Reverse Gear

Can you imagine riding for 12 or 24 hours? Or can you do 100 km or 100 miles?

If you can imagine it, you can do it. It’s a question of mind over matter.

As much as I love touring on my tricycle, and in a former life my bicycle (yes, I rode one of those diamond-frames that hurt your butt after a few hours on it) - I still cannot see myself on it for those periods of time or distances. On the other hand, I fully understand the people who do, as I myself compete in half-marathons walking (which requires similar commitment-to-completion goals):

1. It starts with the “I can do it” attitude! That’s the visioning part - see yourself participating and completing the challenge before you even start.
2. Then it requires more “I can do that” commitment. My athletic friends and colleagues call this training. If you like /love the activity, be it cycling, running, walking, weightlifting or kayaking (etcetera), you will be able to dedicate the hours required to get you to your goal.
3. Next comes the “I can make it happen” management. No matter what the goal it will require time, effort, and dealing with weather, moods, and motivation. I am a fair-weather athlete who doesn’t like to take time away from my priorities like family, eating, reading trashy novels, and watching crime shows on TV. So finding a minimum of 3 and possibly a maximum of 12 hours of week to prepare for this challenge is itself a challenge. However to reach the level of elite athlete requires mental and physical preparation.
4. Then comes the “I will do it” pledge. It is the time where you register for the event, book your airfare and tell your family that no matter how much coercing they do to change your mind and take them to the beach instead - this is going to happen. This is where “the pig becomes bacon”. This is the obligation phase where you tell yourself and your family that you cannot back out. It generally includes a financial expenditure too, which helps.
5. And lastly, we reach the “I did it” euphoria. Thank you Nike for those encouraging words “Just do it!”. Where were they when I sacrificed all those hours of torture, nursed my Achilles tendon injury. and decreased my wine consumption - all for the sake of the goal. Good thing that I had my family and friends offering empathy and encouragement of course. However, I did do it and this is the “pat yourself on the back” reward time that you were looking forward to when you started your goal.

Crossing the finish line gives you a euphoric sense of accomplishment. No matter how many supporters, coaches and Nike ads there are shouting in your head - and we thank them all - the accomplishment and the glory truly belongs to you. You pulled your own body weight through all of these phases and made it to the end.

I was recently adding a number of events to the REVERSE GEAR calendar and realized that there are many events out there to get us started down the path of challenging ourselves. Whether it is a neighborhood race or the Tour de France, set your own realistic goals in 2015 and “just do it”. You will be happier for it.

If you doubt me, just look at the joy on the face of Jon Deeks (resplendent in REVERSE GEAR) when he owned the podium in the tricycle category at Calvin’s HPV event in 2014. It was an exceptionally windy year so he only managed 143 miles in the 12 hours, a big drop from his own personal best of 186.5 miles from two years before. The amazing thing about attending events like this is meeting the other people who do it, and the ones who come back and do it again and again. In 2014, Jon met someone who was doing his 24th Calvin’s and who made him feel good about facing a wind had never been that bad, ever before. Jon isn’t going to let the wind discourage him from trying again in 2015.

Are you in your first year or 24th? What challenge will you take on this year? Share your experiences and photos.

Reverse Gear is disappointed that we will not be attending this year - as we were sponsors of the first two events in California. However we offer our continuing full support to Recumbent Cycle-Con (RCC) presented by Recumbent & Tandem Rider Magazine. We hope that many of you will get a chance to visit the trade show and expo in its new northern location - whether you are involved in the recumbent and/or adaptive sports industry, or are a member of the riding public. There is something for everyone!

This year Recumbent Cycle-Con 2014 with Adaptive Cycling Fair will be held at the DuPage Expo Center in St. Charles, Illinois (3o miles west of Chicago) - on October 10, 11, 12, 2014. With many large recumbent shops and events in the mid-west, we think this is an excellent location to offer the benefits of this unique recumbent-specific event.

If you are a member of the riding public, you can meet technicians, engineers and designers from the major manufacturers. You can attend hands-on seminars, demonstrations and training sessions. Or just visit the booths to see some of the latest equipment and take it out for a demo ride.

We hope everyone has a great time at the Recumbent Cycle-Con 2014 with Adaptive Cycling Fair this year. Click here for registration details and schedule.

Send us your photos and win a REVERSE GEAR Jersey and 24 bars – see details for submitting below…

REVERSE GEAR (RG) is proud of its innovation. We put zippers on both our front and side pockets so that active athletes – especially recumbent and hand cyclists - could securely store and easily reach their food and valuables while continuing down the trails.

We know these zipped pockets are valuable in other sports too. Judi carries three hours worth of food as well as her camera and cell phone when she walks half-marathons.

The zipped pockets are also useful for: walkers, runners, hikers, kayakers, canoeists, cross-country skiers, golfers and wheelchair athletes.

We also know from surveys that more than 60% of recumbent cyclists have lost valuables on the trail. One recent story on Facebook told how a cyclist was going back-and-forth on a muddy trail trying to find lost car keys.

We debated with many people over the past six years of designing about the right size and location of the pockets. So we thought we would share our thinking with you:

1. RG pockets are zipped so that valuables can be carried securely. And you don’t have to carry a bag or pannier on your cycle - which you must remember to take with you when you get off your cycle.
2. They are low so that if you are carrying a heap of food and/or electronics, they are sitting comfortably below the belt, and not pressing on your solar plexus. Some pockets are in the side panels so they sit further out of the way.
3. The pockets, even though they have a zipper sewn-in, are non-chafing because there are no seams on the inside of the jersey to rub or irritate.
4. We also designed the pockets to be large so that you can carry a lot of stuff without it falling it out.

We knew they were LARGE - but we wanted you to see just how large they really are! So we thought we would have a photo contest to demonstrate their value to your riding comfort and enjoyment.

Send your photo(s) and/or description(s) of what you carry in your pockets to contests at reversegearinc.com.

We will post them on our Blog or Facebook page. We of course prefer photos of REVERSE GEAR pockets, but we will post others too - for comparison.

Every photo entered will give you a chance in a draw on June 15^th for a REVERSE GEAR jersey and a box of 24 energy bars.

24 bars is how many Judi can get in her pockets at one time – along with her cell phone, camera, keys and credit cards of course (you know she won’t need food, but she might need to stop and shop).

To register for the event, click here.

To follow the event on Facebook, click here.

REVERSE GEAR is proud to be sponsoring the first HPRA race of the 2013 season which will take place in sunny Florida! They are offering two full days of racing, on February 23 and 24, to get more bang for your buck. There will also be prizes, displays and the opportunity to meet other bent enthusiasts and see an excellent variety of human powered machines and their engines. For more information on the event and schedule - click here

Florida is a great place to get away from the snow (which has been coming down in Toronto for hours). I wish I could be there at the event too. But we will be there in spirit!

The race weekend is one week after the Sebring 12/24 hour race on February 16 and 17, which we have also attended and sponsored in the past.

The 2010 U.S. Handcycling Season Finale - which takes place in Greenville, SC — includes a U.S. Handcycling Series Time Trial on Saturday, September 18, and the Roger C. Peace Hospital-Rehabilitation U.S. Handcycling Criteirum Championships, presented by Paralyzed Veterans Racing, on Sunday, September 19, 2010.

Please let us know of any recumbent-cycling events in your area too and we will post them on our blog.

We wrote about our first experience cycling in Florida on February 1st. By then we were in the Tampa Bay area and planning to do the Pinellas Trail. Weather and flat tires conspired against us - so we only caught glimpses of that trail as we drove by sections close to the highways or bike shops in the area. Then we moved on and stayed near the Withlacoochee State Park, at the recommendation of Pete whom we met through one of the Florida recumbent forums. We liked the area so much that we stayed a month to ride the Withlacoochee Trail and attend the Catrike Rally on March 6 and 7. The weather remained cool with most mornings just above freezing. But we had finally decided that we would not allow weather to keep us cabin-bound, that is hibernating in the RV.
We rode the section of the Withlacoochee Trail from the Sandy Oaks RV Resort in Beverly Hills to the town of Istachatta. We did several variations of this trip or sections of it. We rode it: with Pete as a guide, by ourselves, with fellow RVers from Sandy Oaks and also with the Catrike Rally ride sponsored by Regis and Cindy of Hampton’s Edge. The ride we most looked forward to was the Moonlight Ride organized by Hampton’s Edge on the Saturday closest to the full moon each month. Since the trail is normally closed after dark, this was going to be unique. So we donned our thermal long-johns, our Moonah and Woolybutt bottoms and lots of layers, including down vests on top. We found our ski gloves and winter toques. And off we went to the shop at 6:30 pm. But alas no-one else showed. So instead, we joined Regis and Cindy and some locals at the pizza restaurant that would have been the destination for the ride. We left before their next Moonlight Ride but we hope the weather improved for them. If planning to be in the area, check out Hampton’s Edge Trailside Bicycles for information on rides and trails or drop by their trailside location and say hello. They now carry REVERSE Gear and KangaTek bags too.
Another trail we rode with the RVers from Sandy Oaks was the canal ride near Crystal River to Gulf of Mexico. It was a short flat ride that was perfect for the cool and windy day we had.
On the weekend of March 6 and 7, we attended the Catrike Rally. On Saturday morning about a hundred Catrikes, and a few hanger-ons like us, gathered at the park on Lake Apopka in Winter Garden. The group self-divided into 3 sub-groups to cover varying distances of the West Orange Trail. Then we all returned to Winter Garden for a bite to eat before descending on the Catrike factory for a tour. Before the tour started everyone enjoyed sunshine, refreshments and exhibits in the parking lot and Paulo Camasmie explained the technology, research and testing behind Musashi, the new Catbike. The next day, Hampton’s Edge organized a ride of the Withlacoochee Trail for any riders staying in the area. About sixty people attended and went for lunch at Frankie’s Grill where REVERSE Gear had a draw for a free jersey. It was an impressive sight on both days to see dozens of trikes wending their way down the trails. We would like to thank Regis and Cindy for their hospitality and for dinner where we met Larry Varney from Bentrider Online (see Larry`s review of the Greenspeed jersey). This ride concluded our stay and our cycling in Florida - for this year.
We had so much fun and we look forward to visiting this area again.

It poured rain for most of the day and I decided it was too wet to go for a bike ride. So I sat around and caught up on email instead. It may have been a weekend of responding to Reverse Gear requests, but for me personally, it was actually one of ‘inspiration’.

At the Toronto Bike Show we recently received two requests to sponsor upcoming events and Reverse Gear has agreed to provide prizes for:

1. Tour BC an annual 7-day bike tour that will have about ten recumbent riders participating this year.
2. Cycle for Sight- 100 cyclists will undertake a 133 km journey from Toronto to Collingwood to raise funds to support research aimed at restoring the gift of sight to people living with vision loss on Saturday June 20th, 2009.

We would love to support Cycle for Sight by riding as well - but this year we cannot - because Len will be riding across Canada from June to September with Blind Guy Biking. Richard has asked Len to be a Captain on his Greenspeed tandem tricycle as he cycles from BC to Newfoundland to raise funds for Special Olympics. Reverse Gear is also the clothing sponsor because we want the team to look good on this ‘big ride’. Watch for details on the blog this summer.

This weekend Reverse Gear also received a request to sponsor another ‘Big Ride’ from Lee Kelly.

During September 2009, Lee plans to take a very special journey for a very special cause. His journey will be by recumbent trike from Cleveland, Ohio to Dallas, Texas. Over 21 days and about 1,200 miles. He is riding to raise funds and awareness for returning disabled soldiers and their families. He hopes to encourage any veteran with a disability to set their goals higher, and to accomplish them one way or another. Lee rides to help him recover from a major accident that left him in a coma and later in a quadraplegic state. To learn more - go to: https://www.mybigride09.com/

Reverse Gear is proud to sponsor all of these events. And these folks are certainly inspiring me to spend more time on my own trike than in the office… << more to come>>>

Our first blog told you how we got started - with the support of many friends along the way. We would be remiss if we did not thank a few others that have been involved in the launch of Reverse Gear Inc.

Our first customer was in PA. We want to thank Rob Gentry and Alicia for organizing a great recumbent cycle event, and for allowing us to showcase Reverse Gear clothing for the very first time - at both the pub night and the RBR rally. Rob’s site has many great photos of the event. While the cycling was great - the evening get-togethers with the other riders and sharing stories was also a wonderful way to get us back into the NA cycling scene (after being in Australia for 8 years). And of course there is the infamous story of BentJay with a squirrel in his lap. It’s going to be a challenge for anyone to top that one.

Our first on-line customers found us because Bentrider Online featured the REVERSE Gear^TM launch - now relegated to the June 2008 archives. Len and I find it hard to believe that we’ve been around long enough to be “archived”. (Actually I meant REVERSE Gear^TM - not us!!!) Thanx to Bryan Ball for our first product review.

While the on-line orders were testing the REVERSE Gear^TM website, we were tearing across the USA landscape - state-by-state - on our way to CA. We cycled in a few wonderful places like Vail, CO which whetted our appetite for more. But we were rushing to get to the first Bent-up rally. So we were a first at a first, and Bent-up became the first dealer to carry REVERSE Gear. We want to thank Dana and Neal for their hospitality and for encouraging us to take the cross-country tour to ride along the beaches. I love beaches and found the route along the boardwalk from Will Rogers to Redonda Beach is outstanding. I hope they do a second annual Bent-up Rally and we can go again.

On the way home we stopped at several dozen recumbent shops to meet fellow ‘bents and cycled in many states. One of those memorable rides was in Chicago from the Amlings location to the Chicago Botanical Gardens. Even though it poured rain the entire time the ride along paved bike paths, which Joe and Julie at Amlings had recommended, was most enjoyable. Later that day, Amlings became dealer number two. Thanx Joe and Julie.

We then returned to Canada to manufacture the fall line. And in those following weeks, the folks at Neighbourhood Transportation Recumbent and Foldable Bikes found out about us and became our third dealer.

In August, we headed west again to WI and the 16th Midwest Recumbent Rally at the Hostel Shoppe. Again we participated in rides and displays of REVERSE Gear^TM . And before we headed home, Hostel Shoppe also decided to carry the REVERSE Gear line in their shop.

We would like to thank Rob, Dana, Joe, Bruce and Rolf for supporting our early endeavours in this new adventure. And thanks to all of our customers in Canada, USA, France. Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, Japan and Australia. We know we won’t always be able to “give thanks” to individuals but we wanted to acknowledge the ones that we can.

“Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse. ”
Henry Van Dyke