The Cross Canada Cycle Tour Society       February 2022,  Volume 39, Issue #

New Tour Director – Robin Howe

I wanted to introduce myself as your new Tour Director for those of you who do not know me.

My husband (Dan Carey) and I joined CCCTS in 2003, after hearing about this great Canadian biking club from a few of our local cycling friends. (We live in Seattle.) Our first trip in 2003 was the Comox Hub & Spoke, which preceded the Quadra and Cortes Island tour. After meeting Chris Hodgson on this outing, we signed up for his tour to Chile and Argentina. It was an epic tour/adventure and we had the time of our lives. We were hooked and started thinking right away about tours we could lead for the club. Since joining, we have been on a total of 52 tours and hub & spokes and led or coordinated 10 tours. We have travelled all over the world with the club and all over Canada – to the Yukon and Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Quebec, and on and on. We love this club and have made life-long friends during our 19 years of membership.

I love leading outdoor recreational trips and have been doing it a long time. Why? Because I enjoy the trip planning process and I also enjoy leading trips that give people a good time while doing healthy activities outside. Before leading for CCCTS, I led trips for our local Mountaineers Club for 20 years – hiking, backpacking, cross-country ski, and cycling. I also chaired that club’s Backpack committee chair for many years. Believe it or not, I have wanted to be Tour Director for CCCTS for at least 15 years but had no time to volunteer in this way since I was working. I retired this summer and the Tour Director job needed to be filled in November.

It is my hope that CCCTS will be able to offer tours that fit the desires of every club member who wants to go on tours:

• Easy tours and more strenuous tours to accommodate all levels of cyclists,
• Camping tours and motel/hotel tours,
• Budget tours, “luxury” tours, and everything in between,
• International tours, including to some more “exotic” locations, and tours all over Canada

It is also my hope that we can revive the cross-Canada tour that led to the formation of the club. All we need to accomplish these goals are willing leaders. Please consider leading a tour to a place you love, are familiar with, or just want to go and explore. The tour members will come if we offer the tours. Almost all the tours CCCTS offers fill up. I will do everything I can to help you make your imagined tour a reality. (My contact information is 206.899.7255 or robincooksandsews@gmail.com.)

Take a look on the at our first tour offering for 2022 – Washington Wheatlands – in May. More tours are in the works. We are hoping we will be ready to post an early summer tour in eastern Canada by February and we are currently working on plans for a couple of exciting international tours for either fall 2022 or spring 2023, depending on the COVID situation.

A big Thank You to Doris Maron who served as the prior Tour Director and all the other past Tour Directors! And Thank You to all the tour leaders and hub & spoke leaders. We can’t thank them enough for all the wonderful vacations we have been on with the club over the years. I am really looking forward to serving as your Tour Director.

A History of the Cross Canada Cycle Tour Society.  Part 2 Chapter 2

What about the most important part of the tour? The bike!!
The bike is the medium to the message! (Apologies to Marshall McLuhan’s “the medium is the message”).
Not all members had a well equipped touring bike, a few did not have a bike when they signed up for the tour and a few had a 10/12 “speeder”. The Board made arrangements to purchase fifty bikes (Norco Magnum Tourister, 15 speeds, and accessories) through Ace Cycles — owned by Lorne Atkinson, “Ace” was a top-ranked cyclist representing Canada in
international competitions from 1948-54, including the Olympics and the British Empire Games. Lorne helped size and set up the bikes for the members and the Club would sell the bikes to the members after the tour. When I joined CCCTS there was a member who was still using the same bike he rode on the 1983 tour.

Public relations became an integral part of the tour and the organizers made a concerted effort to inform all branches of the media, across the country, that a group of seniors would be appearing in their neighbourhood. They were planning for the tour to become a “National Social Status Event”, an event of considerable repute. The publicity was to garnish support from other seniors groups who would encourage the CCCTS riders along and were invited to join them along the way.

Major media coverage was received for the “dipping of the wheels” on May 24th. The organizers made certain that the media was contacted in most all communities the Tour passed through. This advance planning reaped its rewards as both the media and local dignitaries welcomed the sweaty and tanned seniors. In a number of communities the riders did not have to set up camp but were invited to stay in a community hall or a college dorm. The Banff-Lake Louise Chamber of Commerce gave free hotel rooms — Canadian hospitality at its finest!!

The Toronto Star covered the Tour with a much appreciated quote — “Where there’s a wheel…there’s a way!” The Tour reached Ottawa on July 29th to a warm welcome from the Ontario Ministry of Tourism and Recreation — a stay at the University of Ottawa, a buffet dinner and a $2000 donation to the Club. At Rideau Hall, they met the Governor
General, Ed Schreyer, at a special reception.

The positive media coverage and hospitality continued as they travelled east. La Belle Province gave them a warm welcome and in Trois Rivieres, they celebrated its 350th Anniversary, a year early!! In Woodstock, New Brunswick the media called them “The Silver Streaks”. They had one of their steepest hills near Hartland, NB and then rode through the world’s longest covered bridge. In Shediac, NB the Red Cross volunteers prepared poutines rapees for dinner. Some could not pronounce the Acadian dish and suggested it was “raped potatoes”. Today this may not be politically correct but shows the need for being bilingual!!

A couple of the Tour members had a few observations by this point along the Tour —
“…a positive mental attitude when you are going over the hill” (Sounds like ageism to some!) “We’re proving that senior citizens are not washed up. We have a lot of potential and we’re raising the consciousness of Canadians as to the potential of senior citizens.” (Isn’t this what us CCCTS members do when we are out for a weekly ride, on a tour or a hub & spoke?)

The riders sailed from Sidney, NS and arrived in Argentia, Nfld. on August 31st and rode to St. John’s with a police escort and received front page coverage in the local paper. The following day they met, for a couple of hours, with former Premier, Joey Smallwood. Some claimed that one of the more difficult hills on the tour was to get to the top of Telegraph
Hill in St. John’s. The group arrived in Newfoundland & Labrador with 27 cyclists from an original 42 starters. Some dropped out and a couple joined on the way. There were a few scratches and a couple of more serious injuries — one broken shoulder blade meant a nine day break on the support van and then completed the ride the other was a shattered
elbow and one week riding the van.

A most successful event for a new cycling club that would see such a tour repeat itself about every four years until the last one in 2004. When will CCCTS see the next Cross Canada tour?

Buy and Sell

Panniers

TREK FX 1 Bicycle

Contact Jody Krehel     jkrehel@shaw.ca

Surrey B.C. Area

3 piece men’s ski wear set

Bike Friday!!….It’s not a brand….Its a Cult!!

Racing/Trainer Bike Friday.  Almost unused — I can’t ride it because of my damaged shoulders.  Skinny tires, STI, 10spd compact, travel case. No pedals, no saddle, no luggage racks.  $500, which is the price of the travel case alone so the bike is free!

The ultimate in performance folding bikes the crown jewel of what Bike Friday produces, they say.

• Designed to combine Bike Friday folding and quality with modern sports bike geometry
• Folds into a 34” x 33” x 12” space so you can travel by bus, train or boat and packs into a travel case for Airline Travel
• Capable of riding with a rear rack for light touring
• 451mm wheels allow for between 1” and 1 ⅜” width tires.

Contact Eric O’Higgins    mailto: eric.ohiggins@gmail.com In the Victoria Area.

Assorted Bike Parts.

Aero Bar: Profile Clamp-on Aero Bar. Horseshoe design. Aluminum. $45.00

Bicycle Stem: CODA Quill Bike Stem. 22.2mm Steerer. 26mm Clamp. -17 degree Rise. 120mm reach. $25.00.

Bicycle Saddle: Terry Butterfly Women’s Bicycle Saddle with Titanium Rails. Black. New. $100.00

Bicycle Saddle: Serfas Women’s Bicycle Saddle. Reactive Gel. Deep Groove Design. New. $30.00.

Bicycle Saddle: Specialized Avatar Gel Men’s Bicycle Saddle. Pre-owned. Good condition. $50.00

Bontrager HomeWrench Bicycle Repair Stand. As new. $75.00.

Contact Ron Youngash.    mailto: ron.youngash@gmail.com  or 250-480-0525

Custom-built racing rims

Videos

Tours

A message From Our New Tours Director Robin Howe.

Check out our first tour posted for 2022 below – Washington Wheatlands. Watch for more tour postings in the coming months. For 2022, to-date we are expecting and planning for a couple of tours in British Columbia, a tour in eastern Canada, and one in Asia in the fall. The location of the Asian tour will be either South Korea, Japan, or Sri Lanka, depending on each country’s COVID travel restrictions in place as of April 1, when the Asia tour location decision will be made. (Note that Sri Lanka is open to tourists now so a tour WILL be possible unless conditions change.) In addition, we are already working on planning for 2023, including tours closer to home and international tours further afield. If you are interested in leading a tour of any type and to any location, please contact the Tour Director, Robin Howe, to discuss your ideas. She can’t wait to hear them. And, if you are interested in touring with the club, just stay tuned for more information that will be coming. CCCTS tours are “back in business”.

• 2022 Washington Wheatlands
  Status: Registration opens Sat, 5 Feb 2022 9:00 AM
  Dates: Sun, 15 May 2022 ‐‐ Thu, 26 May 2022

  A gentle cycling season opener through quiet and beautiful wheat farming countryside in eastern Washington.

A look ahead to some CCCTS 2022 Hub & Spoke Rides
being planned as of late January 2022 – listed in chrono order

1. Late May Bromont, PQ led by Nel Ahmed – Covid postponed from 2020. Watching and waiting for omicron’s “retreat”.
2. May 30 – June 3, Duncan, B.C. led by Chris Hodgson and Diane Swindell.
   Club website Lottery Registration period: Feb. 10 – Feb. 14. 24 cyclists. Website posting pending Board review/approval. Expected website posting date: Tuesday, February 1
3. June 13 -June 17, Fraser River Canyons, Benches & Grasslands, Clinton – Lillooet B.C. camping based gravel roads rides, small grp photography adventure, led by George Zorn. Club website Lottery Registration period: Feb. 1 – Feb. 5. 12 cyclists
4. June 20 – 24, Comox Valley, B.C. Chapter, led by Lawrence Vea and Chapter Volunteers
   Ride is full. Wait list only. 70 cyclists.
5.  June 27 – July 2, Shuswap – North Okanagan, Sorrento Centre, B.C. based, led by Charlotte and Bill Eberlein. Club website Lottery Registration ended Jan. 29. Ride is full. Wait list only. 24 cyclists.
6. July 7 – July 11, Fraser Valley, B.C. Chapter, coordinated by Annemeike Quinn, Janet Whitehead and Chapter Volunteers. Club website Lottery Registration period: Feb. 12 – Feb. 15. 50 cyclists
7. An opportunity for new or experienced CCCTS members and friends to host an early
   (Sept. 5-9) or late (Sept. 25-30) Shuswap – North Okanagan, Sorrento Centre based H&S. Either of these two Sorrento Centre, currently available time periods, must be confirmed by Sat., Feb. 12 to be held. No upfront deposit is required. Please contact Hub & Spoke Director, George Zorn at 250-832-9335 if you are interested in discussing.
8. November 10 – November 18, 2022 Florida Gulf Coast led by Linda Graupner and friends – Covid postponed from 2020. Ride is full. Wait list only. 24 cyclists.

Hub and Spokes

• 2022 Florida Gulf Coast Hub and Spoke
  Status: Completed

  Extend your 2022 biking season with a week of cycling on Florida’s beautiful Gulf Coast! This hub and spoke will take place in November and will be based out of St. Pete Beach, known for its sunshine, soft sand beaches and dedicated bike trails. We will explore the Pinellas Trail and other bike trails and roads in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area, with stops along the way to explore the sites and sample the seafood.

• 2022 Fraser River Canyons, Benches & Grasslands Hub & Spoke
  Status: Registration opens Mon, 7 Feb 2022 4:00 PM
  Dates: Mon, 13 Jun 2022 ‐‐ Fri, 17 Jun 2022

  Explore four scenic ranch roads less travelled on the dry side of B.C.’s Coast Mountains. A group supported camping and three ride days Hub & Spoke based from Clinton and Lillooet. Bring your camera, binoculars and mountain bike or gravel bike!

• 2022 Shuswap – North Okanagan Hub & Spoke
  Status: Registration opens Tue, 25 Jan 2022 5:00 PM
  Dates: Tue, 28 Jun 2022 ‐‐ Sat, 2 Jul 2022

  Welcome to the beautiful and diverse landscapes of the Shuswap – North Okanagan region. Enjoy the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of nature as you cycle some of the 1500+ km of paved back roads in the area.

• 2022 Comox Valley Hub and Spoke
  Status: Lottery running now
  Dates: Mon, 20 Jun 2022 ‐‐ Fri, 24 Jun 2022

  Visit Courtenay, Comox and Cumberland while enjoying five days of riding in the beautiful Comox Valley and surrounding islands including Denman, Hornby and Quadra as well as a challenging  18 km ride up Mt. Washington.  

• 2022 Comox Valley Hub and Spoke – for CV VOLUNTEERS ONLY
  Status: Registration opens Sun, 1 May 2022 7:00 AM
  Dates: Mon, 20 Jun 2022 ‐‐ Fri, 24 Jun 2022

  This link is only to be used by Comox Valley CCCTS volunteers.

New Members

Published at least ten times a year by The Cross Canada Cycle Tour Society, a non – profit organization for retired people and others who enjoy recreational cycling. 

Items for the NEWSBRIEF must be received by the 28th of the month. The Editor reserves the right to edit for clarity, brevity and suitability of publication. The views expressed in the “NEWSBRIEF” are not necessarily those of the CCCTS or the Editor.

Submissions for NEWSBRIEF should be emailed to alaird212@gmail.com