitz CDs and phrase books which should be helpful. So far we have a couple in Arabic and Mandarin. I’ve copied the CDs to my iPod for easier rewinding when I miss something.
• I also found some recommendations on ask.metafilter for free podcasts from Open Culture, including a series on Jordanian Arabic from the Peace Corps.
• According to another ask.metafilter post, getting comfortable with the alphabet is critical for Arabic, and likely for Chinese as well. I think that will be my biggest challenge.
• Folks on ask.metafilter also recommended a Mandarin podcast subscription called ChinesePod and Clavis Sinic, a method for learning the script.
• For Turkish, I’ve requested a Teach Yourself Turkish course, which doesn’t have great reviews on Amazon, but we’ll see how it works for me. If I’m struggling, I may get Conversational Turkish instead.
• There are also various versions of the U.S. Foreign Service Institute language lessons available online. Since these are government-produced, they’re in the public domain, so some kind souls on the Internet are digitizing them and making them available for free. This looks like a good option for Cambodian, Lao (text only), Vietnamese and Thai.  There are various other paid versions of the FSI lesson plan as well.

There are lots of other options out there, but this is more than enough for me to get started with.

My experience so far has been that everything that is posted is “going out of charter” or “changing routes” such that what I ask for is not available .

I also tried to book a freighter from Italy to Malaysia. There was one group (NSB Ever Champion etc.) that looked very good and ran very regularly (weekly). When I made the request, the information that came back was that the company is now running from England to Malaysia. Unfortunately, we’ll be on the other side of Europe, so England would be a bit of a stretch.

At this time, I am working on patience. I think I may be taking some of the wrong advice and trying to book too early. I have my fingers crossed that as our departure date gets closer, the boat schedules will firm up and more cruises will be available.

Cross your fingers for us!

July 4, 2008 - Depart Ottawa and ride towards Newfoundland. We are hoping to follow the North shore of Quebec until we run out of road, and then catch ferries to Newfoundland. We’ll spend the month of August cycling around Newfoundland, and then take a ferry to Nova Scotia. If the timing is right, we’ll meet up with the folks from Atlantic Canada Cycling for their Labour Day Cabot Trail Tour. From there, we’ll have a couple of weeks or so to visit Scott’s sister and family in Fredericton and get back to Montreal (unfortunately, the freighters taking passengers leaving from Halifax don’t go to the Mediterranean).

September 21st,2008 (or there abouts) – Take a freighter from Charleston, North Carolina to Antwerp Belgium.

October 2008 – January 2009 - Ride (and take ferries) from Italy to Jordan via Croatia, Greece, Turkey, and Syria. We’ll need to find our way back to Italy in time to catch our boat.

February 1st, 2009 (or there abouts) - We have tentatively booked a freighter from Naples Italy to Port Kelang (right near Kuala Lumpur) Malaysia. The freighter will stop in Le Spezia Italy and Barcelona, Spain prior to transiting the Suez Canal and going to Port Kelang (about 21 days). We are excited for the opportunity to see Barcelona, as we would not otherwise have been able to visit it. The two stops before the long transit will give us an opportunity to scope out the food on-board ship and stock up on what we want prior to the long passage. We will also be able to stock up on some good red wine in both Le Spezia and Barcelona!

March – April 2009 – Explore South-East Asia (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos) by bicycle.

May 2009 – Bike up to Shanghai, China.

June 2009 – Take a freighter from Shanghai, China to Vancouver, Canada.

June / July 2009 – Ride up Vancouver Island, take a ferry to Prince Rupert, BC. Ride across Northern BC to Prince George, then head south to Kamloops, then east to Calgary.

August and September 2009 – Make our way east until we reach Ottawa.

All that being said, our boats have not yet been booked, so our itinerary is still rather fluid.

I’m going to have to do a little more research and be prepared with questions for my second visit.

I decided to document his recommendations and other information I’ve found in my research, but IANAD (I am not a doctor). Please consult your family doctor or local travel medicine clinic for recommendations before using any of the information below.

I was also a little surprised by the doctor’s lack of excitement about our trip. In hind sight, I realize that he has seen so many people who go on interesting trips, that it probably didn’t seem that exciting to him.

Vaccinations

For this trip, the doctor recommended the following vaccinations:

• Tetanus, Diphtheria, Polio booster. This is a standard booster given every 5-10 years or so depending on your needs.
• Hepatitis A. This is recommended for everyone that travels anywhere, as it doesn’t discriminate; that is, it affects both budget travelers and those staying at luxury hotels. Hepatitis A infections are spread through contaminated food, water, and shell fish.
• Hepatitis B. This is recommended for anyone traveling to areas without adequate health care screening for any length of time. The message the doctor gave us, if you end up requiring medical attention while traveling (e.g. car accident, animal bite), you are at risk at being exposed. Ontario now vaccinates grade 7′s for Hepatitis B, so if you are younger than 24 and went to school in Ontario, you were likely vaccinated in school. Hepatitis B infections are spread through inoculation with a contaminated needle, blood transfusion, sexual contact, intimate physical contact, and indirect routes such as sharing razors.
• Pre-exposure rabies. There is a world-wide shortage of rabies anti-bodies (human rabies immunoglobulin), and it is hard to store. As a result, it may be difficult to get in some locations. The immunoglobulin is required for initial treatment if you are not vaccinated. If you are bitten without the pre-exposure, you need immediate to have five-shots over 28-days. If you get bitten after completing the three-shot pre-exposure, you only require two shots, three days apart. Because we are biking and as a result might come in contact with rabid dogs, we are in the at-risk category (along with veterinarians and children, among others). Rabies is fatal if it reaches the brain, so this is well worth doing, but is a very expensive vaccine ($170 x 3 doses).
• Typhoid. This is recommended for anyone who is an adventurous traveler or who are staying with locals in an affected areas, which are pretty much any developing country. Typhoid is transmitted by unclean water and food. The Typhoid vaccination is available as either pills (must be refrigerated) that give you 5-years immunity or a needle which gives you 2-3 years immunity. We’re taking the 4 dose oral vaccine (pills).

Scott and I both had to have the Tetanus, Diphtheria, Polio booster, the pre-exposure to rabies, and the Typhoid vaccines. Scott also had to have a Hepatitis A booster (he had a Hep-A shot several years ago) and the Hepatitis B vaccine. I did a Hepatitis A-B combo vaccination (Twinrix) several years ago that is still good (antibodies test was positive), so I had 2 fewer needles than Scott!

We did not need to get vaccinated for Japanese Encephalitis because we will not be in Southeast Asia at the time of year where it is prevalent (autumn). We also don’t need to be vaccinated against Yellow Fever for the biking portion of our trip, but it may be required for the freighter trip from Italy to Malaysia.

The doctor also recommended that we get pre-screening tests for Tuberculosis. This just validates that we do not have Tuberculosis before we leave. It helps them figure out where / how you were exposed if you do end up returning with TB.

Medications

The doctor gave us three prescriptions to take with us:

• Keflex. This is used for skin infections or respiratory infections.
• Cipro XL. This is used to treat either severe diarrhea when in the Middle East or bladder infections. An Internet recommendation to use chewable Pepto Bismol as a stool hardener is interesting. I’ll add it to our list of questions for our next visit.
• Zithromax. This is used to treat severe diarrhea in Asia.

In addition, we will pick up Dukoral in Montreal or Halifax just before leaving Canada. This vaccination is only good for 3 months. Although it was technically developed for Cholera, it helps prevent traveller’s diarrhea caused by E. Coli.

Sunscreen

The doctor recommend that we purchase sunscreen at home and bring it with us. He also recommended a good hat, and long sleeve shirts and pants. Locals typically do not need sunscreen. As a result, the cost of sunscreen is likely to be excessive. In addition, the effectiveness of foreign sunscreen is a bit uncertain.

Hydration

The doctor emphasized the need to keep well hydrated. He commented that he has seen several patients that have had to return early from a round-the-world tour because they didn’t stay well enough hydrated. Side effects of not enough hydration include gout, kidney stones, and bladder infections.

Staying hydrated is an extra issue when you are exerting yourself cycling. The doctor also pointed out the women are more prone to dehydration due to poor sanitation. Women tend to drink less to avoid having to use the washrooms, especially when they are not clean or familiar. This is something that I have some specific strategies for dealing with, include:

• Bringing my personal “pee bandanna” – used when toilet paper is not available, always carried with me, and cleaned regularly with filtered water. I carry several of them, in zip lock baggies. They can be washed in a rotating fashion, so I always have a clean dry one at hand.
• A woman’s Urinating Aid. This allows women to stand up while peeing. It makes peeing in an unpleasant public toilet a little more palatable.

Malaria

Malaria medication will not be required until we go to Southeast Asia. It is not a problem where we are traveling in the Middle East. The doctor recommended that we pick up Malarone in Singapore. Malarone is taken every day, starting 1-2 days before you enter an exposed area and continued until seven (7) days after you exit the exposure area. We should take the medication when in: Thailand border region with Vietnam, in rural Vietnam (tourist areas in Vietnam are not a problem), Laos, and Cambodia. Other options are Chloroquine (but in most places the protozoa are Chloroquine-resistant). Mefloquine is another option, especially if we were staying for a longer period. It has a bad reputation for side-effects, but the doctor’s comment is that he was on it for three years, it is the most well-studied of the anti-Malarials and the more severe side effects are extremely rare. It also has the benefit that it does not need to be taken as frequently.

The most important prevention for malaria and other insect-borne diseases is to avoid getting bitten. To that end:

1. Ensure sleeping quarters are screened or sealed (if air conditioned)
2. Keep your bed surrounded with mosquito netting (ideally a Permethrin-treated bed net). Our travel doctor sells these at cost, but we may just wait until Singapore so we don’t have to carry it until we need it.
3. Wear light-coloured long-sleeved clothing when outside after sunset.
4. Apply DEET to exposed skin

Malarial mosquitoes bite at night, but insects which transmit other diseases (dengue fever, yellow fever, leishmaniasis) bite during the day, so clothing and DEET are good measures all the time. Add to it that most of these countries, it is not appropriate to be uncovered anywhere other than the beach, so this shouldn’t be too difficult.

One note is that if any additional medication is required, Singapore is a good location for getting it. Medications in Thailand should be avoid, as many of them are fake.

Diarrhea

Yes, this is not the funnest of subjects, but a really important one when you are cycling around the world, and eating food from a variety of budget oriented places.

The key message from the doctor was “Boil it, cook it, peel it, or forget it”. This will reduce our chances of exposure. The good news is in many cases we’ll be cooking for ourselves, and as long as we avoid salads (I think Scott learned this lesson first hand while in Mexico) and other raw vegetables we should do fairly well.

Also “don’t feed your diarrhea!” Your bowels have been infected by something, they need to purge to recover, and clear fluids (with Oral Rehydration Salts if necessary) are what is needed.

There is a medication you can take for prevention of Enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC)-based infections. This is a vaccine that was originally developed against Cholera called Dukoral, which can be picked up in Canada without a prescription. He said it is only useful against ETEC for about 3 months, so we will get it in Halifax or Montreal before we board a boat. The doctor advised that it would be more useful in the Middle East, rather than saving it for the Far East. Looking at the Dukoral site, it appears that it could be useful for E. coli after three months with a booster. We might be able to get that in Italy.

The doctor also prescribed two types of antibiotics for moderate to severe diarrhea caused by Campylobacter bacteria. Ciprofloxacin is to be taken if moderate or severe diarrhea occurs while in the the Middle East, and Zithromax is to be taken if moderate or severe diarrhea occurs while in Aoutheast Asia, since the Campylobacter there is often Fluoroquinolone-resistant (especially in Thailand and Nepal). Some notes on treatment similar to his explanation are available from CDC and The Oregon Travel Clinic.