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Natalie and I have just finished cycling from Vancouver to Calgary. Here are some photos from the trip.

We stopped in Penticton for a couple of days to watch my brother Scott at Ironman Canada. Scott was disappointed with his race, but the rest of us were proud of his effort. Not everyone can turn in a top twenty result and still call it a bad day.

We got to cheer on a lot of the other pros as well. It was great to see Tereza Macel race to victory after she won Ironman Lake Placid only five weeks earlier.

I was teammates with Tereza at the 1996 World University Triathlon Championships in the Czech Republic. After having raced for so long, many would have assumed that her best races were behind her, but Tereza’s recent commitment to TeamTBB has obviously paid off.

It was also exciting to watch Jordan Rapp pull off the overall win. Jordan is well known for his movie themed race reports. You can check out his site at: rappstar.com.

After a couple of days at the Ironman circus, it was nice to hit the road again. Natalie and I didn’t put too much pressure on ourselves to cover a certain distance every day. However, mountain passes and the desire to reach certain campgrounds by nightfall sometimes made for some tough days.

Overall the weather was fantastic. We only had one really rainy day which was at its worst as we descended from Sinclair Pass in Kootenay National Park.

Of course, if it weren’t for the precipitation, we may not have got to enjoy the mountains in all their snow-capped beauty the next day.

The wolf on highway sign wasn’t the most reassuring thing to pedal past on our unarmoured bikes. We later learned that the sign had been up for the past two months. There had been a wolf begging on the highway and they were simply trying to prevent motorists from stopping and feeding it. Nevertheless, I was glad Natalie and I decided to leave our bicycles made of straw at home.

Believe it or not, we did make it all the way to Calgary. However, I dropped and broke my camera as we approached the continental divide. As a result, we have only the memories etched in our minds and a slightly heavy feeling in our legs to remind us of our amazing time in Alberta.

Already looking forward to the next bike ride!

Back in the day, if kids didn’t want to borrow Mom’s car to get to the prom, they might have pulled out all the stops and hired a limo for the trip. These days, that kind of thing is passé. Witness the horse drawn buggy that this group of kids rode in on.

There’s no denying that this is a classy looking wagon. But I have to say, I like Trevor and Cory’s choice of entrance even better. After picking out a couple of outfits from Value Village, these boys hopped on the stylish faux leather cushions of the world famous Couchbike and pedalled to the prom.

Here’s the duo in action!

Although Boaz has come and gone, we’ve continued to enjoy various car free outings as a result of Boaz’s Un-Road Trip. Last night, Natalie and I moved the Couchbike back to Kitchener from Stratford. Thunderstorms were in the forecast, but the weather turned out to be perfect for a late day Couchbike cruise.

Natalie was still busy preparing for her PhD comprehensive exams next week, but fortunately that’s one of the perks of Couchbike travel. One needs not necessarily pay attention to the road when an expert driver is at the tiller.

Since we were making pretty good time, we stopped in for a visit at the Humphrey’s at about the half way point. We got in to Kitchener just before dark.

We left Boaz in London last Friday. Since then, he’s traveled back into the States and is currently in Milwaukee. However, he’s just posted a video update from his time in Canada. Here it is for your enjoyment. But first, here are a couple of news stories from: The New Hamburg Independent, and the Stratford Beacon Herald.

Boaz Frankel is traveling all over North America on what he’s calling the Un-Road Trip. He’s trying to use as many unique modes of transportation as possible without using a gasoline powered car. This past Wednesday, Mohrgan and I picked up Boaz from the Kitchener train station in our pedal powered pickup truck. We took him back to Bicycle Forest headquarters where Natalie was cooking up a dinner that couldn’t be beat.

The next morning, after a breakfast that couldn’t be beat, we took Boaz outside to try a variety of bicycles.

Some, like the Treadmill Bike, he was brave enough to try. Others, like this M5 Low Racer, he opted to examine from a safer distance.

Eventually, Boaz settled on a penny farthing and rode it down the Iron Horse Trail to Mohrgan’s house where we had the Family Truckster waiting. Boaz, Mohrgan, Ted and I pedaled together on the Family Truckster destined for St. Jacobs.

Along the way, we were stopped by the police, but only because the officer was so intrigued by our fancy looking bike.

We followed the Trans Canada Trail all the way to St. Jacobs where we met with Glen who had ridden his horse and buggy all the way from Winterbourne. As the rain started falling, Boaz and Evan climbed onto Glen’s buggy and headed 30 km up the road to the Humphrey’s house in Phillipsburg.

Laurel and Neil Humphrey were wonderful hosts. They cooked us a fantastic dinner and put us all up for the night.

The next morning, after another breakfast that couldn’t be beat. Boaz and I hopped on the Couchbike and headed off toward Stratford. Along the way, we passed Wayne Muma in his truck. He was so curious to check out our bike that he went home, grabbed his own bike and pedaled out to see us. It was great to meet someone so enthusiastic about our trip and our mode of transportation.

We pedaled the Couchbike to the home of Cyril and Meg who’d left a cooler out for us packed with snacks. We ended up staying there for a while as we were visited by the local newspaper and the CBC.

The CBC put together this piece for the 6 o’clock news.

As the news report says, the next step on Boaz’s journey was a 70km tandem ride to London. Boaz and I headed off on the BikeE E2 recumbent tandem and Mohrgan showed us the way on a Dekerf singlespeed. We reached London at around 6pm. Mohrgan and I had to bid Boaz farewell there. You can follow Boaz’s Un-Road Trip at: www.unroadtrip.com.

Marty Walsh from Geekhouse Bikes is a talented frame builder who obviously surrounds himself with talented people. Checkout this video his friends at Quarter Productions did featuring a day in the life of Marty. I feel privileged to see BikeCAD Pro featured so prominently in this movie!

The exciting release of BikeCAD 6.05 has finally arrived. Whether you are using the free version of BikeCAD, or the professional version BikeCAD Pro, you will notice a change to the interface. Controls are now accessible from icons across the top of the screen. I recommend trying it out and exploring the new features for yourself. Here is a summary of some of the key enhancements.

• Undo/Redo Buttons. Undo as many steps as you like then redo them as required.
• New fork menu allows you to control more fork dimensions including brake hole placement, and shape of the crown. Suspension fork menu includes a dual crown option. A third menu allows the design of one piece fork/stem combos for time trial bikes.
• New wheel menu allows for full specification of wheels including disc, trispoke and traditionally spoked wheels. Spoked wheel option will calculate spoke lengths based on spoke count, cross pattern, effective rim diameter, hub flange measurements, and spoke hole offset on rim.
• New rear dropouts menu allows you to spec out dropouts for any application from track to dirt jumping to mountain biking.
• Tubing menu includes the option to offset the seat tube and/or downtube at the bottom bracket shell. Also specify a horizontal cut at the top of the seat tube (for time trial bikes).
• Easily switch between full colour view, no hidden line view, hidden line view and wireframe view.
• Control thickness of outline on logos.
• Specify seat tube length

Enhancements that are unique to BikeCAD Pro include:

• Coloured zones assist in designing bikes that meet UCI regulations.
• Display chainrings in auxiliary view to determine interference with chainstays.
• Add your own customized library of rear dropouts just as with forks and wheels.
• BikeCAD remembers the size and location of dialog boxes from one session of BikeCAD to the next.
• BikeCAD prompts you to save your design on exit from the program.

Everwell has just wrapped up a feature on the Treadmill Bike. This video can be seen in doctor’s waiting rooms across the nation.

If you’re surprised to see the Treadmill Bike given such an earnest treatment, you’re not alone. Welcome to a new era in fitness and transportation technology!

We’ve just returned from a very successful weekend at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show in Indianapolis. Our booth was hopping all weekend and the BikeCAD seminar was packed. Thanks to everyone who stopped by to ask questions or to say “Hello”. If you’d like to order BikeCAD Pro, you can do so from the following link: /catalog/product_info.php?products_id=28 .

In anticipation of the North American Handmade Bicycle Show next week, we’ve prepared a new set of T-shirts. We’re pretty happy with the results of this year’s batch. Come see us at booth 431 and try one on!