Touring - Do you enjoy cycling ..... and canoeing???

"ON A HOT SUMMER DAY, there’s only one thing better than riding a bicycle along the edge of a scenic river, and that’s paddling down the river in a canoe. For years, these two activities were thought to be mutually exclusive. The logistics of shuttling a canoe to point A and then retrieving it from point B are difficult enough. One doesn’t need the added headache of trying to squeeze a couple bikes on top of the paddles, lifejackets and bailing buckets in an already overstuffed station wagon.

But in the summer of 2003, Gary Pluim set out to bring the worlds of cycling and canoeing together. His plan was to use a tandem bicycle to tow a canoe on a small two-wheeled trailer from downtown Calgary to the glacier that feeds into Calgary’s water supply. Below the glacier, at Bow Lake, the bike and trailer would be stowed away in the canoe and the boat would be paddled back to Calgary along the Bow River." .............. http://www.outpostmagazine.com/content.php/1.7/34/1.php



BTW - I have a subscription to Outpost Magazine, which I got when I got my Hostelling International membership. It has some interesting articles, stories about travelling adventures, gear reviews, etc. in it. http://www.outpostmagazine.com/

I had thought about the concept (in theory, with no likelihood of doing it), but I figured the bike might be too heavy for a canoe and would need to be towed on an inflatable raft.

I could rig something like that if I fix one wheel on my bike trailer. I have a folding (FOLBOT brand) two-person expedition grade kayak. When it stops raining I can put the two 40 lb bags on the trailer, tow it to the Russian River, put the 12 ft kayak together, lash on the Bruce Gordon BLT and the trailer, float 0 to 30 miles down the river, pull out, fold it, and pedal home. If I had a stoker, we could use the tandem to get to the river, lock the trailer and bike there, paddle down as far as we wanted, pullout and bag the kayak and take bus 20 or 29 (in summer) back to the tandem. Any takers?

There was a story a few years back of a fella who had a folding bike & kayak. I thought it was at Adventure Cycling, Lewis & Clark Trail. But I could not find it there. Seems to me that he was riding along the Missouri River and either paddling part of the trip or paddling his way back, down stream. Wish I could find a link for the story as I remember the picture in it.

When I was in Tasmania a few years ago, I bumped into another cycle-tourist who was planning to hire a kayak at Coles Bay and check out some of the waters there. I never did find out how he got on, but it would certainly be possible in a lot of places.

I love both canoeing and biking, and have a clever invention in the back of my mind for a convenient way to be able to do both. Just waiting for the idea to surface!

The author of the story you refer to is also the genius behind the couch bike. Brent has the same story on his website as well as a video that didn't work for me today, but it has in the past. Check out his site at www.bikeforest.com Click on "trips" for the canoe/biking story and the full couch bike story too.

I'd rather just bike:

33850

:D

http://www.watergames.com/sbphoto.html

[QUOTE=The Human Car]I'd rather just bike:

33850

Like this idea too. Pantoons might not be suitable for canoeing? Someone need invent pantoons that attach to the bikes wheel and turn a propoller/rudder? neat, puts my two favorite sports into one.

I like canoing and have been building canoes for nearly 30 years. I do not try to meld the two together, but there are people out there who make canoe trailers (and surfboard trailers). I think a bike friday would fold up nicely in the canoe. overall though, it seems pretty cluttered. I live within easy walking distance of lake Ontario, so I can go canoeing any time I want. BUt if I want to get further abroad, a bike is not going to cut it as a means of getting there. Heck in Ontario it might be more practical to just set out in the canoe.

A canoe, even a solo one, should be able to easily handle the 30 lbs that a bike entails. Question is, where to use it?

I love canoeing and biking. There is nothing that I would rather do. When I finish school and am making real money I am going to get a Pak canoe. They are a full sized canoe that folds up into a realtivly small bag that weighs about 50 lbs.

The crappy part is that I live a 15 minute walk from the St-Lawrence and have never been on it. Ohh well for now I will have to bike along beside it.

A few years ago I saw an invention called the bikecanoe. The canoe folded in half and is towed behind the bike. The bike also folds for when you are water borne.