I know most people do not use travel agents very often anymore, they go on-line and book their own flights etc.  Recommending a travel agent seems to be a bit redundant.  However, on a trip like this, when I need to ensure that I have sufficient baggage allowance for the bikes and more importantly, the bikes will be allowed on to the plane, I use a travel agent.  My company of choice is Flight Centre.

When booking my first flights from Canada to New Zealand and the follow-up flight from New Zealand to Australia I used the Flight Centre in Barrie on Essa Road. When I needed flights from Australia to the UK I used the Flight Centre in Brisbane. They are a great company.

However, Lindsay Swidersky went above and beyond on our most recent flights from Cuba to Tampa.  We needed flights from Cuba to Tampa Florida.  Due to the US restrictions we could not fly direct to Tampa.  As the internet in Cuba is limited and phone calls are prohibitively expensive it took Lindsay and me three days to get the flights sorted out.

Lindsay gave us three options to choose from, flying via Cayman Islands, flying via Canada or flying via Mexico City.  Lindsay checked about our bikes and additional costs etc.  She was incredibly patient with the limitations we had, but when I was ready to book she had all the information ready to go, emailed the confirmation of cost and emailed the tickets.  Awesome job Lindsay and Flight Centre Essa Road Barrie.

Now before you all go rushing to contact Lindsay to get her to book your flights she starts maternity leave on January 31, 2015.   But… I am sure anyone at Flight Centre Barrie will give you just as good service.

We bought our tent for the Grand Adventure from Big Agnes.  It is a 3-person tent which gives us ample room under the fly to keep our panniers safe and sound.  It is big enough inside to put our Thermarest sleeping cots.

It is a great tent and Big Agnes is a great Company with incredible customer service.  We know their customer service is great because we have had a couple of problems with the tent.  The first problem was while we were in Australia, the zip on one of the doors on the main body of the tent was failing.  The teeth were coming away from the material.  We contacted Big Agnes who asked us to send them photos of the effected area.  After seeing the photos, no problem we will send you a new tent body.  By the time we got to my nephew\’s place in Brisbane the new tent body was waiting for us.

The second problem was with the fly.  We had used the tent almost every day in New Zealand, Australia, England and Scotland and were finding some areas leaking on the fly.  The worst instance was while we were in Ireland and had to put our spare tarp inside the tent to stop the deluge of rain coming into the tent.  Again we contacted Big Agnes who advised us to reseal the seams.  We did that and it worked for a few months.  We were putting this tent through some awful conditions, heat, rain and humidity.  Eventually it started to leak again.  Again we contacted Big Agnes prior to heading for Cuba for 3 months.  We explained the situation again and they said they would send us a new fly.  We asked them to send it to our friends in Florida which they did at no charge.

Great Customer Service Big Agnes – thanks.  We are ready for Southern Tier leg of the Grand Adventure.

July 24, 2013

We have all of our panniers for the Grand Adventure.  Or at least I thought we had.

Ralf decided he would like to have a different set of rear panniers to take on the Grand Adventure.  We had bought two sets of the Dolphin 48

at Christmas and I was very happy with them.

Ralf happened to be checking the Arkel website for brackets for his front rack and spotted the Arkel 54 and decided that the whole set up was better than the Dolphin 48

What was the chances of returning the Arkel Dolphin 48 and swapping them to the Arkel 54 (six months later).  It only took a phone call – not a problem return Ralf\’s set of the Dolphins there would be a restocking fee they would credit the cost of the Dolphins towards the 54 and voila Ralf gets matching front and rear red panniers.

They should be here tomorrow.  Excellent service once again from Arkel.

Both bikes loaded!

Trek is my local bike store (LBS).  In my opinion it is the best bicycle store in Barrie.  The service is awesome.  It doesn’t matter if you are 6 or 60 the guys at the store will make sure you get the bicycle that will suit your needs. I recently recommended them to a colleague at work who had not ridden in years.  He went into 3 stores in Barrie and bought at the Trek store because they gave him the service and assistance to make the right decision on a reasonably priced road bike that would suit his needs as a new roadie.

Ralf and I have bought all of our bicycles from the Trek store (5 bikes over 15 years). The only bike I haven’t bought from them is Mrs. Sweet Cheeks as Trek doesn’t produce a touring bike for my short little legs.

They have a great selection of clothes and accessories as well as some great bikes.

If I have a problem with my bicycles I often drop it in for the mechanics to have a quick look at.  I will drop my bike of at lunchtime and it is ready to go by the time I leave work.  Every year they do a great full service on our bikes and will always do a quick service before we go on our week-long vacations.

Trek also promote cycling with their Trek Women that Ride.  The Trek Women that Ride promotes cycling for women both for Mountain bikers and Roadies.  I will be writing about the Cycling Clinics that Meagan Broughton will lead in May and June.  I had great fun last year with the women and we also organized our own Wednesday night ride – just for fun.

The only disadvantage with the Store is that they only sell Trek bikes, but they do have a great selection. Check out the link for the Trek Store – it is  Barrie Store – Trek Bike Store Toronto – Aurora – Barrie.

Sojourn is a great outdoors store in Barrie, Ontario.  We have been going there for years and have bought most of our outdoor gear from the store.  Although there might be less expensive places to buy outdoor gear the service at Sojourn, in my opinion, is second to none.

Throughout the year they have special days.  Tent day in May, a lot of the manufacturers are there to display their tents and you get to see a whole range of them set up (marmot, MSR, Sierra Designs etc.). Keen Days, I love Keen shoes and cycling sandals.  Sojourn has two big sales one in the spring and another in the fall.  We got a great deal on Merino wool cycling jerseys at the fall sale.

If you are a \’member\’ at Sojourn every time you purchase something you gain points, which then equates to money off your next purchase. In November they also have a Members Only Night, where they have prizes and 20% of almost everything in the store. I saved almost $100.00 on the Thermarest \”duvet style\” blankets.  I hate sleeping bags, I almost always tie myself in a knot, but these \’blankets\’ are like a comfy duvet.  They came with a stuff sack, pack down really small and weight about 2lbs.

Sojourn also organize snow-shoe hikes in the winter and other great outdoor things in the summer.  Before we leave on the Grand Adventure I want to try Stand-Up Paddle boarding.  Sojourn organizes lessons on Lake Simcoe and you can try their canoes, kayaks and paddle boards for free.

This may look like an Ad for Sojourn.  We are not getting anything for free from Sojourn. In my opinion, if you get good service and good products from a store it is worth promoting.

Check out the link for the store:Sojourn Outdoors – Barrie Camping Equipment, Outdoor Apparel, Camping Tents, Ourdoor Equipment, Kayaks, Paddles, Maps, Hiking Gear, Backpacks, Winter Clothing, Sleeping Bags – Barrie, Ontario.