Author Topic: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.  (Read 38219 times)

lowiyawa

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Re: I would ride 500 km and I would ride 500 more...
« Reply #150 on: March 30, 2018, 04:03:43 AM »
very impressive!

ElleFiji

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Re: I would ride 500 km and I would ride 500 more...
« Reply #151 on: March 30, 2018, 08:12:20 AM »
I bought my domain from a domain place because I don't want to be tied to a platform. BUT, if you build in WordPress, you can just click a button to buy the domain. I would expect blogger etc to have this option.

Le Poisson

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Re: I would ride 500 km and I would ride 500 more...
« Reply #152 on: April 02, 2018, 06:10:19 PM »
This weekend I did indeed build a small, but pretty website. A few folks around here beta tested, and now that it is perfect, I will hear back from our charity partners with their thoughts before releasing it. Of course it would have been ideal to have built the site 2 weeks ago and released it today on autism day, but alas. No Dice.

Today the whole fam-damily jumped in the minivan alongside James' bike, my bike, the bags from Arkel, and a handful of other gadgetry and headed over to Bike Depot of Pickering, where the new bike is to be assembled and mine is to be cleaned up and have a variety of doo-dads attached to it.

Once done, both bikes will have fenders front and rear, racks (front and rear on mine, rear only for James), lights and bells, kickstands or framestands, and so on. Basically they will be converted to touring bikes. Then we will return and do "New Bike Day" photos and go for our first "practice ride" home from Pickering.

We also got a big surprise this weekend when my parents (referred to as "the Outlaws" because our relationship is a rocky one) volunteered to buy us a Spot tracker, and to pay for a 1 year subscription to its service. That was a really cool surprise since its worth a lot to us (about $400) and because it was a big question mark on our programme. Meaningful tracking is a valuable thing for us. We are buying the tracker poste-haste, and we'll test it on summer vacation and on our practice rides.

Today we were also surprised when Scouts Canada promoted us as a model of scouting for Autism Awareness day. We were all over their twitter feed all day long. What a nice touch!

All the pieces are coming together. We just need to stay the course!

LifeHappens

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Re: I would ride 500 km and I would ride 500 more...
« Reply #153 on: April 03, 2018, 08:33:17 AM »
I'm glad you're getting a Spot. I, for one, will feel better knowing you have it. It's great James' grandparents are supporting the ride.

Le Poisson

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Re: I would ride 500 km and I would ride 500 more...
« Reply #154 on: April 04, 2018, 09:16:15 AM »
Yup. Cheapskate me is concerned with growing "operational costs" - the subscription to the SPOT and the website are both ongoing, and we will likely opt for 2 yr subscriptions to each (James is already asking where we will go next year) so although they are not huge costs (about $15 USD each per month) these things add up. And being a cheapskate, I hate ongoing costs that sap your earning potential. This is the challenge with a Mustachian running a charity event. You need to balance the mustachy stuff against the professionalism of the event.

SO we're getting hosting through a mass-produced platform that delivers a pretty sharp website template, and we're getting a safety device that has better protection than a cell phone app. But we'll still keep Strava going on the phone. We could do cheaper on both - but then we'd have a crap web presence and sketchy tracking. If this weren't for a charity, that would be OK. But its not. Stop wrestling with your principles, Prospy. Just do the things that need doing.

In order to offset the costs of the web site, we've added a sendoff party to our schedule. Grandview will host it. We're going to have "Coney Island Style" hotdogs and pop and charge for them. If this event raises $500, then we're in the clear to cover the web costs. Anyways, the site is built. I need one more sign off and I'll push the "Go" button. Aiming to have it available for public consumption by the weekend.

snacky

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Re: I would ride 500 km and I would ride 500 more...
« Reply #155 on: April 04, 2018, 10:44:15 AM »
How does NORAD track Santa? Would that tech work?

Lews Therin

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Re: I would ride 500 km and I would ride 500 more...
« Reply #156 on: April 04, 2018, 10:59:44 AM »
Only if their bikes go into the sky.

snacky

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Re: I would ride 500 km and I would ride 500 more...
« Reply #157 on: April 04, 2018, 11:26:16 AM »
Only if their bikes go into the sky.

Comme ca?


Lews Therin

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Re: I would ride 500 km and I would ride 500 more...
« Reply #158 on: April 04, 2018, 11:41:06 AM »
Or if They are REALLY good at bunny hops.

Le Poisson

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Re: I would ride 500 km and I would ride 500 more...
« Reply #159 on: April 04, 2018, 08:11:36 PM »
So, I've built a website:

www.ridejamesride.com

Yay me. Go visit it and say it looks pretty.

deborah

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Re: I would ride 500 km and I would ride 500 more...
« Reply #160 on: April 04, 2018, 08:25:37 PM »
WOW!

It looks great... however, I have two comments. Firstly, it goes off the screen on my iPad Air 2 - on both sides. I cannot see the third charity - presumably you, and the Thank you page starts at k. Also, the light grey is almost invisible against the picture (in the events section) perhaps it could be yellow? Secondly, should the pictures be of James hooning around with his sponsors gear? I really like the pictures.

Le Poisson

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Re: I would ride 500 km and I would ride 500 more...
« Reply #161 on: April 04, 2018, 08:39:41 PM »
WOW!

It looks great... however, I have two comments. Firstly, it goes off the screen on my iPad Air 2 - on both sides. I cannot see the third charity - presumably you, and the Thank you page starts at k. Also, the light grey is almost invisible against the picture (in the events section) perhaps it could be yellow? Secondly, should the pictures be of James hooning around with his sponsors gear? I really like the pictures.

Yeah - its not optimized for mobile. I'll get to that.

As for photos, we don't have the new gear yet!! We'll update photos as stuff comes in.

Cannot Wait!

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Re: I would ride 500 km and I would ride 500 more...
« Reply #162 on: April 04, 2018, 09:03:11 PM »
YOU ARE AWESOME!  Looks fantastic!
Just a typo in the dates - unless you are organizing for 2019 already?

deborah

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Re: I would ride 500 km and I would ride 500 more...
« Reply #163 on: April 04, 2018, 09:24:05 PM »
I understand that you won’t actually have sponsor photos yet - that was why it was a comment, rather than a suggestion or anything else.

Le Poisson

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Re: I would ride 500 km and I would ride 500 more...
« Reply #164 on: April 04, 2018, 09:26:46 PM »
YOU ARE AWESOME!  Looks fantastic!
Just a typo in the dates - unless you are organizing for 2019 already?

Ruh-Roh. Better check on that... The calendar widget is messy to use.

change_seeker

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Re: I would ride 500 km and I would ride 500 more...
« Reply #165 on: April 05, 2018, 11:13:56 AM »
Awesome website!!!!

jeninco

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Re: I would ride 500 km and I would ride 500 more...
« Reply #166 on: April 06, 2018, 09:20:59 PM »
Very cool!

At the very bottom, where I assume it says "Thank You", all I see is "Ank You", and the left side of the A is cut off. I'm not viewing in a full-page screen, so this may be fixed when you optimize for mobile...

Le Poisson

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Re: I would ride 500 km and I would ride 500 more...
« Reply #167 on: April 07, 2018, 03:55:25 PM »
Very cool!

At the very bottom, where I assume it says "Thank You", all I see is "Ank You", and the left side of the A is cut off. I'm not viewing in a full-page screen, so this may be fixed when you optimize for mobile...

Are you on an apple device? Everything we own is Droid, and it seems to be OK. Everyone having issues seems to be on Apple. At least that's my theory

jeninco

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Re: I would ride 500 km and I would ride 500 more...
« Reply #168 on: April 07, 2018, 07:29:12 PM »
Very cool!

At the very bottom, where I assume it says "Thank You", all I see is "Ank You", and the left side of the A is cut off. I'm not viewing in a full-page screen, so this may be fixed when you optimize for mobile...

Are you on an apple device? Everything we own is Droid, and it seems to be OK. Everyone having issues seems to be on Apple. At least that's my theory

Good theory. I'm viewing on a MacBook Pro.

On the other hand, you're fundraising, so you should be targeting people with apples, right?

(I feel forced to add that 1. I'm a contractor, 2. It's my "work" machine that I do my work on, and 3. If I want my husband to help me with IT support, it has to be an apple. I hate doing IT support. Thus, ...)

Le Poisson

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Re: I would ride 500 km and I would ride 500 more...
« Reply #169 on: April 08, 2018, 02:27:31 PM »
New Bike Day today...

Things went really well. We got the bike and bags back (mostly) outfitted the way we asked. A few substitutions were made - only one of which really bothered me, but that's OK, I can adapt. If I have to. Which I guess I shall. They did the outfitting for free with parts at 25% off retail. Considering that James' bike and bags were donated, I'm not complaining. Pics to follow.

Donations have started to happen too - which is nice. We'll watch as that grows over time. I still haven't figured out bugs in the website. Seems like folks on Apple devices are having a hard time with the borders.

Dicey

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Re: I would ride 500 km and I would ride 500 more...
« Reply #170 on: April 08, 2018, 02:56:46 PM »
What I could see of the website on my not-an-ipad thingy looks great! (Most, but not all is visible, FYI)

Question: is there a way to give directly to defray ride costs? Most places, including GFM, take a haircut. I'd rather see 100% mustachian utilization if reasonably possible. Alas, I do not live in Canadia. Thoughts?

Le Poisson

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Re: I would ride 500 km and I would ride 500 more...
« Reply #171 on: April 08, 2018, 04:48:50 PM »
What I could see of the website on my not-an-ipad thingy looks great! (Most, but not all is visible, FYI)

Question: is there a way to give directly to defray ride costs? Most places, including GFM, take a haircut. I'd rather see 100% mustachian utilization if reasonably possible. Alas, I do not live in Canadia. Thoughts?

GFM takes 5% but I think its worth it since they optimize social media and MSM beyond what I would be capable of on my own. Seriously last year they boosted us by way more than the 5% haircut they take, so I'm all for that.

okits

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Re: I would ride 500 km and I would ride 500 more...
« Reply #172 on: April 08, 2018, 06:14:08 PM »
Nice going!!  The matching shirts look sharp.

Yeah, my iPad 2 does not like the site.  Looks great when viewed on a laptop, though.

Le Poisson

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Re: I would ride 500 km and I would ride 500 more...
« Reply #173 on: April 09, 2018, 12:49:19 PM »
Busy weekend.

On Saturday I sent our core organizing group an email outlining our progress through March and what our goals for April look like. I like MailChimp since it lets me see who I'm reaching and who is ignoring me. Not many emails got opened on Saturday, so I was bummed - but then I got a reply from fwd. It was a person in Albany who wanted to host us in their backyard. Yay!! one city down. And Albany is a bit of a big deal since we are using it as a stopover for a rest day - this means we'll camp out for 2 nights there. During our rest day we can visit the State Capital and do tourist things. I hope the city is walkable/bikeable.

The family that is hosting us in Albany is connected to town hall, has one parent that is a prof at the local college, and is active with the local Autism Advocacy group. They've already done a bunch of outreach in town and are promoting us to local media and politicians. The web is growing.

This morning, a bunch more people opened our email, and one of them was our key contact with Scouts Canada. They had forwarded us down a chain, ending up at a scout camp in St. Catharines... the scout camp has connected us to 4 "Scout Huts" - the Scout Huts have connected us to local troops. I love when a big organization built to do good for the community pulls together. We now have lodging at the scout camp for night 2 of our trip, complete with dinner and a private cabin and a couple of scout troops coming to meet us. Sounds like it will be a fun night.

So we're 3/15ths planned for sleeping arrangements. I'm hoping the scouts will keep growing the web in Canada, and that the US network will take root as well. Fingers crossed...

Le Poisson

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #174 on: April 13, 2018, 05:09:14 AM »
Things are shaping up for our billets. Its super early and I'm nervous about families making a commitment now and then having changing plans through the summer, but hey, I'll take whatever I can get.

So far it looks like this:

Clarkson, ON - Staying with a family right on our trail (yay!)
St. Catharines, ON - Cabin at Scout camp
Medina, NY - Mayor's Office making arrangements
*Rochester NY - Nothing
Savannah NY - Nothing
Chittenango NY - Nothing
Utica NY - Nothing
Fonda NY - Nothing
*Albany NY - Staying with college Prof.
Red Hook NY - Nothing
Carmel NY - Nothing
Hell's Kitchen NYC - Hopeful that we can sleepover at the intrepid Museum.
Coney Island NYC - Nothing

Blue - billet needed
* - layover/rest day

Right now its way too early to sweat billets, but I'm disappointed that the Boy Scouts in the USA aren't as welcoming to us as the Canadian scouts are/were. I'm not sure if its a difference in cultures or an organizational difference. Up here we've been given a whole cabin at the scout camp and our name has been passed through the regional scouting community. Scouts Canada has put us up on their twitter and Facebook and is actively working to make this a success. BSA meanwhile has responded with a resounding "Meh."

That's OK though - in a month or so, we'll be making a presentation to  two different Rotary clubs in town, and I see that there is a strong Rotarian network in NY State. If we need to move our focus away from the Boy Scouts, then I'll lean on Rotary to use their network to move us along. Rotary has a lot of business and community leader types in it, so our message will still be spread wide and far, and likely reach a media audience faster through that network.

I feel bad that the scouts can't ride our wave down there though. I know the organization has found value up here.
« Last Edit: April 13, 2018, 07:03:47 AM by Prospector »

ElleFiji

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #175 on: April 13, 2018, 05:22:06 AM »
1) please provide materials I can distribute to promote night one and day two
2) if things feel at all wobbly about night one, I can find you lots of backyards. Actually @plainjane can probably find you some nice ones too for that night.
3) I'm pretty sure I also know guiders near here, and a bike shop near here that I'd like to tell about you.So that we can cheer

Le Poisson

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #176 on: April 13, 2018, 05:32:40 AM »
1) please provide materials I can distribute to promote night one and day two
2) if things feel at all wobbly about night one, I can find you lots of backyards. Actually @plainjane can probably find you some nice ones too for that night.
3) I'm pretty sure I also know guiders near here, and a bike shop near here that I'd like to tell about you.So that we can cheer

I'm hoping to have some postcards made up to take with me to the Ontario Bike Summit (April 17-18) - wow that's coming up fast - maybe I'm going to miss that date. Anyway, as soon as I have stuff, I'll let you know.

I should have that Clarkson night firmed up soon though. If I need to fly a batsignal, I'll let you know. If locals want to ride with us in your area, I'd encourage them to watch our dot move from our SPOT tracker or to join us in the morning when we leave town. Our travel times can be wildly variable according the whims of James and what parks we ride past, whether an ice cream shop looks tempting, and how many frogs need to be rescued from the trail.

Another option for you might be to grab a GO train. Since we are ending in your hood, you may want to take a GO train into the city and meet us near downtown then ride toward home.

Mornings tend to be faster and more predictable riding. The later in the day it gets the more ridiculous the reasons we need to stop.

ElleFiji

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #177 on: April 13, 2018, 05:41:13 AM »
1) please provide materials I can distribute to promote night one and day two
2) if things feel at all wobbly about night one, I can find you lots of backyards. Actually @plainjane can probably find you some nice ones too for that night.
3) I'm pretty sure I also know guiders near here, and a bike shop near here that I'd like to tell about you.So that we can cheer

I'm hoping to have some postcards made up to take with me to the Ontario Bike Summit (April 17-18) - wow that's coming up fast - maybe I'm going to miss that date. Anyway, as soon as I have stuff, I'll let you know.

I should have that Clarkson night firmed up soon though. If I need to fly a batsignal, I'll let you know. If locals want to ride with us in your area, I'd encourage them to watch our dot move from our SPOT tracker or to join us in the morning when we leave town. Our travel times can be wildly variable according the whims of James and what parks we ride past, whether an ice cream shop looks tempting, and how many frogs need to be rescued from the trail.

Another option for you might be to grab a GO train. Since we are ending in your hood, you may want to take a GO train into the city and meet us near downtown then ride toward home.

Mornings tend to be faster and more predictable riding. The later in the day it gets the more ridiculous the reasons we need to stop.
Those bits will be formed up later. I may want to force ice cream or fancy burgers on you. Or have small people sleep over and ride together.

Le Poisson

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #178 on: April 13, 2018, 06:00:16 AM »
Cool - well we leave Whitby on the 18th and leave Clarkson on the 19th. Everything else can be worked out later...

plainjane

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #179 on: April 13, 2018, 06:21:59 AM »
@plainjane can probably find you some nice ones too for that night.
I should have that Clarkson night firmed up soon though. If I need to fly a batsignal, I'll let you know. If locals want to ride with us in your area, I'd encourage them to watch our dot move from our SPOT tracker or to join us in the morning when we leave town. Our travel times can be wildly variable according the whims of James and what parks we ride past, whether an ice cream shop looks tempting, and how many frogs need to be rescued from the trail.

I am pretty sure I can get you a couple of bedrooms in Clarkson with a shower etc, or a backyard where you can put a tent up (we did that more than once). It might even come with a professional photographer if you're interested (or it might be a requirement in return for the space, photographer are sometimes hard to discourage). I'm not much online atm, so email or bat signal are the best way of making sure I see things.

Le Poisson

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #180 on: April 13, 2018, 07:03:05 AM »
Clarkson got firmed up this AM - its a great spot right on the trail and with a family who wants to ride along with us the next morning. Yay!!

Thanks for getting back to me EF and @plainjane - but if your friends/photographers want to come ride with us, the trail is wide open!

terran

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Re: I would ride 500 km and I would ride 500 more...
« Reply #181 on: April 13, 2018, 09:47:02 AM »
Just sent emails to Gov. Cuomo and MP Celina hoping to get answers on the visa question. We'll see where that leads (pessimistic over here... think I'll be reaching out to the embassy/consulate but I'm trying not to since they are not very welcoming).

How cool is this!

Probably a silly question, but I take it the concern is that you'll be "working" in the US by asking for go fund me donations? Or are you concerned about crossing the border on bikes? Because crossing the border as a tourist certainly wouldn't come with any issues normally.

Le Poisson

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Re: I would ride 500 km and I would ride 500 more...
« Reply #182 on: April 13, 2018, 10:11:46 AM »
Just sent emails to Gov. Cuomo and MP Celina hoping to get answers on the visa question. We'll see where that leads (pessimistic over here... think I'll be reaching out to the embassy/consulate but I'm trying not to since they are not very welcoming).

How cool is this!

Probably a silly question, but I take it the concern is that you'll be "working" in the US by asking for go fund me donations? Or are you concerned about crossing the border on bikes? Because crossing the border as a tourist certainly wouldn't come with any issues normally.

I think we've put the visa question to rest. If we get any trouble, well, we'll just have to adapt.

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #183 on: April 13, 2018, 03:58:06 PM »
P2F

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #184 on: April 24, 2018, 03:51:17 AM »
Looking seriously impressive. Best of luck with it.


Prairie Gal

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #185 on: April 24, 2018, 06:51:14 AM »
I think there is a map somewhere on this website with where mustachians are from. Might be worthwhile to reach out to some of the New Yorkers? The only one I can think of offhand is @Dollar Slice .

Website looks great.

James must be excited about the new bike!

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #186 on: April 24, 2018, 07:12:01 AM »
I think there is a map somewhere on this website with where mustachians are from. Might be worthwhile to reach out to some of the New Yorkers? The only one I can think of offhand is @Dollar Slice .

Dollar Slice would have already offered if she were able to host ;-) Alas...

Le Poisson

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #187 on: April 24, 2018, 07:18:38 AM »
Hey new ppl - thanks for following along!

We are just over the $500 mark in donations received. This brings great joy! Thanks to all the MMM crowd who jumped in early to support the ride. This puts us at about 2.5% of our goal, with months to go!

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #188 on: April 24, 2018, 08:11:44 AM »
I had another thought ... wow! Two in one day. How about asking Pete aka MMM to Twit about it? He has a huge following.

Le Poisson

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #189 on: April 24, 2018, 08:17:25 AM »
I had another thought ... wow! Two in one day. How about asking Pete aka MMM to Twit about it? He has a huge following.

I emailed him last week - sometimes Pete takes a few minutes (days) to get back to folks. In other exciting news we have been asked to be on a podcast for an ASD Research/Treatment group in NY State, and have a lead on a cycling podcast out of Edmonton. We'll see where these inquiries lead us!

Le Poisson

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #190 on: April 28, 2018, 04:42:51 PM »
James and I got out for our first meaningful ride of the year yesterday.

We left home and rode about 10 km north to a playground. Then James played while I rode my bike around the neighbourhood doing work stuff. The president of our local cycling activist group pinged me to ask about the Strava track I was laying down, then came up and met us.

After I had completed my observations of the neighbourhood infrastructure, the three of us headed south back toward home... along the way, another cyclist who follows the activist group on Strava came screaming down the road. This guy has three sponsored athletes for children, and is a high calibre cyclist himself - for an old guy. Together our pack made our way home.

As we rode, my phone rang. It was the Mayor of Medina New York - a small town east of Buffalo/Niagara Falls. He had arranged a place to stay for us, as well as a speaking engagement in town. We are thrilled. This means that 1/3 of our nights are set.

We have also locked down our schedule now. If you live in or near one of the towns below, please reach out to your BIA, Chamber of Commerce, or Mayor and see if they want to rally behind us. We aren't having a lot of luck with Boy Scouts in the US. We do have speaking engagements with our local Rotary clubs in June, so we hope we can clean up the remaining nights with them then...

Aug 18th - Whitby ON to Mississauga, ON (Clarkson neighbourhood) via the Waterfront Trail - Staying with a host family
Aug 19th - Mississauga, ON to St. Catharines, ON via the Waterfront Trail - Staying at a scout camp
Aug 20th - St Catherines, ON to Medina New York via Niagara Falls, many on-raod sections until we reach the Erie Canal Towpath - Mayor Sidari making Arrangements.
Aug 21st - Medina NY to Rochester NY via Erie Canal Towpath - Need Accommodations
Aug 22nd - Rest Day in Rochester - Need accommodations
Aug 23rd - Rochester NY to Savannah, NY via Erie Canal towpath - Staying with a host family
Aug 24th - Savannah NY to Chittenango NY via Erie Canal Towpath - Staying at Canal Boat Museum
Aug 25th - Chittenango NY to Utica NY via Erie Canal Towpath - Need accommodations
Aug 26th - Utica NY to Fonda NY via Erie Canal towpath - Need accommodations
Aug 27th - Fonda NY to Albany NY via Erie Canal towpath - Have host family.
Aug 28th - Rest day in Albany with Host family
Aug 29th - Albany NY to Red Hook NY via various trails - Need accommodations
Aug 30th - Red Hook NY to Carmel NY via various trails - Need accommodations
Aug 31st - Carmel NY to Hell's Kitchen NY via various trails - Need accommodations
Sept 1 - Hell's Kitchen NY to Coney Island NYC - Need accommodations
Sept 2 - NYC layover day - Need accommodations
Sept 3 - Return home.
« Last Edit: May 08, 2018, 07:16:21 PM by Prospector »

Le Poisson

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #191 on: April 30, 2018, 08:59:35 AM »
I spent this past weekend focused on getting a place to stay in Rochester. You'd think that the big cities would be easiest for us, but for whatever reason, Rochester is proving to be a riddle without an answer. The Strong Research centre for Autism replied to my emails and was excited to see us coming to town - they even posted about our ride on their closed facebook group asking their community for a back yard to camp in... but unfortunately the only response that got was from a family northeast of town - not really in our path, and adding 5km to our ride on the arrival day, and 15 on the next.

At least we have a backup plan.

Our ideal destination would be south Rochester, but if that fails, Downtown would be the next-best thing. We keep hunting.

Surprisingly, smaller towns are a much easier target. I have ahd good luck in both Medina NY and now in Savannah NY with reaching out to the Mayor's office and BIA/Chamber of Commerce and having them make a presentation. This week I need to keep working our way east through the path to nail down places to stay in other communities. I updated our website (www.ridejamesride) to show our schedule as a table. I think it better shows where we are staying and when. Take a boo.

We are eating this elephant one bite at a time.

jordanread

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #192 on: April 30, 2018, 09:16:14 AM »
Have you checked the AirMnM thread/spreadsheet? Just another potential resource.

GT

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #193 on: May 07, 2018, 06:35:49 PM »
Just caught up, how cool is it that you now know old man Batty!  Was going to recommend a SPOT, good to hear that is sorted.

Not much I can do from down here, i.e. hosting ;)

Are you interested in a Garmin eTtrex 30 or 35T to have the route on, leaving your phone (and its charge) free from routing details and able to take plenty of happy snaps?

Le Poisson

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #194 on: May 08, 2018, 05:15:43 AM »
The Battys are an awesome family. Really awesome people. Very approachable and down to earth. Highly recommend going for a beer with them, but don't go riding. You'll hurt afterwards.

Important news this AM - we have accommodations in Savannah NY. The Cooperative Extension hooked us up with a family who has space. Yay!! One more town ticked off!!

We also have a standing offer from a family in Chittenango, but they aren't in a convenient location. We have a similar situation in Rochester. With Chittenango, I feel like I have options available (Canal Boat museum, town park on the trail) but with Rochester I am really confused at why its so difficult to find a place. Surely there are people close to our route with space.

In any case, camping arrangements for Savannah are made.

This weekend we did two middle-distance rides. James wasn't feeling it, but we got miles in which is good. On our first day we headed over to Oshawa for an easy 25 km day after planting Scout Trees early in the morning. On Sunday we headed out 35 km to Scarborough and then caught the train home.  Neither day really did much apart from get miles in - no big hills, no really challenging areas, but good to get used to the new bikes and knock off the winter dust. I'm hoping that by this weekend we'll be up over 60 km and can start talking about doing "real" rides. If we hit the Beaches in east Toronto or make it out to Bowmanville and back, we'll be doing OK. After that we're away for a couple weeks and will have to start over.

Le Poisson

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #195 on: May 08, 2018, 07:28:20 PM »
Just after posting this morning, I got a confirmation from the Chittenango Landing Canal Boat Museum that they have space for us and will be waiting. It sounds like it has potential as one of the best nights of this whole trip. When we go to Algonquin park up north, james loves the logging museum where he watches the blacksmith and loggers and sees the way things were made way back when. This place looks like it will be right up his alley! And the town looks like a load of fun too. This will be a good stop!

« Last Edit: May 08, 2018, 08:11:08 PM by Prospector »

Pizzabrewer

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #196 on: May 08, 2018, 07:49:42 PM »
Hi:  I'm in Syracuse. How might I be able to help?  I see you have overnight plans on either side of the city. I could offer you gratis lunch or dinner at my place of employ (a really good restaurant IMO) that looks to be right on your way.

Le Poisson

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #197 on: May 08, 2018, 08:10:18 PM »
Hi:  I'm in Syracuse. How might I be able to help?  I see you have overnight plans on either side of the city. I could offer you gratis lunch or dinner at my place of employ (a really good restaurant IMO) that looks to be right on your way.

Pizzabrewer, I can feel your goodness already! Would love to dine with you!! Can you get your restaurant to follow us on Twitter ( @ridejamesride ) and make your offer there - we'll give you a nod and blow it up as we come through. Our current rest stop in Syracuse is at the canal Museum (not to be confused with the canal boat museum) is your restaurant close to there?

We are hoping to make some media noise in Syracuse as well, so if we can get some buzz going on at the restaurant, that would be fun. Fire us an email or message on twitter and we can work out something fun!
« Last Edit: May 08, 2018, 08:14:28 PM by Prospector »

Pizzabrewer

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #198 on: May 08, 2018, 08:46:51 PM »
I sent you a PM.

Le Poisson

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #199 on: June 15, 2018, 05:46:05 AM »
The last couple weeks have been full of ups and downs - but mostly ups as we accelerate toward the ride...

Yesterday we had an interview on our local radio station - unfortunately James was having an "off Day" so he didn't participate well, but it still came out alright. The DJ does really well with us, and is basically a big kid himself, so it's always fun in the studio. Plus the studios are at our small-town airport, so its fun watching the Cessnas and corporate jets take-off and land while we're there.

In the past week, we've heard from the Children's museum of Albany and a Children's treatment centre there as they are trying to arrange a place for us to stay. Fingers crossed that between them, they come up with a place for us.

Next week we have an interview with the Anderson Centre for Autism to be featured on their podcast, which has a pretty strong following, so that is a good thing. I hope its not a clinical conversation... I can't talk Dr. I can talk Dad.

We have made a presentation to out local Rotary club, which was very impactful and meaningful to them. The club is a big supporter of our charity (Grandview Childrens' Centre) and it was good to give back to them.

We have a cycling activist group in New York City that is working on finding us a place and thinks they have something secured on the upper east side (did I get that right?) Anyway, 96th Street - near the Intrepid Museum. We still need to find a place for the rest of our stay in NYC - nearer Coney Island. I have a forumite to reach back to on that front.

Many of our stops already have accommodations, but we continue to try to find a place in Rochester. For a big city, you'd think it would be easy. Alas, it is not. There is a peppering of small towns that we still have to work  through - mostly along the Hudson Valley.

One of our local craft breweries (Five Paddles) has expressed an interest in a RideJamesRide collaboration brew if we can find a NY brewery to work with. @Pizzabrewer - what does this mean? Would a 3-way collaboration work with your restaurant and a third brewery in NYC (Brooklyn Brewery maybe?) What does it mean to have a collaborative brew, how do we set it up, and can 3 players be part of it?

And finally (I think) our local charity is putting on a "Coney Island Style Hotdog" sendoff for us the day before we head to New York. They will be cooking up dogs and getting us set for our trip. We need to wrassle up some voluntolds and a BBQ, but apart from that, I think the charity will be taking care of everything else (food, permits, advertising, etc.)

We have a lot going on right now.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!