Here's the latest on the RowedTrip.com Expedition (a journey across Europe and through the Middle East by row boat and folding bicycle).

Expedition leader Colin Angus has notified me that they and all their gear (including the full size folding bikes they'll use to pull the boats over land) have arrived safely in London.

Currently, the row boats have yet to make it through customs in the UK; however, Colin expects to clear this paperwork hurdle and be on their way to northern Scotland in a matter of days.

For more about this unique husband and wife journey, visit RowedTrip.com.

Larry

Labels: Rowed-Trip

Due to the falling dollar and rising fuel costs, pricing on all folding bikes has gone up substantially. On some models, the increase is @ 30%, far more than I could ever hope to absorb. Unfortunately, that means prices are going up across the board; I'm in the process of making the changes now.

If you are looking to purchase a small wheel folding bike (such as the Superlite 1 or 3 speeds or the Ultralite 6 speed), I'll honor the current $169, $189 & $209 pricing until Thursday at midnight, Central Daylight Time.

According to a Feb. 14th AP article, "A tiny liberal arts college here hopes it has found an answer to a nagging shortage of campus parking: a bicycle giveaway. If incoming freshmen promise not to bring a car to campus for a full year, Ripon College will give them a Trek 820 mountain bike, a helmet and a lock -- a $400 value.

"'We're a residential college with a beautiful, historic campus in the middle of a small town,' said President David Joyce, an avid cyclist. 'Paving it over was not an option I was willing to consider.'

"He hopes the 1,000-student campus' 'Velorution Program' will protect it from building more parking lots. 'We obviously live in a car culture. That's not about to change,' Joyce said. 'But if a significant number of students learn that a car isn't a necessity at this stage of their lives, that's good enough for me.'..."

Source: http://tinyurl.com/3c5fvp
Archive search: use http://googlenews.com search
Title: "Wis. College to Give Bikes to Freshmen"
Author: AP

A 4000 Mile Journey by Rowboat & Folding Bike
by Larry Lagarde

A Canadian husband and wife team are about to do the Rowed Trip, a 6,500 km human powered expedition from Scotland through Europe to Turkey and onto Syria. For transportation, they will use two, custom built, single person row boats designed by Colin Angus.

Starting from the northernmost tip of Scotland, the pair will row south in the open sea. When conditions are too dangerous or a portage is needed, they'll tow the boats with folding bikes and trailers that are otherwise stored on board.

The team is composed of National Geographic Adventurers of the Year Colin (the first person to circumnavigate the globe only by human power) and Julie Angus (the only woman to row across the Atlantic Ocean from mainland to mainland).

A unique component of the expedition is the School Rowed Trip, an interactive and free program that promotes physical activity by challenging school aged children to match Julie and Colin's physical output. Educators and students are invited to participate in the initiative and over 20,000 students are already involved.

Colin and Julie seek to inspire youth to embrace active living, environmental stewardship, and rediscover the outdoors. To learn more or to register for the School Rowed Trip, visit RowedTrip.com.

By the way, the bicycles being used are full size folding mountain bikes from RideTHISbike.com. Colin will be riding a flat black SwissBike LX; Julie is riding a baby blue Montague CX. The bike trailers have been specially fabricated by Tony's Trailers. At the end of the day, the two rowboats are lashed together into a catamaran using the frames from the bike trailers to form a platform for a tent.

Go team go!

Labels: Rowed-Trip

by Larry Lagarde

Although we're sold out of the military tough Paratrooper folding bikes from Montague at the moment, the bikes are as popular as ever. To learn more about when they'll again be available, I called Montague today for an update.

Montague expects to have new Paratroopers available in March. The bikes will cost @ $20 more but there will also be some small component upgrades. In particular, the Shimano Deore rear derailleur on the 2007 Paratrooper models will be replaced with the smoother riding and slightly lighter SRAM X-5.

Following is an excellent video comparing how the Shimano Deore and SRAM X-5 react while being ridden over the same piece of single track. Note how little the SRAM travels in comparison to the Shimano Deore derailleur. Impressive.

Labels: Paratrooper-folding-bike