Raring to go!

April 6, 2023

For the past three years, the pandemic and health issues have kept us at home, living a simple, somewhat solitary life on our island home. With the world opening up again, and the yearning for the adventure and freedom that comes with cycle touring rooted in our DNA, we are raring to go!

Since retiring about 11 years ago, we have toured annually in Europe on our beloved Rans Seavo recumbent tandem. Friends in Germany have kindly stored Seavo for us between trips, but this means, no Seavo for the past 3 years.

Seavo has been a reliable companion on our travels. Hopefully we will be reunited soon….perhaps in the spring and do the trip we had to cancel at the beginning of the pandemic…Portugal, Spain, France and Germany.

Early in the pandemic, we treated ourselves to a “new ride”…the amazing Azub TiFly 20 trike. We first saw the Czech based Azub line up of trikes and their tandem at the Spezi in Germany several years ago. The Spezi is a special immersive weekend featuring dealers from around the world who design cycles that defy conventional thinking. Test riding these weird and wonderful creations was so much fun. The Azub team and their bikes were a standout for us.

Jan was a gracious host offering us a pint of the delicious Czech beer they had brought in kegs from home. And oh yes, the highlight was learning about their bikes and test riding anything we liked. Spezi…a playground for adults.

Our favourite bike shop, Fairfield Bikes in Victoria is an Azub dealer, so we took the plunge and ordered 2 of them. Like our other bikes and tandems, we loaded our trikes with the Rohloff hub and also the Shimano e-steps system. It is a sweet ride and more fun than we imagined. The incredible build quality, the unique easy fold, its stability and manouverability make us feel like we are kids again. Turning in circles with one hand is a game changer

Barry happily working on his stead. We love the Sturmey Archer drum brakes…no maintenance or issues with over 7,000 Km of riding.

The titanium suspension at the front is not only functional, but a thing of beauty. Coupled with this and the Fox air shock on the back, the TiFly has a plush ride

The other bonus is that Azub has resisted outsourcing their build or their components. Suffice it to say, we are happy with our trikes. In the past few years, we have ridden over 7,000 Km on our trikes on dayrides around our home Island and small trips on Vancouver Island.

Over the past 3 years, we rode our trikes 3 times a week to workout with our trainer, Leslie…followed by a picnic along the ocean (who needs chairs when riding a trike) and then a ride, most often to visit Toby of North End Farm fame, rain-snow or shine, Toby would come running to visit with us.

It’s funny, we drive an older car that happily keeps running, yet our garage is used for our trikes, tandems and single recumbents. Our dream of being mostly vehicle free has come to fruition. If we go somewhere (excluding Costco), we ride.

We took mini trips on Vancouver Island when we would get stir crazy and needed to roam. This was near Fanny Bay.

We have not been in Japan for 37 years. At that time we toured with a train pass and our 3 week stay made an indelible impact on both of us. This was at the beginning of a year long trip through Asia. We are so excited to return to Japan, never imagining then that we would come back so much older and riding trikes.

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	12
Comment on this entry	Comment	5

Mike AylingThat e-assist is great for ageing legs and the Rohloff is an excellent choice!
Reply to this comment
1 year ago

Rachael AndersonI look forward to following your travels! We really enjoyed our tour in Japan. Although we only saw 2 bicycle tourists near the end of our tour.
Reply to this comment
1 year ago

Kathleen JonesHere’s to trikers on the go!
Reply to this comment
1 year ago

Jean-Marc StrydomHi Barry

I'll be following your tour with interest. We have really enjoyed both of the cycle tours of Japan that we have done (one of one month and the other covering the length of the four main islands over three months) and we plan to cycle tour Japan again within the next few years. It will be great to read of someone else's experiences and perspectives.

Regards
Jean-Marc
Reply to this comment
1 year ago

Barry BartlettTo Mike AylingHi Jean-Marc
As you said, we have also enjoyed following your tours in Japan. Your experiences motivated us to follow our dream of cycle touring in Japan.
We are on our way to Vancouver airport tomorrow. It begins...
Barry and Mary Ellen
Reply to this comment
1 year ago