ultracycle Niagara - New York
actionchallenge from Niagara to New York This fabulous route takes us on a 660 km journey from the city of Buffalo through thick forests and open farmland, over high mountains and rolling hills, along gushing rivers and into the historic homeland of the American Indians. If you love challenging cycling, stunning countryside and the bright lights of the city, then this challenge is tailor-made for you.
Fired up by our visit to Niagara Falls, we jump on our bikes and head deep into the countryside. As a peloton, we ride the Old Elk Run Road, a hilly rollercoaster ride with challenging climbs and fast downhill stretches through the traditional lands of the Algonquin Indians. We whizz through small farming towns, cycle along the banks of the Susquehanna River and stop to experience life in Wyoming County. We hit the foothills of the Endless Mountains, we climb into the Lackawanna Forest, we pedal through Bear Creek Preserve and we make our way over the Pocono Mountains. It’s a breathtaking, invigorating bike ride giving us a unique glimpse of rural North America.
As we cycle closer to NYC the pretty farmsteads give way to larger towns until we arrive in the city of Newark for our last night and a celebratory dinner with our cycling teammates. The next day we explore New York City before heading home with a fantastic sense of achievement and a peloton of new-found friends! at a glance trip highlights
● Activity: Cycling - road biking ● Visit Niagara Falls ● Location: Niagara and New York, USA ● Cycle over the Pcoono Mountains ● Duration: 10 days / 6 days cycling ● See rural America ● Difficulty: Tough ● Pedal deep into the Lackawanna Forest ● Distance: 662 km ● Cycle along the Delaware River ● When: September 2014 / June 2015 ● Ride the rollercoaster hills of the Alonquin Indians ● Group size: 15+ ● Shop in New York City
Action Challenge have been leading inspirational team adventures across the world for individuals, private groups, charities and corporate clients since 1999. Our trips enable people to experience the world’s most exhilarating locations, often in aid of charity. Our Ultra Ride series offers challenging cycling trips designed to test our endurance in exciting environments. Together we rise to the challenges, achieve formidable goals and forge friendships for life.
www.actionchallenge.com ultracycle Niagara - New York
introduction This fully-inclusive cycle in the USA will begin as soon as you register! You will receive September 2014 / June 2015 a challenge pack including a training guide, kit list and discounts for all the essentials you may need. If you are raising money for a charity, we will sort out all the formalities Please visit our website for more details so you can concentrate on your own preparation and fundraising. We offer pre-challenge briefings to prepare you for this tough and demanding trip. On the day of departure you will meet your group and Action Challenge leader at the airport in London. Whether All inclusive trip cost from £2,049 you’re joining the challenge on your own or with others, you will instantly be made to feel Initial £399 deposit to sign up welcome. As a team we will board our flight to Buffalo, ready to take on the route from Niagara to New York City and the challenging bike ride of a lifetime! Three payment options available. brief itinerary Please visit our website for more details
Day 1 Arrive in Buffalo / Niagara Day 6 Strousbourg Day 2 Olean Day 7 Celebratory dinner in Newark Day 3 Cycle to Wellsboro Day 8 Free day in New york Day 4 Wellsboro to Towanda Day 9 Depart USA Day 5 Cycle the Susquehanna River Day 10 Arrive UK what’s included · International flights · Action Challenge cycle leader · Full support team, including local cycle guides · UK medic · Support vehicles · All accommodation · All meals, except in free time · Airline taxes This is a moderate challenge as we will be · Treated drinking water cycling in excess of 80 km every day and · All transfers in local vehicles be in the saddle for around 5-6 hours per day, over hilly terrain. It is therefore · Celebration dinner necessary to have a good level of Invitation to a challenge briefing in London · cardiovascular fitness. · Fitness and training guide · Discounts from UK retailers · Reduced rates at Nomad Travel Clinics and Masta Health Why not stay on after the challenge and explore some more of New York’s highlights? Please email us for more information
The best times to travel are between May and September when the days are long and warm with temperatures in the low 20’s during the day and,typically around 18 degrees Celsius at night. It is, however, important to expect changeable weather.
+44 (0) 207 609 6695 www.actionchallenge.com [email protected] ultracycle Niagara - New York
itinerary
DAY 1 - Depart UK
We depart from the UK on our day flight to Buffalo. We transfer directly to Niagara Falls to see one of North Americas’ most famous sites, the great Niagara Falls. We then transfer to our Hotel in downtown Buffalo where we have a welcome meal before a good night’s sleep.
Meals: L,D* Accom: Flight / Hotel* (*dependent on flight schedule)
DAY 2 - Niagara Falls Our hotel is in the centre of town and after a good early breakfast we start our ride through the downtown area. We move together for the first ten kilometres as we get to the outskirts of Buffalo, past the American Football stadium and the suburb of North Boston where we stop for a break at Georges Restaurant. Once out of town we are • Eight nights in comfortable 2/3* hotels quickly in the lush countryside and we soon arrive at the towns of Springville where we rest and have some good food. From here we have our tough 260 m climb before its All accommodation is on a twin/triple- almost downhill all the way to our hotel in the town of Olean. share, single-sex basis and we will pair you with someone of a similar age, where Meals: B,L,D Accom: Hotel Distance: 119 km Total Climb: 895 m possible. DAY 3 - Wellsboro If you wish to share a room with someone Today is our longest and toughest in the saddle as we make our way along the valleys you are travelling with, please specify this of the Denton Hill National Park. We follow the Pine Creek River for part of the day, on your registration form. which flows into Pine Creek Canyon, Pennsylvania's very own Grand Canyon. The quality of the roads today are very good and we should pass quickly through the towns of Shinglehouse, Sweden and Manhattan, before eventually arriving in Wellsboro. Tonight we stay in one of the town’s historic central hotels.
Meals: B,L,D Accom: Hotel Distance: 131km Total Climb: 927 m If you decide that you would like to have your own room on the challenge, we can accommodate this in the majority of DAY 4 - Towanda places. We begin our day with a rollercoaster ride over the hills of the Old Elk Run Road as we Please email us for more information head east through the historic lands of the Algonquin Indians. We have lunch and breaks in the farming towns of Charleston, Sylvania, Troy and Burlington en route to Towanda where we rest for the night.
Meals: B,L,D Accom: Motel Distance: 99 km Total Climb: 828 m
DAY 5 - Wilkes Barre • Insurance - approximately £60 • Visa waiver program - £15 We leave Towanda, cycling along the banks of the pretty Susquehanna River. After • Vaccinations - up-to-date on boosters. lunch in Tunkhannock, we head into Wyoming County and soon hit the foothills of the • Tips for local staff - recommended Endless Mountains, which form part of the great Appalachian range. As we approach amount $50 the West Coast, the towns we pass through increase in size and tonight we stay in • Airline fuel surcharge / supplement as Wilkes-Barre with a population of half a million, the biggest town we have passed since applied by airlines. Please note that this leaving Buffalo. is capped at a maximum of £150.
Meals: B,L,D Accom: Motel Distance: 111km Total Climb: 1172 m
+44 (0) 207 609 6695 www.actionchallenge.com [email protected] ultracycle Niagara - New York
DAY 6 - Stroudsburg
We start on our shortest day with only 81 km’s of riding although the good hard climb in Breakfasts each morning will be at the to the hills to the east of Wilkes-Barre which give us great views over the route that we accommodation, lunch en-route and cycled yesterday. It’s a great day of cycling today as we make our way through evening meals will be at the spectacular scenery, into the Lackawanna Forrest, through Bear Creek Preserve, over accommodation or in a local restaurant. the Pocono Mountains with its very own lake district and then dropping down into All meals are provided apart from those in Stroudsburg. Tonight is our last night before we reach Newark and the end of our free time. challenge. We can cater for all dietary requirements Meals: B,L,D Accom: Hotel Distance: 81 km Total Climb: 1040m if informed in advance.
DAY 7 - Newark A kit list will be sent to you on receipt of Our ride takes us through small, pretty farmsteads that gradually give way to the larger registration. Many everyday items can be towns of Hackettstown, Ironia, Morristown and Vauxhall as we get closer to Newark. used on this challenge, and we offer a kit We end our cycle at our hotel in Newark, where we relax before our celebratory dinner hire service to keep costs down. tonight to mark our achievement and the end of an incredible challenge.
Meals: B,L,D Accom: Hotel Distance: 121 km
If you are planning on travelling to the DAY 8 - Free Day USA before the challenge or wish to organise your own flights, we do offer a Today we make our way into New York City for a free day to enjoy the sights. land only option, with a significant discount off the trip price. You will be required to meet your group at the hotel on day two of the itinerary. DAY 9 - Depart New York City Please email us for more information We transfer to Newark Airport in time for our return flight to London.
• Road Bike (can be hired) DAY 10 - Arrive UK • Alcoholic drinks • Drinks and food outside of meals, other than water topography • Airline fuel surcharge / supplement as applied by airlines. Please note that this is capped at a maximum of £150. Altitude
Distance
+44 (0) 207 609 6695 www.actionchallenge.com [email protected] ultracycle Niagara - New York
payment options A REGISTRATION DEPOSIT of £399 (for 2014) is required to secure your place. We ATOL is a scheme that protects you from offer 2 deposit payment options: losing money or being stranded abroad if your travel company collapses. Action OPTION 1: Deposit paid in full, by card at the time of registration. Challenge is 100% ATOL bonded, which provides you with full financial protection. OPTION 2: Deposit paid in two 50/50 split payments. The first 50% is paid when you On receipt of your registration fee, you will register and the second is charged to your payment card at the end of the following receive an ATOL certificate explaining month. For this option, a £10 supplement will be charged with the first instalment. your protection.
Once registered, there are 3 PAYMENT OPTIONS to fund the balance of the trip cost. Full details are on our website.
1) SELF FUNDED
For anyone who wants to pay for the entire trip themselves. It’s then completely up to you whether or not you choose to raise any money for a charity of your choice.
The total all inclusive cost of this trip is £2,049 (for 2014), which, after you pay the £399 Registration Deposit, leaves a balance of £1,650. This final balance is due for payment how to book 10 weeks before your departure along with any fuel surcharges levied by the airline. To book on to this challenge, please visit 2) SPONSORSHIP FUNDED our website; www.actionchallenge.com for a full list of prices and all available This is for anyone who wants to take on this challenge and will link it with fundraising a dates. significant sum of money for a charity of their choice. You would have to raise at least £3,300 (for 2014) via sponsorship and donations from friends, family and colleagues, private groups and be confident at the outset that you can achieve this total. If you are a charity, business, school or Pay the Registration Deposit and nominate a charity to fundraise for. All fundraising private group with a minimum of 10 goes directly to your charity and providing that you raise at least £3,300 (for 2014), your people and fancy your own bespoke trip, charity will pay for the balance of your trip costs to Action Challenge. That balance, paid please call us on +44(0)20 7609 6695 by your charity, is £1,650 (the same as if you were you were ‘Self Funded’) - the charity or you can send us an email to will retain at least £1,650 to help fund their work. You will have to pay any airline fuel [email protected] surcharges 10 weeks prior to departure. for more information.
3) MIXED FUNDED
A mix of the 2 options above! You pay about half the trip cost yourself, and also @actionchallenge fundraise for your charity. They pay the remaining balance of your trip costs. Ideal for anyone who wants to take on the challenge and also fundraise for a charity, BUT is happy to pay a reasonable proportion of the trip cost themselves, which with your www.facebook.com/actionchallenge registration deposit, is set at a level that covers at least the costs of flights & accommodation; perfect for those who feel more at ease asking for sponsorship in respect to the ‘challenge’ component of their trip.
Pay the Registration Deposit and nominate a charity to fundraise for. All fundraising Action Challenge UK Ltd goes directly to your charity and providing that you raise at least £2,475 (for 2014), your United House charity will pay a portion of your trip cost to Action Challenge. That balance, paid by your North Road charity, is £1,000. At the same time, you will be required to pay the remaining balance London yourself, which will be a figure of £650 (These two amounts add up to the same as the N7 9DP ‘Self Funded’ final balance) - the charity will retain at least £1,475 to help fund their United Kingdom work. You will have to pay any airline fuel surcharges 10 weeks prior to departure.
+44 (0) 207 609 6695 www.actionchallenge.com [email protected]