Yes, we are still alive

Zurich, Switzerland

It’s been an incredible 23 days so far and the QuadEPIC bike is still flying through Europe, jumping across borders. The team has really come together and been able to overcome a lot of the craziness and obstacles that would no doubt be encountered on such a long and challenging journey. We understand we’ve not been very good with updating our faithful followers on said events and we promise there are several updates and new videos coming online in the very near future. The logistics of simultaneously managing both a cross-continental journey by quadbike and a media enterprise is just one of the said challenges we’re working around.

A very brief list of these problems includes the expected: tire blowouts, worn brake pads, thunderstorms, aching kneesbacksmusclesnecksfeet; the unexpected: Brussels traffic at rush hour, getting evicted from farmer fields in our sleep, European opening hours; and the indefinable: how we all smell, ‘that spot’ on the driver’s seat, my cooking.

I won’t dwell on these minor issues; in fact ignoring most of them is one of the best coping methods. They truly are insignificant to the amazing time that’s being had by all.

I consider myself a seasoned traveller, but in only three weeks, I've already seen and experienced things that reach into my top 5 travel moments. It’s all coming soon in a mass uploading of videos, (we promise!) but I’ll mention some of my favourites. Leaving Strasbourg, we encountered a lonely skatepark. Not the first we’d passed by in our travels so far, but somehow this one just beckoned us more than the others. We’ve resolved the trip needs more ‘nonsense time’, so it just felt so natural as we unstrapped the trailer and eased the quadbike into the half-pipe to tear it up a bit. The local crowd was not too impressed, but we did all get an uncontrollable laughing fit out of it.

I also love being able to roll the bike into what city centres we feel we can manage. This is called ‘Rockstar-time’, given all the attention we get and the pictures that are taken. One rainy day in Luxembourg city, Paul and I were on bike watch in the Plaza D’Armes when I popped off to check the net. I laughed when I returned to see Paul struggling as an overwhelming amount of lovely Taiwanese tourists approached the bike to each take a few albums worth of photos. This scenario seems to always occur therefore I’ve promised Paul I won’t leave him alone during ‘Rockstar-time’.

Surprising to say, the long stints where we need to push the bike and trailer uphill are also highlights. Struggling forward, backs bent, arms burning, we joke at how sadistic we all are for opting to be doing this over all other ways one could spend their time. We just finished a very long push through the Black Forest up the German Alps. It was a good 4 hours through a heavy mist. We gained nearly a full kilometer of elevation but we made it after all. There must be something magical in this forest as in the last 48 hours our efforts have been handsomely rewarded. We’ll update you on those events as soon as we sort through and upload our backlogged adventures.

Ciao until then!

Neil

à bruxelles

Today is day 2 in Brussels, Belgium. While trying to find accomodation last night, we had an amazing stroke of luck breaking down outside the main fire station. They not only helped fix the bike, but invited us to stay there last night, and again tonight for free!

The alarms go off around the clock here, there is always something going down. Last night they got warning of riots in the area, and had to leave in helmets & etc, including the paramedics.

We plan to leave Brussels tomorrow morning, headed for Luxemburg.

Dan.

Luckily I made it from Canada to England without any volcano-related delays. This is the first time I've been overseas, so this trip is exciting for me on many levels. I knew my biggest challenge with this trip would be biking through the rain and my limits were tested the last couple days in the Netherlands. So far the biking has not been too difficult, though after three days and 190 km my knees are stiff and sore. Today is a well-earned break day in Antwerpen, Belgium. Strangely, today is the first day I feel like I'm really in Europe. People seem to enjoy seeing us peddle by and we've been having fun meeting people along the way. I'm looking forward to getting back on the bike tomorrow and heading to Brussels.

Melanie

The trip has begun!

May 1st, we planned to leave at 7.30am, but didn't leave until 9am. Had a few minor breakdowns on the way to the Humber Bridge, but the ride was an overall success, and we made the ferry with plenty of time to spare.

Since then we have been pulled up by the police in Holland, invited into some very nice peoples house for amazing coffee, and set a new daily distance record on the quad at 77.5km yesterday. As soon as we left England , we have had ZERO breakdowns... brilliant!

We've rode through heavy rain, icy cold winds, farmland, bridges, city squares and tunnels. All in only 3 days. We are currently in Antwerpen, Belgium on a day off, and will be heading to Brussels tomorrow.

The epic has definately begun!

Dan.

QuadEPIC Eve

It’s the night before we begin this crazy journey, and everyone is very excited. Not too much has been happening lately (hence the lack of blogs), however that is sure to change. We have been heading out on the bike a lot, and working out small kinks. We’re all almost packed, and ready to leave early tomorrow morning.

Mel arrived late Tuesday night, and joined us in the QuadEPIC team command centre (Paul’s mum’s house J ). She will be riding with us all the way through to Milan, and is very excited to get started, as are we all.

The website has undergone a big facelift, making it a lot easier to navigate around. The satellite tracker page is now up (thanks to our sponsor Viewranger), and anyone will be able to watch our progress from tomorrow. We plan to leave at approximately 8am BST.

We have also added a guestbook to the site, so please leave us a message or two along the way J

After the anticlimactic first attempt at a ride, we set about replacing the chains with better quality ones, and making a few other small adjustments. The next day we once again prepared to take off, this time successfully breaking the previous 1cm distance record!

The ride was great, we ended up traveling a little over 20km, through a mix of busy roads and country lanes. Since I was steering this time, we didn’t cut off traffic or blast through roundabouts, unlike a certain Canadian driver who I won’t name!

Today, we are all trying to prepare for a big media event in York tomorrow. One major part of this is the implication of a ‘swear jar’, to try and force us to clean up our rather prolific language problem. Surprisingly, Paul is leading the tally, closely followed by Neil. The stereotypical foul-mouthed Australian is doing the best so far, although I have been trying very hard!

All going to plan, we will appear on BBC Look North sometime this week (possibly Tuesday night), and on various radio stations throughout NE England. Keep an eye out for that J

Dan.

New Sponsor

It has been an incredible week for QuadEPIC. Myself, Paul and Dan have all arrived in Grimsby and have taken the bike out for a proper ride at 20km. The trip feels so real right now. We just can’t wait to be on the road for good. This Tuesday we have a media event in York with one of our sponsors, ViewRanger, so we’re all nervously preparing ourselves for the cameras.

In other exciting news, we would like to announce a major supporter of our expedition. I had the privilege, back in the day, of attending a unique boarding school which placed priority on outdoor adventure as a component of youth education. This school no doubt fueled my desire for adventure travel and made me want to seek out something as crazy as QuadEPIC. The school, St. John’s School of Alberta, has since established a trust fund to support endeavours which reflect the values of the school itself.

One of the mandates of this trust fund is to support groups and individuals involved in outdoor expeditions that promote adventure and protection of our environment. This objective mirrors our purpose and we are so fortunate that they have pledged their support to our cause.

More information about St. John’s Schol of Alberta and the St. John’s School of Alberta trust fund can be found at their website: www.sjsa.ab.ca

Bye for now.

Neil

The start of the Epic.

QuadEPIC is slowly starting to come together, both Dan and Neil arrived in London, England on the 6^th April. I had the pleasure of picking them up from Heathrow and Stansted airports and bringing them up to the sunny delight that is Great Grimsby. Grimsby will be their home till we venture out on the bike to Hull to catch the ferry.

Since their arrival we have been sorting out some last minutes details that need attending. As well, the three of us have been testing out the bike and finding some slight teething problems that have needed to be attended to that I hadn’t noticed. It’s been good to have a fresh pair of eyes on the project to notice these faults and also to work as a team fixing them. It gives Dan and Neil a chance to see how the bike operates just in case we break down along the way.

Again we owe APT Marine Engineering (http://www.aptengineering.co.uk/) a huge thank you for helping us out with some more last minute welding.

We have also been doing some filming, as well as a photo shoot with the bike and trailer while we attached the sponsors logos.  I've been waiting weeks and weeks to attach them, it’s been driving me crazy not being able to do so. When we haven’t been doing bike related stuff, I've been giving the boys a tour around Grimsby and all its desired pleasure spots and tourist attractions.

Paul.

It’s been three lovely days so far here in Grimsby. We three amigos have been finally able to put our heads together and work out the final kinks.

We were so excited to finally take the 4-wheeled monster out for a spin. With the cameras running and our spirits high, we clambered into the comfy seats for our first test ride together. With a hearty ‘’Away we go’’ we pushed off. We made it maybe a half-centimetre before a faulty chain snapped on us and were forced to postpone our maiden voyage. It was encouraging how we didn’t miss a beat in repairing what needed adjusting.

We’ve spent the days firing off emails, driving around town for bike parts and equipment, brainstorming more crazy ideas plus the odd trip to the pub for good measure. First impressions indicate that we’ve all got QuadEPIC and its success at the top of our minds.

The various errands we’ve been running have been a good opportunity to get familiar with one another and to see the charming sights of Grimsby. Paul and Dan seem to be old friends yet I'm still getting to know these jokers.  Like the bike itself, we as a team are looking pretty sharp with a few things that still need figuring out, but as far as I see it, we’ll surely be running at 100% by launch date.

It’s been a big week and next week promises to be even bigger. A media event in York with our newest sponsor, ViewRanger has us all very excited, plus we’ve just secured some significant support which we’ll be announcing soon. It’s all very exciting, yet I can’t wait until we launch and the real fun can begin.

Neil

Getting closer..

As you can see I've been lazy when it comes to blogging over the last month, but there hasn't been to much to report. We have started to acquire the filming and sound equipment for the trip. I've gone with the Canon 7D to use as the still and HD video camera with an assortment of lenses. The Canon and lenses where purchased from Parkcameras (http://www.parkcameras.com/), they offered us an amazing discount and gave great advice to help us choose our final gear. Today I ordered the sound recording device, and with any luck hopefully it will arrive before next Tuesday. 

Tuesday the 6th April is going to be a pretty big day for QuadEPIC, as Dan and Neil both arrive in England. It will be the first time we have all been in the same room, and also the first time that me and Dan will have met face to face with Neil (fingers crossed hes not a psycho). 

When it comes down to training, again I've not been out as much as I really need to have been. A few weeks back I spent the day at Dalby Forest in Yorkshire doing a few downhill and cross country tracks with my friend Lee. A video using the GoPro helmet cam for the first time can be viewed at our YouTube site (http://www.youtube.com/user/QuadEpic2010). It was an amazing day and a first for me for that style of cycling, it was very fast and sometimes a little too dangerous for me in parts, and silly me didn't have a helmet on, so I decided to take it easy. 

Five days later though, I did return to Dalby Forest with Lee once again, this time armed with my helmet. This time I was pushing myself a little harder knowing I did have that protection, to protect my beautiful head! Less than 2hrs into the bike ride I had a bad fall resulting in damage to my back. I spent that evening in hospital having x-rays and chatting up the lovely nurses, and just before midnight the doctors released me saying I had a compressed lower spine. Its now been nearly 2 weeks since the accident happened and I've started moving around again. During this time I have also been slowly building the frame work for the canopy on the bike to protect us from the elements, just waiting on the waterproof fabric to arrive.

We also welcome Shannon to the QuadEpic family you can read his bio at http://www.quadepic2010.org.uk/riders.html. 

A blog from Katelyn

I took my bike in to the shop a few weeks ago and got it all tuned up and prepped to start racking up the miles. Unfortunately my motivation to dedicate some serious time and effort in to rides just was not there. I was finding I was going for more leisurely bike rides along the ocean then actually breaking a sweat and throwing down some mileage. So to put an end to my own laziness I started looking around town for cycling groups, in hopes that joining a structured program would get me out and improving on my cycling...But I may have gotten a bit carried away because instead of joining a cycling group I joined a triathlon club and signed up for a race that is just over two months away (eek!)

So now I have combined my training for both events. But so far the plan is working! I have lucked out and have a good coach and a pretty good base of people to train with from all different levels of fitness and I have really picked up my training. I’m training 5-6 days a week some days with multiple workouts. This has been quite the test on my time management skills between finding time around work and the little one.

This past weekend I was able to participate in my first group cycle... and I have to say it was a pretty humbling experience. I was never too concerned about my ability to bike long distances...I’m use to the cardio demand from running long distances and have been riding bikes since I was four years old. As it turns out I’m no Lance Armstrong...not even close! After riding 30K up and down hills (mainly up!) in the rain, I thought I was going to drop dead on the spot...but was then kindly reminded that I needed to continue on and go for my run immediately after stepping off my bike. It was a very odd sensation to have your leg muscles ache with stiffness (especially my quads) but to also have them feel like jello at the same time.

This experience really made me realize how much I underestimated the difficulty of cycling and cemented how much work I have ahead of me and the demands it will have on my body. I also have to admit that I am truly happy that the Alps are nowhere near Greece or Turkey! I can’t even begin to imagine what it is going to be like to get past those on this crazy bike, and am pretty amazed by the riders willing to take that on. 

Katelyn.

The last few weeks have been super exciting for the QuadEpic team. We have managed to gain new partners that play a huge roll in making this expedition possible. We have had our ferry ride from Hull, England - Rotterdam, Netherlands sponsored by P&O Ferries, which leaves on 1st May. We can also now safely plot and track our route with a gps system thanks to ViewRanger, who have kindly donated a Nokia 5800 handset preloaded with ViewRanger software. The QuadEpic ladies have also had a great donation from Shewee to help them pee in the time of need at potentially awkward locations along the journey.

. 

Parts for the trailer have been arriving too.  I promised Dan that when he arrives in England, he can help build it so I've had to hold off (which I'm finding rather hard to do so). The 2 wheels for the trailer and the 2 spare wheels also arrived from Revell which, Dan I have to confess, last week I did put the tyres on and pumped up the inner tubes which arrived from Michelin. Dan don't worry though, you still have the coupling mount and axle bar to install, and the electrics for the indicators to figure out ;) Oh and another thing I'm finding hard to hold back on from doing, as I promised the boys we will figure this out together as a team, is the placement of the sponsors logo stickers. I have a pile of them in my bed room that have been arriving constantly over the weeks for the trailer.  Everytime I see them I start developing a sticking fetish and want to start sticking them everywhere.

We have also been working on designs for promotional items such as t-shirts, leaflets, posters etc. Once we have our final designs sorted for each of them we shall be posting them on our Facebook page for you all to see and comment on. We also welcome Anne from Calgary, Canada to our family. Anne will be joining us during the Dubrovnik - Thessaloniki stage, you can read more about her at http://www.quadepic2010.org.uk/riders.html .  While you're there why don't you check up on the other riders if you haven't already.

As far as training goes, I wont lie, I need to pick up the pace.  I've been slacking lately due to bad weather and personal events (cousins Stag "long" weekend) but I will be hard at it again over the next few days to lose my newly formed beer belly (pizza, kebab and beer consumed over "long" Stag weekend).

A blog from Neil

Hey all!

I should perhaps introduce myself. Like Paul and Dan, travel is in my blood. Having been lucky enough to see some of the world these past few years, my hunger to see more has only grown. I love travel and will take it any way I can get it, but I especially love it when it is purposeful and if it can be for a good cause. I came across QuadEpic through the miracle of social network sites (as many of you may have). When I saw photos of Paul tinkering away at a half-completed monster on wheels and a website I'd be proud to show my friends up and operational, I nodded my head and said "Hellllzzz Yea...". I saw QE as something I could sink my teeth into and have been on board ever since.

For the past few months I've been working from Canada on all things QuadEpic but I've since moved my base of operations to Barcelona so I can be a bit closer to the action. Being here and with the Epic only 3 months away, the excitement is really getting to me. I also have to comment on the IMMENSE support that has been going on from those of you following our progress. Most of the hard work involved with the project is in the preparation and your kind comments and messages of support urge us on the team along.

Paul and Dan? What can I say about these guys... Do any of you know these animals? Our cross-continental Skype board meetings are never dull and I imagine there may be some adventures during the epic I won't be able to discuss with my grandmother. Someone try and describe knowing either of these fellas in a few short words. If you've got a PG-13 anecdote you'd like to share, please post it, (any R-rated ones can be emailed in). I want to know what I'm in for. Other than that, can't say enough good about these guys.

Still lots more work to do before go-time. Please feel free to get involved any way you can. Come ride with us, suggest cool places for us to visit. If you have family, friends, or even know someone who lives along our route that might accomodate us, let us know! If you have gear you want to contribute, please do! Make a contribution to the WWF. They are doing amazing things, more on that in blog posts to come. Til then, stay tuned and keep the good suggestions coming!

Neil

A blog from Dan

Probably about time I said something.. :)

My preparations for the epic have been coming along nicely, I've purchased my flights to the UK, and will be arriving early April. Neil is currently climbing mountains in Morocco (half his luck), and will join both myself and Paul in the UK around the same time.

I've been increasing my training recently, and am currently cycling around 150km per week. This is on a mountain bike as well, not a road bike/racer, which makes it a little more difficult. Close to where I live, on the Northern side of Brisbane, are a network of excellent cycle tracks. They travel through various areas, and have the advantage of being out of the way of roads and traffic.

I've put together a quick video of a couple of rides I took a few weeks ago. The link to this is below, and it can also be viewed on our website. Both were (stupidly on my part) completed in the middle of the day. It's mid-summer here in Brisbane, and both days were well above 30degrees C, with horrible humidity. Not exactly ideal cycling conditions :)

Since this summer has been extremely hot, I haven't done a lot of climbing. However, last weekend I decided to dust off my climbing gear, and set out for an adventure at a local cliff. It was a great day out, highlighted by a disgusting bush bash, a vicious attack by wasps, severe heat exhaustion & a calf muscle tear! Excellent views though :)

More from me when there is more to tell,

Dan.

My first week of training is out the way and only 9 more weeks left to get up to a reasonable fitness level. I have a good feeling I will be on target so I can comfortably cycle 40 miles per day. It's not been as hard as I first thought it was going to be. I've managed a number of 6-12 mile bike rides a couple of times a day, also one 32 mile and one 30 mile in under 2 hrs 30 minutes. The most interesting ride for me was on Friday 22nd at night. It was raining hard, extremely foggy and with some harsh head on winds. These were some the worst conditions I've had to cycle in since I lived in Perth, Australia. It took me a while to build up momentum and motivation to tackle these conditions, plus I was holding a stomach full of spaghetti bolognese.

 I've zipped my rain jacket all the way to the top, closed all the vents on the jacket arms, tucked my right trousers leg in to my sock, picked up the garage key and exited the house into the harsh conditions. I turned the lights on (even though they had very little effect in the fog) and cycled away. Even before I got a mile into the ride I was soaked, but it felt so good being alone in the Lincolnshire countryside with noone around at this late hour on the road. Also with only 10 ft visibility there was often the surprise of a couple of bushy tailed foxes running out in front of me. This loneliness and isolation from other people made me realise a new love for cycling, it was nice to escape and almost feel at one with nature again, with the only noise being my gears changing and rain drops landing on my helmet. This was a feeling I've not felt since living in Canada.

At the 7 mile mark the weather lifted, and both the rain and fog where gone. The last 3 miles flew by extremely quick as I pushed on down what was now a noisy busy road with cars zooming past at unsettling speeds. I returned back to the civilisation of Scartho Village, and did the final stretch of the loop back to the warmth and dryness of my home. The 10 mile loop only took me 30 minutes to complete, which I was extremely happy with considering I've only been training for a week.

So with that little story out the way we also welcome someone new to the QuadEPIC family this week. Varun is from New Delhi, India. You can read more about Varun by visiting our web site:  http://www.quadepic2010.org.uk/riders.html. Varun will be riding along side us on a mountain bike and will be rotating with the riders on the quadbike throughout the 3 month period. 

Epic Training

Training has started once again.

I'm finally fit again after over a month off from doing any kind of exercise, no more knee or back pains. Also, the weather has been getting better after our stint of 'heavy' snow fall covering most of England. So this meant I put down the bicycle and picked up my snowboard, heading to the hills 10 minutes drive from where I live to make a few jumps and rails from fallen trees. 


Dan was slightly worried I would hurt my self doing this due to my past record. This time I've opted not to join a gym and will instead be doing lots of cycling, lifting weights, press ups and push ups plus the odd bit of skipping (but only in the cover of darkness). I've been trying to aim for two bike rides per day, both about 6 miles long for now and will move up that distance every week so by the time comes, I will be able to cycle about 40-50 miles per day, when we leave on the 1st May. Keep an eye out on the web site for some of our training video footage, coming soon.

We also welcome another Canadian to the QuadEPIC Family, Christine. Both myself and Dan met Christine in Banff 2006 at the Samesun Backpacker Hostel. She will be flying over to Paris and then a few days later will be meeting us in Strasburg on the 17th May. As we already have full seats on the Quad-bike at this stage we will be finding a bicycle for her to ride once we are in Strasburg. Christine was originally going to join us in Milano, replacing Melanie on the Quad-bike for the Milano to Venezia stage, but due to myself and Dan talking to Christine on Skype and Facebook, she decided to join the trip sooner.

We would like to encourage anyone to join us on their bike at any point along the trip. We will also even let you swap with one of us so you can enjoy a stint on the Quad-bike.

Dan has purchased his ticket to England and will arrive on the 6th April. This will leave the two of us 3 weeks to tidy up any lose ends on the bike and organise all the equipment. Neil is due to arrive the last week of April after his time in Spain. I'll admit, it's starting to get exciting and it's feeling more real.

The last few weeks have been rather slow due to the festive period and also hurting my knee, so not much really happened with the promoting of QuadEPIC.  Now with all the festive shenanigans out the way, Dan, Neil and myself have regrouped for the start of 2010.  Neil is now over here somewhere in Europe travelling after leaving Canada at Christmas. He's been hopping all over the place from Iceland to France, and I'm sure he's in Spain now.... Dan has been busy with legal side of things and updating the web page..

As for my health, my knee has got much better (the crazy old lady is still calling though).... but i have a new problem.  I managed to put my lower back out the day before New Years.  I was up in Edinburgh drinking with Doug, a friend from my travelling days in Australia.  Doug cracked some kind of joke that made me giggle, that giggle turned into louder laughing, which then turned into a frown and a stabbing pain in my lower back.  I cant even remember what Doug said so sadly I cant share it with you.  I've spent the last few days in bed resting my back.  This time in bed has allowed me the opportunity to do some more research for our trip on a number of the cities we will be visiting.  Also, I've started arranging a tour in February around England's universities on the bike.

Today I've been sat up in the living room with my mums sewing machine out.  I've been busy making straps for the pedals to hold our feet in place.  I have to admit I'm rather impressed with my creations, which has got me thinking..... what else could I be making for the trip on my mums sewing machine?   Maybe a tent or some pants for the boys?  I also had a nice gift box to come home to from Scotland, The Source Hydration packs were delivered on behalf of QuadEPIC.  The start of 2010 also brings us a new 4th Rider, Becca from England.  You can read more about Becca on our web page.