Bike for Dougie Appeal

The BIG Day ...........

2010-07-10T18:10:00.005+01:00

Douglas, to-day, took delivery of his ICE Sprint 3 Trike from Dave Gardner of Laid Back Bikes :-)
Needless to say, having selected a day and time, the weather duly obliged by providing atmospheric cooling in the form of light rain just to make sure Doug did not get too overheated by all the excitement !!! Seriously though it did ease off for the duration of the acceptance trials which were carried out on the Meadows (in central Edinburgh - in case you didn't recognise the venue).
Dave Gardner, with the able assistance of the guys at the Bike Works (who did the flat pack assembly), was on hand to field the many questions that Doug had been hatching for the last couple of weeks and, despite declaring that he was not a bike engineer, he he did pretty well!!

After an initial footer around (a Scottisism for trial and error adjustment!!) Doug professed himself confident to take to the open road (cycle path really, but accoutered with an adequate range of hazards like passing pedestrians and cyclists, lamp posts, doting parents and a liberal application of dog poo). In his words ........ absolutely brilliant!!!!!!!!
The trike passed with flying colours!

We then had the interesting task of fitting it into the car together with the wheelchair. All went in OK although practice will certainly make it easier.

So now Doug has to spend some time in trial rides and practice getting into and out of it - all of which I know he will enjoy.

Douglas can never adequately thank all those who contributed to getting this trike but please be assured it has done wonders for his morale and sense of being in control of things and it can only get better.
Sheena and I echo these thanks. It is quite wonderful to see him really enthused, particularly over over riding a bike again since it is something that I can honestly say we never thought would happen again.

Thank you all.
Happy Pappy (Iain)

The Trike is now ordered ....

2010-06-18T17:11:00.002+01:00

Well, Doug is now one real happy chappie!!
He has placed the order for an ICE Sprint 3 complete with hard shell seat and mods to the brake controls together with a few other bits and bobs and it looks like it will arrive in between 2 and 3 weeks :-)

Dave Gardner of Laid Back Bikes has been brilliant .... a nicer and more helpful guy it would be hard to find! www.laid-back-bikes.co.uk
I suspect Doug will, very shortly, be querying him on suitable 'bags' for the Sprint.
After all a ride is no fun unless you can carry a full set of spares, new inner tubes, perhaps one outer, a pump, at least one set of tyre leavers, a wheel spanner, at least one allen key set .....................
Only half joking!!

For those in the know I list the full spec below:

ICE Sprint 3
Default equipment includes XT front and rear mech + Bar end shifters
Avid BB7 disc brakes front
Avid Digit 3 V brake rear
Front and Back mudguards
Neck Rest, QR kit and front light mount = COVENIENCE PACK
Easy adjust incl a chain guard.
Tyres - Schwalbe Big Apples
Shell seat - large with ventisist seat pad
Move BRAKE controls to right bar with both front brakes combined in one lever
Move Parking brake to right bar - NOTED
NOTE - leave bar end shifters arranged one left and one right
Colour - BLACK

When it arrives, and once Doug is comfortable with it, we'll have to arrange a celebration ride, probably at Dalkeith Country Park, since he knows this very well and it is all away from public traffic routes.
I'll keep everyone informed .............
You never know, he may be able to convert some of you to the Laid Back Approach to biking!

Many thanks once again to all who contributed!!!

Iain (Happy Pappy)

One step closer to the Big Day !!!

2010-06-11T18:22:00.003+01:00

At long last we can record significant progress in the acquisition of Dougs bike.
We had been doing a lot of internet research over the last couple of months into folding recumbent trikes and Doug has been poring over bike specs most days!!

We had established two primary contacts in Scotland, one called Kinetics in Glasgow and the other, Laid-back Bikes in Edinburgh.
Despite early hopeful signs and helpful telephone conversations with Kinetics, we have since been unable to re-establish contact with them, so it looks like they are out of the running for now.
However Dave Gardner of Laid-Back was brilliant and in one phone call we had set up a demo ride on two of the possible contenders on Sunday 6th.

Despite the weather being a bit iffy and the Festival Fun Fair doing their best to drown out any useful conversation, it was a great afternoon for Doug. For the first time in two years he could truly be in complete control and in a very short space of time he had mastered the basics of the trikes.

With Damien McCutcheon striding out beside him, he was able to ride both trikes for a fair length on the Meadows cycle path, closely monitored by Dave Gardner and watched over by the Oversight Committee (Steve & Annette Irvine, Sheena and I).
After a couple of close encounters with street furniture (joking!) he managed very well indeed.
I have not seen him so stoked in two years!!
In his words "I had forgotten just how much of a thrill riding solo could be."

The trikes tested were both by ICE in Falmouth - the Adventure 2 (2010 model) and the Vortex (older, non folding version). As far as Doug was concerned the biggest difference between them was that of ground clearance and thus height with the Vortex, being the lowest, feeling much more stable. However it was more difficult for him to get into and out of. He managed pretty well regardless and, as he says, its all a matter of practice.
The Vortex range do not have a parking brake in the latest version, so that rules it out for Doug.
It therefore appears that Sprint 3, being only some 6mm higher than the Vortex and having a parking brake fitted is the favourite right now.
Although he has not been able to test the seat options, it is pretty clear that the Hard Shell seat option could offer more lateral support - an important issue - than the mesh version which he rode. However this needs a bit more investigation.
Although he managed the brake levers on left and right bar ends, he did find it tricky to stop in a straight line because of the difference in reaction time between left and right hands. Fortunately it is possible to combine both left and right brake functions on a single lever on the right bar end, so this rates a must have.

After the test rides we spend an interesting half hour playing with the folding side of things, including actually popping the trike into my car boot! Very easy and quick and very interesting .......... !! Still got to work out how to transport a wheelchair as well though! I can see a change of car coming up for discussion!! Or possibly an infaltible wheelchair :-)

Since then Dave Gardner has, true to his word, produced a full quote for Dougs trike plus all options.
This leaves us with a decision to make on the seat and on tyres. Oh ... and on bags as well :-) Doug does like to travel with a toolkit and spare tubes and ,,,, and ....

I cannot think of an adequate way to thank all those who contributed to this appeal.
Dougs own words say it all - when he was wakened up on Monday morning .. "This is the first time for 2 years that I have wakened up with a smile on my face!!!"

Iain

Big thanks to all from Dougies dad.

2010-05-04T09:35:00.000+01:00

I apologise for the delay in thanking ALL those who contributed to the Dougie Bike Appeal. It was a most wonderous effort by all and really had Doug quite tearful!!
I sincerely hope we will be able to report great progress in obtaining a suitable bike for him within the next few weeks. We have had a very productive conversation with a guy in Glasgow who specialises in folding recumbents and this seems like the most likely choice so far.
All hinges on Doug feeling comfortable with the set up and being able to handle the necessary controls etc.. (and you all know what he can be like on the issue of which is the best spec etc.!!!) Obviously the issues of vision and reaction time have to be considered as well so there is a lot to think about.
It is great to see Doug so enthused over a project. Does all our hearts good.

Once again we (Douglas, Iain and Sheena) can never adequately thank all who contributed for their generosity and kindness.

Iain Moffatt (Dougs Dad)

Dougie Appeal Bike can now be a reality

2010-04-02T23:02:00.000+01:00

Tonight I presented Dougie with two cheques, one for £3127.25 and another for £421 from Edinburgh Bike Co-op, he already had a cash sum of £100 so that brings the total raised in 6 weeks to £3648.25.
Dougie was totally gobsmacked by all the generous donations and how well people must think of him. He is now looking forward to trying to find the best bike that will suit him. Please be patient as it may take some time.

Dougie sends all his love and heartfelt thanks to all who gave whether it was a little or a lot.

Target smashed, Cheque to Dougie soon

2010-04-01T18:13:00.000+01:00

That's it folks, the final target for the Dougie Appeal Bike Fund has now been truly obliterated.
I have a small confession that the initial target stood at a lowly £1500, Which would have been enough to get Dougie started with a recumbent, if not the best. However due to eveyones generosity this was soon
surpassed so I udged the target and fudged the figures a little to come up with a new target of £2500. This we acheived last week. We were however waiting for Edinburgh Bike Co-op (Dougie's ex work) to have there AGM, they'd said they would have a whip round. Yesterday we were given the cash from that, they raised
£421 but what was even better was that the business then matched that with a further £421. So with that little
lot and a few more donations the fund now stands at £3580.15.
So I can now update the picture to the 100% version. I will be giving the Cheque to Dougie tomorrow so he can get on with the serious job of picking the right bike for him, It may take a while since it is a big decision and very important he gets it right.

So once again thanks to everyone, I'm sure he loves you all.
Or maybe it'll be like this one.

Nearly there at 90%

2010-03-17T23:07:00.000Z

Thanks once again to all you generous folks out there, you've all put a big smile on Dougies face, having now acheived 90% of our target. The DVD's from hotaches are selling well as is my old book collection (surely someone likes Dick Francis novels). The plan now is that once the appeal is wound up at the end of April 2010 we will present Dougie with a cheque. He and his dad will then finalise the details of the exact bike required and the kind of adaptions required for Dougies particular problems. This may take a while as it may require some travelling around etc to test bikes to make sure the final decision of bike is the right one.
So the appeal goes on, just remember though that any amount over target only means a better adapted bike in the end. So here's what 90% of the target looks like.

Four weeks now and we are at 80%

2010-03-10T21:43:00.000Z

Good news is we are now at 80% of target. Hopefully this will allow us to get Dougie back to independence on the new recumbent by Mid May. Thanks a lot to Diff and Hotaches for donating 20 "Commited 2" DVD's to sell at Alien for a greatly reduced rate of £10 each, all sales going to the appeal. The maps are now gone having raised lots of cash. Now it's time for my book collection which are now on show in the alien reception.
£2.50 a book or 5 for £10. As usual thanks to everyone who has donated and keep spreading the word.
Hurrah! here's the updated picture.

Three weeks in and it's 70% and rising.

2010-03-03T17:12:00.001Z

Once again thanks to all for your generous donations to the appeal, as you can see we have now passed the 70% point and we are not far short of the 80%. The maps have continued to sell well and are now much depleted, so I'll now move on to the booksale.
We went down to the HUB at Glentress today and left them with two more collecting tins. As expected he wis a well kent face doon there as well. Feels like the final push already, so please make sure that everyone who knows Dougie knows about the appeal and Blog. Time to pay back for all the good service he gave us at the Bike Co-Op over the years.

60%, What a brilliant day!

2010-02-26T15:42:00.000Z

Thanks, Thanks, Thanks to the person who has just made a fantastic donation to the appeal. Along with some other donations this has enabled me to update the appeal picture twice in the one day. The map sale at alien rock has also gone extremely well with £300 worth sold in the last week. Just goes to show how much money you can spend on maps over the years. I'm now looking at a load of books now read and languishing on the bookshelf never to be read (by me) again. Yep I'm thinking a book sale next.

There are now a couple of collection tins in the Edinburgh Bike Co-Op for those with loose change they need to get rid of.

50% and Rising

2010-02-26T11:59:00.001Z

Hi There. 2 weeks in and we've hit the 50% mark. Once again there have been a couple of very generous donaters. You know who you are and thanks on behalf of ourselves and Dougie once again. Dougie and his parents now know about the appeal and thankfully they are very touched that folks are supporting it. Please keep up the support and let others know about the appeal and the blog.
I've now added a donation button to the right to make things easier.
So here it is the 50% updated picture, Oh! it's so exciting.

40% of the bike already

2010-02-22T18:23:00.001Z

Yipee, Maps are now pretty much sold out. We did manage to sell them for a total of £170. We now have collection tins at A1 and A2. We also have plans for another couple of tins at other venues. We'll let you know when the deal is done. There have been a few very generous donaters and thanks once again to them.

So here it is the next unveiling of the future bike!

Thankfully people like a good map

2010-02-18T17:29:00.001Z

In only 24 hours the map sale has produced £115 for the fund, which can only be classed as excellent news.

Along with a couple of excellent donations, this allows us to reveal another bit of the target bike. Keep up the donations folks we can do this!

Maps for sale

2010-02-17T17:14:00.000Z

MAPS, MAPS, MAPS and MORE MAPS. Yep as part of the Bike for Dougie appeal I've just dropped of a load of second hand maps at alien for sale. They are mostly O.S. 50,000 but there are also some french ones. The cost is £2.50 for one map or 5 maps for £10. Get in soon they're sure to sell quickly.

Welcome to the Blog for the Dougie Appeal

2010-02-16T22:06:00.001Z

Hi there, Thanks for visiting our blog. Just to point out that I'm not Dougie. My names Steve Irvine and along with my wife Annette we are trying to raise some funds to get Dougie a recumbent trike rather than the on loan two person ton weight one he sometimes gets out on with Annette or others. The big trike can only be transported by trailer and with Dougies dad being no spring chicken this isn't really an option. So for the moment they get out and about in Dalkeith country park. If he had a fold up recumbent this could be transported in the back of a car greatly increasing the amount of cycling Dougie could do.

Our fundraising only started Friday 12th Feb 2010 at the alien rock bouldering comp, along with a a donation page at http://www.alienrock.co.uk/dougie%20appeal/Dougie.html. Every time we get 10% closer to the target we will post a new picture with a bit more of the new bike replacing the picture of the heavy trike.

So the good news is that we are now already able to post an updated picture.

Infact it's even better than that, we have raised 20%.

Yippee! a bit of recumbent wheel has appeared.
We can't afford to be complacent the fundraising is going to be a bit of a struggle but if you are a mate of Dougies or just someone who can empathise with his predicament please visit the donation page.
http://www.alienrock.co.uk/dougie%20appeal/Dougie.html.

Please note the account for the donations is in my name but rest assured all funds will go directly to the
dougie appeal.