Author Topic: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.  (Read 38224 times)

Dollar Slice

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #200 on: June 15, 2018, 08:14:26 AM »
Lots of fun news! :-)

If you're interested in a smaller brewery (as opposed to the larger Brooklyn brewery) you might reach out to Threes Brewing. Also in Brooklyn, they seem like good people and they support progressive causes. They have done a couple of beers to raise money and awareness for orgs like the ACLU and HRC (Human Rights Campaign). So it's possible they would be interested.

And I think it was Upper West Side, not Upper East Side. :-)

Le Poisson

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #201 on: June 16, 2018, 03:09:57 PM »
James and I are fresh back home from a 90 KM "Practice Ride" he wasn't very cooperative or fast and he didn't have fantastic stamina, but he made it through and we only stopped for ice cream once.

This bodes well for building up to our NYC trip. If we keep doing 90 km days, we should build it up to being the new normal and be ready for the trip by August. Or at least that's what I'm telling myself.

GT

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #202 on: June 18, 2018, 01:08:11 AM »
Seems legit.

I wish I could go out for a 90km bike ride.

I'm heading out on the Karakoram next weekend for the Melburn Roobaix.  Only bike with big enough tires to get me through all the cobbles.


Le Poisson

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #203 on: June 18, 2018, 07:14:07 AM »
This Sunday, James and I will be in the www.ridedonthide.com Grey-Bruce ride. I entered us in it to get him familiar with riding in a crowd, and to give him a chance to get longer miles on a timed course. We'll see how he does. We signed up for the 80km course, but now I see that they want us off the road in 5 hours. No way that kid is keeping up a 16+ km/h pace for 5 hours straight. I think we'll start with the 80 km riders, then turnaround at the 50 km turnabout and sneak over to a loop intended to stretch the 80 km route to a 100 km route if he's feeling well enough/going fast enough. (Map: http://ridedonthide.com/on/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/map_route_logistics_signs_2017.pdf)

The organizers may hate us, but I'm OK with that. We don't go fast, we go far. After the finish line party, we may tag on another 20 km, just to make it a legit day. We need to cover at least 80 km.

I also need to get a hold of a cheap cycle-computer for James' bike. I think seeing his speed is a boost for him, and makes him feel like he's accomplishing something. Sometimes I think the monotony of a day on the bike gets to him.


GT

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #204 on: June 18, 2018, 07:54:18 AM »
Something like a Garmin Edge 20 or 25?  Or something super simple like a Cateye Velo?

Le Poisson

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #205 on: June 18, 2018, 07:57:44 AM »
Something like a Garmin Edge 20 or 25?  Or something super simple like a Cateye Velo?

Leaning toward something like the Cateye. All he needs is to see his speed, distance and what time it is. Last year we bought some no-name units off amazon, and they worked but kept resetting when the battery contacts made/lost connections. It kept deleting out distance travelled, resetting the clocks, and deleting his wheel diameter. It was better than nothing, but only barely. Also I have spending $$$$ on bike computers when I have my phone, the SPOT tracker, etc. already on me.

GT

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #206 on: June 18, 2018, 08:02:15 AM »
Would a donation of a bike computer be acceptable in the general scheme of things?  Rather than you forking out the $ maybe someone else could donate one?  I might know someone who'd be happy to donate to the cause as they're far away and can't join in on the ride or offer a place to stay...

Le Poisson

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #207 on: June 18, 2018, 08:50:01 AM »
Would a donation of a bike computer be acceptable in the general scheme of things?  Rather than you forking out the $ maybe someone else could donate one?  I might know someone who'd be happy to donate to the cause as they're far away and can't join in on the ride or offer a place to stay...

If someone far away chose to do that, it would be way cool!

Le Poisson

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #208 on: June 21, 2018, 09:24:58 AM »
Two cool "gifts from strangers" moments occurred this week...

1. When Momma stopped to pick up the mail one afternoon, a car rolled up alongside her and its drive waved her over. They gave Momma $40 and told her to make sure James got an ice cream out of it from them. Its nice when neighbours come together to support each other.

2. A package arrived this week from AMazon - a stranger from a faraway land sent us a cyclecomputer and heart rate monitor. It will be cool for James to see how fast he's going and how hard he's working. I like that it also came with a cadence sensor so he can see when he needs to pedal faster/harder. With the Tour de France starting next week, we'll start talking about how fast the cyclists legs are moving and hope that James tries to emulate them. Thanks internet stranger!! You bought him a unit that was way more better than we expected!

And on the administrative side...

Last night I sat up until 02h00 writing up a blog post for Frog bikes. Their initial response was super positive, so I hope that it goes on the website quickly. I need to get them some pics of James in his shirt and on their bike. Its hard to find good pics - the darn kid really prefers riding to posing, and hides from the camera all the time. I wish he understood how important the smiling for the camera part is. He prefers to scowl or hide.

We also have our accommodations in Utica and Coney Island sewn up now, so we have a quickly diminishing list of places where we still need accommodations. Some will be easier than others, but I have so much work to do that at this point I've pretty much take a hiatus from nagging town councils for rest houses. We'll find them in time. It will work out.

Tomorrow night we are hosing some warm showers cycle-tourists who are riding here FROM NYC en route to the west coast. I'm hoping to pick their minds for routing and rest stops and things to look out for. Maybe they have contacts in the towns that are still outstanding and can help us out a little too, who knows.

GT

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #209 on: June 21, 2018, 07:02:39 PM »
Not all strangers are danger.

Can understand the pic thing, so hard to get a decent natural one of kids without some sort of face contortion.

P.S. A soft silicone case for bike computers are somewhat useful in protecting them from drops.  Says the bloke who scratched his Edge 810 screen on the first day he had it, before getting a slicone case...

ElleFiji

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #210 on: June 24, 2018, 08:15:45 AM »
My mum knew I had friends involved in #ridejamesride last year....this weekend we were talking about how the main participant took over my Netflix and then did a training ride the next day.

Eventually it clicked that I know James and his organization team. I suspect that she will be spreading the word more through.the area James rides though first.

Do you have postcards or posters hat people can drop in along the route?

Do you have 45 minutes to make some using canvas, that supporters can print and post?

Le Poisson

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #211 on: June 25, 2018, 09:48:25 AM »
My mum knew I had friends involved in #ridejamesride last year....this weekend we were talking about how the main participant took over my Netflix and then did a training ride the next day.

Eventually it clicked that I know James and his organization team. I suspect that she will be spreading the word more through.the area James rides though first.

Do you have postcards or posters hat people can drop in along the route?

Do you have 45 minutes to make some using canvas, that supporters can print and post?

Ugh - I was going to make up something like this months ago. It never came together. The combined impact of my unartistic lilt and a lack of inspiration.

I should do it. Excuses and all that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Had a very busy weekend on the cycling side of things...

On Friday, some cycle-tourists were coming for a visit. I suggested a route to our house for them, and then headed out from the office to meet them and escort them through town. They were distracted along the way, and took a different route. Meant I got to finish my workday with a 20km ride through a part of town I usually don't get to. It also meant the cyclists beat me home.

Since the cyclists were vegetarians with an array of food allergies, we weren't sure what to feed them. This was made simple when they volunteered to cook for us! For dinner we had Tacos with beans and rice filling, and an array of veggies for toppings. Delicious.

In the morning we had scrambled eggs, and then rode with them to Toronto. A nice and familiar 60 km ride to the roundhouse... in the rain! Not really ideal weather-wise, but great for us to see that even in poor weather we can tick off the miles. James really wanted to ride the mini-train around the Roundhouse Park, but it was out of service due to weather. He was bummed, but alas, such is life.

We got on the Go Train back to Whitby, packed, put the bikes on the car, and drove to Owen Sound for Ride-Don't-Hide ,a charity ride for mental health that we had signed up for months earlier. We got to a hotel at about 1:00 AM and I carried James from the car to bed.

Waking up the next day, we had missed the alarm, and were late to the bike ride. Because of this we didn't get into the 80km ride that we had signed up for, and instead we had to go in the 50km ride. In the rush, we didn't get breakfast or fill our water bottles and a pile of other nuisance things were out of place. We ended up on the second-last start of the 50 km ride, almost an hour behind the start time we were planning on, without breakfast. Ugh. At least we made it to the ride.

As we hopped on our bikes, James stuffed his face with ride-supplied granola bars and a banana, and packed his handlebar bag with fruit.

We rode with the crowd keeping up nicely. I was pretty proud of James for keeping pace and even pushing our pack a little early on. Then, when we came to the first rest stop, we ducked in and got our water-bottles filled while everyone else rode on - really the stop was not needed, except for the bottle fill. This bumped us to the very back of the 50 km ride. Ugh.

James pedalled hard, and we passed a few people, eventually finding a couple of folks with a pace close to our own. We stuck with them until we came to the second rest stop at the peak of a tough hill. This stop was needed, and James decided to eat everything on his handlebar bag, grab more food from the table, and visit the folks at the stop. Then, when we should have really left, he decided to use the washroom. There was a lineup. We waited. While peeing, the call came out that the 50km sweep was leaving, anyone still at the stop would be cut from the ride. Crud.

We ran from the bathroom to the bikes and rode with the sweep 15km to the next stop. James put a plan together as we rode. At the next stop he was going to just get a banana and a drink, and then leave right away. So we did that... and it worked. On the ride back to the start/finish, we did great, and finished the 50 km ride just ahead of the sweep for the 25km event.

So over the weekend we rode just over 100km - which is pretty respectable. But more important is that we upped our speed by oodles. The 50 km Ride Don't Hide event we started at 8:00 AM and finished around 11:15. Very respectable.

GT

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #212 on: June 25, 2018, 03:37:27 PM »
The threat of the sweep will up the average speed in my experience.

Le Poisson

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #213 on: July 17, 2018, 05:07:49 PM »
We continue to work up our miles and go on practice rides. This past weekend that meant a ride from Exhibition GO in Toronto back to our home in Whitby - not long, but challenging because the Toronto Molson Indy was on, which meant crowds and noise from race cars.

Loud noises can be a trigger for James. Crowds are not a thing he manages well. The Waterfront trail was closed between the GO station and the trail we use. I was perplexed - and yet, we managed. We got from teh GO station to Strachan Street, around teh closures, through a park and then... we were on familiar ground biking home.

We've got our SPOT tracker working well now, so folks wanting to can follow along on our adventure as we go. The link is here: https://bit.ly/2Nigel8 - it only shows a tracklog of 50 points though - so you won't see a full history of our adventures there. I tried to set up a feed from the tracker to our website and other stuff... not having any luck although I know others have managed to build a link somehow.

Most of our stopovers are now defined. We are missing three communities (Fonda, Red Hook, and Carmel) - but most of our stops are with families who have offered dinner and laundry along with space for our tent.
 
Our list of outstanding items is very short - we need notarized letters to enter the US, a few supplies, and those three layover spots. We will be fine. Support is starting to grow as folks realize how close we are getting to doing this. Hopefully our donations follow as media and local events boost us. We have a ways to go before we can start talking up our goals.

In any case, things are putting along nicely. We will get there soon. In a month actually.

Bicycle_B

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #214 on: July 18, 2018, 06:09:58 PM »
^ Mileage, speed, adventures, preparation - AWESOME!!

Like many others, I continue to feel a warm glow of admiration and happiness for the wonderful upbringing you are giving your son.

Le Poisson

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #215 on: July 25, 2018, 10:43:51 AM »
So things are continuing to continue. I just posted a thread to twitter discussing how folks can be part of the ride. Donations aren't where I was hoping they'd be by now, but meh - whatevs. If we hit our targets, James will feel like a hero. If we don't, then this can be a lesson on striving hard and feeling good about it despite the outcome.

I've had a foot act up late last week and went to a physiotherapist on Monday... amazing results. Felt better as quick as treatment was applied.

It meant we missed our practice ride last weekend though - which was disappointing. This weekend though, the Great Waterfront Trail Adventure is rolling through our town, so we'll hop in as a ridealong and cover some 90 km alongside 200 other folks for the stage. The ride ends in Cobourg where they have a really nice beach - James should enjoy that.




Le Poisson

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #216 on: July 31, 2018, 09:12:42 AM »
Just spent an hour recording a podcast with Eliza Bozenski at the Anderson Centre for Autism. If you are hooked on podcasts, watch for it to come out soon. I am not eloquent, but I try.

Also, we still need places to stay in Fonda, Red Hook, and Carmel NY. If you know anyone in these communities, share our story and lets see if we can find reasonable backyards! (With only 3 communities outstanding, we can stealth-camp if we must, but I would rather not.)

Our updated plans can be found on the route tab at www.ridejamesride.com

Le Poisson

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #217 on: August 01, 2018, 09:05:54 AM »
Conversations about NY state infrastructure lately got me thinking about worst case scenarios, which the rational brain knows are statistical outliers, but the lizard brain needs to be fed. WE are carrying the SPOT tracker so we can get a quick response in an emergency, and we will have folks following us virtually, but I wanted to be sure of medical coverage in case a hiccup puts us in doctor's office (it would really suck to catch some flying gravel with my eye for instance - not even entering the territory of a collision).

So I called CAA (like AAA, but Canadian) about traveller's medical and got a quote. $250 for James and I for our travel period. Additional cost for Momma and J2 when they drive down to meet us, if we chose to cover them as well. Not an outrageous amount, but still not a number I wanted to spend.

Next I called my "travel hacking card" and talked with them. I had previously been told (before leaving for our last vacation) that as long as air tickets or hotels showed up on the card, I shouldn't worry about the card covering us, but I had assumed that since we aren't travelling with tickets or hotels, we wouldn't have proof of travel, and not be able to get coverage. The person I spoke with at the bank wasn't sure how this would work, so she transferred my call to a claims person working for the insurance company that handles claims.

The claims person asked about the trip, where we were going, for how long, and what we were doing. I told her the RideJamesRide story, let her know we were fundraising, talked about James and his challenges. She replied that we have $2,000,000 in travel medical coverage on our card, including transport. She placed a note on file of when we were travelling and where, and asked that we buy something small on either side of the border when we cross (her suggestion was a bottle of water on each side) as proof of crossing the border that day. Then, a 21 day counter would begin - and we would be covered for anything that happened in that 21 day window.

She paused after explaining everything, as if not sure how to say what she wanted to... then ended the call with a comment along the lines of "Your son is inspiring. I hope his ride is a success."

So for a 10 minute call, I saved $250, put the lizard brain at ease, and got a feel-good moment. Not a bad return for the time spent.

okits

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #218 on: August 01, 2018, 10:53:08 AM »
Great!!

You might also have coverage through work benefits.

robartsd

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #219 on: August 01, 2018, 01:47:50 PM »
So for a 10 minute call, I saved $250, put the lizard brain at ease, and got a feel-good moment. Not a bad return for the time spent.
~$240 saved: you do have to buy something on both sides of the border. Great job.

Bicycle_B

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #220 on: August 01, 2018, 02:22:39 PM »
Well done, Tamer of Lizard Brains.

Le Poisson

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #221 on: August 01, 2018, 03:33:00 PM »
Thanks for the positive feedback folks, and welcome to the ride @spartana - right now, I'm going to encourage everyone to bookmark our spot tracker (https://bit.ly/2Nigel8) and follow us on twitter/fb/instagram where we exist under the #ridejamesride hash.

There are about 15 days of useful time before I am in a tizzy with planning/interviews/releases, etc. so I may not remember to keep these links at the forefront. I suggest you bookmark now, before I forget.

@ElleFiji - some time ago you had mentioned notifying your BIA and local media about the ride. Do you still have those contacts, and are you able to let them know we are coming through town on the 18-19th? I'd be happy to do a phone interview.

@avrex - if you know any local media in your town, we will be coming across the harbour on the morning of the 18th. Maybe a tip off to the newspaper or radio would be picked up?

Le Poisson

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #222 on: August 02, 2018, 10:24:17 AM »
Hey everyone, do me a favour, and if you have twitter, please go an like/retweet this: https://twitter.com/AutismONT/status/1025041733070073857

Autism Ontario is trying to drum up some support for us at the NYC end of our ride.

Prairie Gal

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #223 on: August 03, 2018, 04:05:22 PM »
Do you have a work benefit plan? Most of them include out of country medical insurance. We had to use it once in Las Vegas for a very large medical bill and private air ambulance home.

Le Poisson

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #224 on: August 03, 2018, 04:10:16 PM »
Do you have a work benefit plan? Most of them include out of country medical insurance. We had to use it once in Las Vegas for a very large medical bill and private air ambulance home.

Work just re-released our benefits package, so we need to check our coverage there.

Folks... two weeks from this moment we will be at our sendoff party. Two weeks tomorrow, we are on the trail. Is anyone planning on joining us for a few miles of riding? @GuitarStv @ElleFiji @plainjane

ElleFiji

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #225 on: August 06, 2018, 06:05:50 PM »
It's on my calendar. But it's also my next opportunity to go on a boat or go camping. So I will probably do as the calendar tells me. But no promises.

And I can choose between two days!

expatartist

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #226 on: August 06, 2018, 06:52:12 PM »
Hey everyone, do me a favour, and if you have twitter, please go an like/retweet this: https://twitter.com/AutismONT/status/1025041733070073857

Autism Ontario is trying to drum up some support for us at the NYC end of our ride.

Done. Happy to support your journey together in every way I can.

plainjane

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #227 on: August 07, 2018, 04:56:15 AM »
I'm not sure if I can join. The weekends are a bit in flux atm.

Le Poisson

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #228 on: August 07, 2018, 06:12:52 AM »
So... with some help from @J_Oden, we put together a tracking map that peels out GPS data off our SPOT tracker and exports to a data aggregator. This will be embedded into the www.rideJamesRide.com website once we start our "real" ride. It's a three step process to make th ewhole thing work, and I couldn't figure outthe bits, luckily J_Oden was willing to spend a fenights working on it, and boom - cool toy.

Click this link to see our ride yesterday, and then if you click on any of the points along the trail, you can see what time we were there, how fast we were moving, what direction of travel, etc. etc.

Thanks for the help J_Oden. This will give Momma a level of comfort and it will be a tool for us to reach out if we need help.


andy85

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #229 on: August 07, 2018, 08:37:05 AM »
i knew this was a thing, but somehow missed this thread!

Best of luck to you all!!

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #230 on: August 07, 2018, 08:53:26 AM »
Do you have a work benefit plan? Most of them include out of country medical insurance. We had to use it once in Las Vegas for a very large medical bill and private air ambulance home.

Work just re-released our benefits package, so we need to check our coverage there.

Folks... two weeks from this moment we will be at our sendoff party. Two weeks tomorrow, we are on the trail. Is anyone planning on joining us for a few miles of riding? @GuitarStv @ElleFiji @plainjane

Where are you going to be next Saturday morning?  I could probably meet up with you somewhere.

Le Poisson

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #231 on: August 07, 2018, 08:59:54 AM »
Do you have a work benefit plan? Most of them include out of country medical insurance. We had to use it once in Las Vegas for a very large medical bill and private air ambulance home.

Work just re-released our benefits package, so we need to check our coverage there.

Folks... two weeks from this moment we will be at our sendoff party. Two weeks tomorrow, we are on the trail. Is anyone planning on joining us for a few miles of riding? @GuitarStv @ElleFiji @plainjane

Where are you going to be next Saturday morning?  I could probably meet up with you somewhere.

Saturday the 11th, we will be swimming in our pool! On Sunday the 12th, we'll be riding in the United Way Gran Fondo, likely aiming for a headstart on the 100km route. A good stress test.

On the 18th, we will be coming across the GTA on the Waterfront Trail. I think that CycleToronto is going to set up a welcoming committee near the Rouge Hill Go Stn. or just on the Toronto side of the Rouge river. Be cool if you were in the gaggle of folks. Hint: watch for a kid on a bright green bike with big red pannier bags. he looks a lot like this: https://twitter.com/RideJamesRide/status/1026434300143534081

GuitarStv

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #232 on: August 07, 2018, 09:07:53 AM »
Do you have a work benefit plan? Most of them include out of country medical insurance. We had to use it once in Las Vegas for a very large medical bill and private air ambulance home.

Work just re-released our benefits package, so we need to check our coverage there.

Folks... two weeks from this moment we will be at our sendoff party. Two weeks tomorrow, we are on the trail. Is anyone planning on joining us for a few miles of riding? @GuitarStv @ElleFiji @plainjane

Where are you going to be next Saturday morning?  I could probably meet up with you somewhere.

Saturday the 11th, we will be swimming in our pool! On Sunday the 12th, we'll be riding in the United Way Gran Fondo, likely aiming for a headstart on the 100km route. A good stress test.

On the 18th, we will be coming across the GTA on the Waterfront Trail. I think that CycleToronto is going to set up a welcoming committee near the Rouge Hill Go Stn. or just on the Toronto side of the Rouge river. Be cool if you were in the gaggle of folks. Hint: watch for a kid on a bright green bike with big red pannier bags. he looks a lot like this: https://twitter.com/RideJamesRide/status/1026434300143534081

Yeah, I could probably make the Rouge Hill Go station thing.  That's just 10k from my house.  Do you know what time you'll be passing by?

Le Poisson

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #233 on: August 07, 2018, 09:59:15 AM »
Do you have a work benefit plan? Most of them include out of country medical insurance. We had to use it once in Las Vegas for a very large medical bill and private air ambulance home.

Work just re-released our benefits package, so we need to check our coverage there.

Folks... two weeks from this moment we will be at our sendoff party. Two weeks tomorrow, we are on the trail. Is anyone planning on joining us for a few miles of riding? @GuitarStv @ElleFiji @plainjane

Where are you going to be next Saturday morning?  I could probably meet up with you somewhere.

Saturday the 11th, we will be swimming in our pool! On Sunday the 12th, we'll be riding in the United Way Gran Fondo, likely aiming for a headstart on the 100km route. A good stress test.

On the 18th, we will be coming across the GTA on the Waterfront Trail. I think that CycleToronto is going to set up a welcoming committee near the Rouge Hill Go Stn. or just on the Toronto side of the Rouge river. Be cool if you were in the gaggle of folks. Hint: watch for a kid on a bright green bike with big red pannier bags. he looks a lot like this: https://twitter.com/RideJamesRide/status/1026434300143534081

Yeah, I could probably make the Rouge Hill Go station thing.  That's just 10k from my house.  Do you know what time you'll be passing by?

Really depend how long our Mayor et al. want to wish James well at departure. If you count on about 15km/h we should get there about 2 hrs after leaving town - I would guess around 10 - 10:30. Follow the tracker and you'll see us approaching.
« Last Edit: August 07, 2018, 10:03:31 AM by Prospector »

Le Poisson

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #234 on: August 12, 2018, 02:26:41 PM »
So today James and I rode in a local charity ride - we did a metric century with the bikes fully loaded. James was the only kid out there. We were definately at the back of the pack when we were done, but not in last place. The sweep never found us.

We completed the ride in 6.5 hours. Not bad for a little dude on a hilly course with all kinds of stuff hanging off his bike.

Most importantly, we know we can do it, we know how long it will take each day. We rode 50 km yesterday and a full 100 km today, so we know we can do it on back to back days.

We're ready to tour.

aschutt

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #235 on: August 12, 2018, 05:06:49 PM »
Following. Ride James Ride!!

Le Poisson

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #236 on: August 12, 2018, 07:24:42 PM »
Following. Ride James Ride!!

Thanks aschutt. The more, the merrier!

I just sent an email out to all of our host families with a sortof rundown of what to expect of us. This triggered a cascade of replies and whatnot - which is good. The more folks we reach early the less surprises on the way.

In other news - we now have a place to stay in Carmel! The person we are staying with in Carmel has friends in Red Hook... All of our housing woes are sorted.

In even more news, the GPS tracker sortof worked right today. Momma has been instructed in how to patch it if it acts up, and she performed teh patch, and it worked!! Yay.

Prairie Gal

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #237 on: August 12, 2018, 07:51:25 PM »
Way to go James & Prosp!

Good to hear that all the accomodations have been sorted. That must be a load off your mind.

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #238 on: August 12, 2018, 08:20:29 PM »
That's really good news!

elaine amj

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #239 on: August 13, 2018, 07:32:01 AM »
I somehow completely missed that you were
doing this big ride this year. Was super impressed with James's accomplishments last year and am excited to follow along the ride this year. This is amazing, memories-that-will-last-a-lifetime type stuff. Kudos Dad!!!

Sent from my STH100-1 using Tapatalk

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #240 on: August 13, 2018, 08:51:47 PM »
I realize you have a million details to keep track of so sorry for interjecting a question.  Do you think you will stop for lunch/dinner at my workplace at Destiny USA in Syracuse on August 24?  The invitation stands open and we have a secure place to lock your bikes and belongings.  Your meal would be our treat.

If so, would you also want to spend time at any of the other attractions in the mall (Wonderworks, Dave & Busters, go-karts, mirror maze, escape room, etc)?  I realize you are on a tight schedule and may not have time for any of this but if so I can arrange it.

If none of the above I'll be happy to bring cold drinks and snacks to your route as you pass by.

Best wishes.
« Last Edit: August 13, 2018, 08:59:10 PM by Pizzabrewer »

Le Poisson

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #241 on: August 14, 2018, 05:33:44 AM »
I realize you have a million details to keep track of so sorry for interjecting a question.  Do you think you will stop for lunch/dinner at my workplace at Destiny USA in Syracuse on August 24?  The invitation stands open and we have a secure place to lock your bikes and belongings.  Your meal would be our treat.

If so, would you also want to spend time at any of the other attractions in the mall (Wonderworks, Dave & Busters, go-karts, mirror maze, escape room, etc)?  I realize you are on a tight schedule and may not have time for any of this but if so I can arrange it.

If none of the above I'll be happy to bring cold drinks and snacks to your route as you pass by.

Best wishes.

We'll take you up on lunch for sure, but I'm not sure of our time to visit the other attractions. Are you able to tweet to us or reach out on FB as we get close and then we can move the conversation to twitter DMs? I doubt I'll be on the forum much as we ride. Our twitter/FB handle is #RideJamesRide.


Le Poisson

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #242 on: August 15, 2018, 09:49:40 AM »
I am losing my mind.

Have a major report to revise before friday at work. Have media interviews tonight and tomorrow. The office is relocating and i have to pack my cube. Have 2 bikes to outfit and a twitter monster to feed and a FB crowd to cheer. Cycle Durham and CycleTO are buzzing me for details to put together a relay ride. I have a photog asking for locations to take shots.

I just got our "Travel alone with a minor" paperwork notarized/commissioned. Our host family in Medina just dropped out. We may end up "ghost camping" on the trailside that night.

But physically and emotionally, I think we're ready.

elaine amj

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #243 on: August 15, 2018, 09:53:08 AM »
Ack! That is one crazy week ahead.

You. Can. Do. This.

So very very impressed with what you and James have accomplished.

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Camp Mustache Toronto (Sep 21-23) is where all the cool Mustachians will be gathering for meatball parties,  karaoke in the bell tower and VolleyHockeyBall!


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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #244 on: August 15, 2018, 10:06:28 AM »
Don't know if it would be of any use to you but I did this ride in 2013.    Toronto > NYC

A bit of it is here but I never finished the trip report...

https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=1mr&doc_id=12960&v=3f


Let me know if you have any specific questions.


wallet

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #245 on: August 15, 2018, 10:45:51 AM »
This is amazing and you're such a good dad.

I have a small donation to give - where would be most helpful - direct to Grandview or to your GoFundMe page to support the ride logistics?

Le Poisson

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #246 on: August 15, 2018, 10:52:17 AM »
Don't know if it would be of any use to you but I did this ride in 2013.    Toronto > NYC

A bit of it is here but I never finished the trip report...

https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=1mr&doc_id=12960&v=3f


Let me know if you have any specific questions.

Thanks for the triplog. Will read tonight.

We aren't going as far each day, or as fast, but that's what touring with a 10 yr old does... it gives me excuses.

Our trip looks like this:

Segment 1 - Familiar spaces:
Day 1: Whitby to Clarkson GO via Waterfront Trail (WFT)
Day 2 - Clarkson to Wetakiwin Scout Camp (St. Catherines) via WFT
Day 3 - Wetaskiwin to Rainbow Bridge on-road, then Rainbow bridge to Medina NY via Erie Canal Towpath (ECT)
Day 4 - Medina to Rochester via ECT
Day 5 - Rest-n-Mend in Rochester

Segment 2 - Crossing NY
Day 6 - Rochester to Savannah via ECT
Day 7 - Savannah to Cittenango via ECT
Day 8 - Chittenango to Utica via ECT
Day 9 - Utica to Fonda via ECT
Day 10 - Fonda to Albany via ECT
Day 11 - Rest-n-mend Day in Albany

Segment 3 - The Hudson Valley
Day 12 - Albany to Red Hook - Bike Rte 9/etc.
Day 13 - Red Hook to Carmel - Putnam Cty trails
Day 14 - Carmel to USS Intrepid - Putnam Cty Trails
Day 15 - USS Intrepid to Coney Island. - NY Greenway


Le Poisson

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #247 on: August 15, 2018, 10:53:41 AM »
This is amazing and you're such a good dad.

I have a small donation to give - where would be most helpful - direct to Grandview or to your GoFundMe page to support the ride logistics?

So kind - thank you!!

Head to www.ridejamesride.com and choose the bin of your liking. For US Donations, the EJ Autism link gets tax receipts. For Canadians, Grandview does the same. The GFM is being treated as our operating fund, but it gives no tax receipt and takes a 5% cut.

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #248 on: August 15, 2018, 06:01:44 PM »
Do you know about the Play Museum in Rochester?  It is pretty darn fantastic. http://www.museumofplay.org/  This will totally hijack your whole trip though...

Le Poisson

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Re: 1,000 km - Toronto to Coney Island by bike with a 10 yr old.
« Reply #249 on: August 15, 2018, 07:40:18 PM »
Do you know about the Play Museum in Rochester?  It is pretty darn fantastic. http://www.museumofplay.org/  This will totally hijack your whole trip though...

We have a rest day in Rochester...

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!