A Compendium Of Lost Tours

Having just added the new Amber Route Cycling Tour to our schedule for 2027, it might be a good time to look back at some other tours that, for one reason or another, have slipped off the TDA Tour schedule. Will any of them return in the future? Well, as the old saying goes, ‘Never say never.’

Indian Adventure (RIP 2014)

I remember scouting this route with by Shanny back in 2010. Let’s just say the experience was, well, adventurous! For a month we roamed the backroads of India, plotting a way to get from Agra and the Taj Mahal to Kanyakumari at the southern tip of the subcontinent. The result was that in January 2011, a group of eager cyclists, including Founder Henry Gold, left Agra and headed out into the countryside.

Unfortunately, almost 2 months later, as the tour left the beautiful royal city of Mysore, Henry was attacked by elephant. I was awakened by a call in the middle of the night from Shanny who was leading the tour. Quite a way to wake up! While Henry suffered some serious injuries, he did recover but never returned to complete the route. Maybe some day..

The Indian Adventure ran again in 2012 and 2014 but the elephant issues in Southern India continued to be a concern so in 2016, we decided to shorten the tour, end it in Goa and rename it as the Hippie Trail. In 2026 The inaugural Tea Route Cycling Tour will herald our return to Southern India but in an area far from the elephants!

Fat Bike Lake Winnipeg (RIP 2106)

A precursor to a planned Antarctic Cycling Expedition (Seriously!), we wrote “Who says you can’t ride your bike on a frozen lake in the middle of the winter and then camp out for a night or three? Not us. As part of our preparations for the first commercial fat bike expedition to the South Pole, we are hosting a winter fat bike training camp on Lake Winnipeg.”

In the end 10 riders took part including Founder Henry Gold who recalled, “Yes it was fun. How could that be? Well, when you get your hands on the brand new Specialized Fatboy carbon bike, with studded 45NRTH tires, you pedal and get a nice momentum on the freshly packed snow only to suddenly sink 10 inches and zoom, now you’re rolling in the snow, with that white stuff covering your face. You can only laugh because, if you are 64 years old like I am, and you fall and nothing – and I mean nothing – hurts (except maybe your ego that is if you are foolish enough to believe that falling into snow is embarrassing).”

French Connection (RIP 2016)

In 2015, a cyclist who took part in the 2012 Silk Route responded to our automated birthday greeting by wishing us well and noting that he was about to cycle from Montreal to New Orleans, the 2 great francophone cities in North America. Henry added the idea to his Future projects file and soon enough the French Connection came to pass, with the addition of historic Quebec City to the start.

We suggested many reasons to join the tour noting “Quebec City was founded way back in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain, making it one of the oldest European settlements in North America while New Orleans was founded just over a 100 years later in 1717 by the French Mississippi Company, under the direction of Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville. See how these 2 cities have managed to retain their unique French culture in a sea of English-speaking North Americans.”

Oh, Canada (RIP 2017)

We are a Canadian company so when we realized that the year 2017 was the country’s 150th birthday, obviously we decided to celebrate by planning a tour from British Colombia’s Haida Gwaii Islands on the Pacific coast to St. John’s, Newfoundland on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean.

The route ended up being 98 days and crossed all 10 Canadian provinces. Along the way the 22 cyclists who joined the party learned about Indigenous culture, Prairie myths, Maple syrup, Upper & Lower Canada and the history of the Acadian people.

At the end of their journey at historic Signal Hill in St John’s everyone agreed that, “the variation in scenery – mountains, seas, prairies, lakes and coastlines – meant that we really did experience the great country that is Canada, celebrating its 150th birthday in the best way possible!”

West Africa (RIP 2018)

Originally conceived as an western counterpart to the Tour d’Afrique, the plan was for Casablanca – Cape Town. Once we started to do some research, however, it became clear that there were some serious issues such as security in Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo not to mention the intricate bureaucratic dance required to obtain a visa for Angola! Well, if it couldn’t be Cape Town, then we’d settle for Cape Coast in Ghana.

Personally, this is one tour I hope returns from the dead. As one 2018 rider put it, ““An incredible experience: challenging riding, fascinating cultures, tough conditions, brutal heat and humidity, and great company! I’m a fairly intrepid traveller, but I would never have tackled West Africa on my own, and the staff and fellow riders made it so enjoyable.”

Carnival (RIP 2018)

We will do almost anything to avoid cancelling a tour…and this one proves that we are not exaggerating. Three, yes, count’em 3, riders enjoyed this ride down the coast of Brazil. When we came up with the concept, another tour on the South American continent, it seemed like a a winner – an incredible month long ride to Carnival in Rio along Northeast Brazil’s stunning, sun-drenched coast. Who wouldn’t want to do that?

In the end, only 11 riders signed up and then 8 of them cancelled. It just goes to prove that you can’t win them all!

Pura Vida (RIP 2021)

We all know what happened in 2020 and for 18 months, we were unable to run any tours. As a result, we had lots of time to plan for the eventual end to the pandemic. Border restrictions were still quite severe as COVID petered out so we tried to plan rides that didn’t cross borders and were in countries whose health requirements were more straightforward.

So in December 2021, 23 cyclists from the US, Canada & Europa enjoyed a 3 week jaunt through Costa Rica’s verdant scenery. You may ask why we haven’t run this tour again? Well, in 2019 we extended the route of the North American Epic through Costa Rica and now that borders are open again, riders who want to cycle that country can do so as part of our North American tour.

TDA’s Great American Roadtrip (RIP 2021)

By early 2021 we were all deeply feeling the words of Willie Nelson – “On the road again Just can’t wait to get on the road again.” This trans-America ride from Santa Monica, California to Savannah, Georgia would be our first after COVID and as we noted in our scouting report before it began, “In normal times we would run a scouting trip well before the tour is planned but, as we all know too well, these are not normal times!”

Despite our apprehension, our return to long distance cycling tour was a complete success! As one rider put it, “The Great American Road Trip was great all around. Great route, great food and great support. From the flat deserts of California, to the rolling hills of the Texas Hill Country, the tour showcased the variety of the American landscape.”

Trans-Caucasus (RIP 2022)

Although the COVID pandemic was loosening its grip on the world in 2022, many countries maintained health restrictions and that meant that we could not run the Silk Route Expedition as planned in 2022. Instead, we decided to try to save at least a part of the journey, that is, the stages from Tbilisi in Georgia to Istanbul, Turkey.

A good crowd showed up and we managed to successfully complete the ride. Intent on improving the route in 2024, we decided to add a start in Yerevan, Armenia. We believed that cycling through this ancient land would be an added bonus for our riders. Unfortunately, an ancient squabble between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region led to this tour being cancelled for good.

Ruta Maya (RIP 2023)

This one is personal! In 2011 we were looking for a new tour in a part of the world that we hadn’t already covered. At some point in the brainstorming (OK, Friday afternoon beer sessions), I mentioned that the Mayan calendar was predicting the end of the world on December 21, 2012. From that emerged the Doomsday Ride (best tour name, ever!), starting in San Jose, Costa Rica and ending at the Mayan Lamanai Temple in Belize on the day the world would end.

I was lucky enough to be sent with my good friend and fellow TDA staffer, Cristiano, to scout the route. Amongst the many unforgettable memories of that experience was venturing far off into the Honduran jungle looking for an ill-advised short cut and losing all 4 brakes as the sun began to set…no service, no nothing. This challenging adventure ran again in 2015, 2016 and 2023 as the renamed Ruta Maya but serious logistical issues have put this on the shelf…for now.