Jane Lodge

Completed Silk Route with TdA in 2012. Live in Perth Western Australia. Looking forward to retirement so that I can do more cycling.

Maureen Lanuke

Hi. My name is Maureen, and I am passionate about bicycle touring and anything to do with bicycles. The uniqueness of Madagascar has always intrigued me, and I can't think of a better way to explore it than by bicycle. I have cycled the Orient Express and Canada 150 trips with TDA, and have participated in, or led many bike tours through Canada, the States, France, Italy, New Zealand, and Australia - both supported and self-support, and am hoping to be able to do many more rides on my bucket list while the mind and the body are still willing and able! I'm looking forward to meeting my fellow adventurers on this magical adventure!

Wayne Grover

Wayne Grover is a retired Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, his professional life encompassed time with the military, with Bell North Research as a Research Engineer, then as founding VP Research for TRLabs, and as a full Professor (ECE) at the University of Alberta. He has over 150 peer-reviewed published articles, one book, and 38 patented inventions. Among other awards and recognitions he is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, a Commonwealth Scholar to the UK, Fellow of the Institute of Electrical Engineers, Life Fellow of the Alberta Association of Professional Engineers, Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada, and Professor Emeritus University of Alberta. As a cyclist, he is a past Hawaii Ironman and an Alumni of five other TDA rides before Trans Europa. From July to December last year he rode 14,500 km from Fairbanks, Alaska to the Panama Canal, accompanying fellow TDA Alumnus Bob Fletcher as he set the Guinness World Record for the longest e-bike ride to date.

Desyree Lotter

Christiane Selenz

This is my seventh tour with TdA. The first one was 2010 in the Eastern European countries which got me hooked to this kind of travelling. Now, I am curious to explore Korea and Japan from the saddle of my bike. So looking forward to meet old and new riders.

Mike Gemus

60-year-old male. Avid cyclist for 25 years. Several tours completed, including a Trans-Am. Second time TDA participant.

Heather Bruce

I am a retired French Immersion teacher and have decided that I need to take advantage of opportunities that present themselves. In 2017 I completed the 3 eastern sections of the Oh Canada Tour; Winnipeg to St. John's Nfld. Doing the first 2 sections of this tour will make my cross Canada adventure complete.

Peter Plesník

Hi, my name is Peter Plesník and I work as a shop assistent and bicycle mechanic. I'll be your mechanic on this tour and I am looking forward to meeting you all :-)

Vilma Plesníková

Hello everybody, my name is Vilma. I like going to the nature by bike or just for a walk whenever it is possible. Bottle of water, some snack, camera and good weather - what could be better :-) See you soon

Jane Bloodworth

I live in Melbourne. I love cycling long distances with the assistance of TDA.

Maxime Dionne

"Travelling, moving, waking up every day in a new place means I have a thousand memories of different homes all around the world."

I used to work in an office developing softwares in Quebec City and one day I decided to quit that lifestyle. Being able to take only a trip or two per year wasn’t enough anymore—I needed to travel full time. In 2013, I bought a bicycle (that's right, I only had one from Canadian Tire at the time, but I quickly concluded a Surly LHT would better fit my needs) and went on my first bike tour, solo, starting from home and riding through Canada, the US, and Haiti. A year later, I was in Vancouver looking for a job and someone told me about TDA and their recruitment ad for Australia. I applied, bought an airline ticket to meet TDA in Adelaide, and the following month I was enjoying my new outdoor office from the saddle of my bike!

An incredible country I've cycled through is Haiti. The scenery is stunning and every 100 kilometres is an adventure, but best of all is the local folklore. I have many stories about this mysterious country and one of my favourites is about the werewolf living on the island. The Haitian werewolf is a shape-shifter able to impersonate any animal. It transforms at night—any night, even if there's no moon—and is always looking to feast on human flesh. The only way to avoid an assured death at this creature’s hands is to sleep in a house with a roof. I like to bush camp while cycling and Haiti was no different. I would sleep out in my sleeping bag in the mountains or on the beach, sometimes in my tent, sometimes under the stars. Every night the locals would warn me about the werewolf, genuinely worried I’d be eaten as I slept. Some invited me into their homes, and once a group of five friends volunteer to check on me every hour of the night. People were surprised every morning I woke up alive and some started to believe the werewolf didn't have an appetite for strangers.

There are a few reasons I like to travel so much: for one thing, I always want to have new adventures and face new challenges. And I love discovering new things—food, stories, places, people, cultures … you name it! With TDA, any and everything can happen—we’re constantly exploring the globe and we introduce fresh tours every year. As you can imagine, scouting and leading tours fulfill my desire for the new to perfection.

Will Rafferty

I am from Tasmania, Australia and completed the Tour d'Afrique in 2015 as a rider. I enjoyed the experience so much that it compelled me to seek work with TDA Global Cycling. I have since worked on the Trans-Oceania & Oh Canada Tours and am looking forward to what i expect to be the best trip yet! I look forward to getting to know you all :)

Paul ten Brummelhuis

As former participant in the Tourdafrique ( in sections) and the Silkroute (2016) and the first section to Calgary together with my daughter Lieke, and Westafrica en Velo 2018, I will do now the last two sections again .

Lieke ten Brummelhuis

I live in Canada for 4 years now, originally from the Netherlands. I love biking, and I love Canada, so biking through Canada seems like a perfect fit. I am very excited to finally get the "TDA experience", just like my dad and sister.

Michael Morgan

A Kiwi who moved to Victoria, BC for a few years and is now permanently living in Melbourne, Australia. Still working part time after a corporate career across several different companies in plastics. Married to Jane (who is also on this tour) and have four children. We both took up cycling 7 years ago and have been to Vietnam, Cambodia and NZ on shorter cycling tours. Jane and I are currently building our kilometres to hopefully enable us to enjoy rather than endure the Orient Express ride. Other interests include yacht racing and 4x4 touring in outback Australia.

Clement Lam

This is my Fifth time cyclo-touring with TDA. The other four times were portions of Orient Express (Vienna to Istanbul, 2007), Silk Road (Shanghai to Dushanbe, 2012), North American Epic (Anchorage to Fort St. John, 2015) and Oh Canada (Winnipeg to Quebec City, 2017). I enjoy travelling and cycling very much so TDA tours are perfect match. I look forward to meeting like-minded friends on this trip.

Jane Tagney

Alex Klopfer

I live in Vancouver, I'm 73 ... will turn 74 on the trip. Looking forward to meeting everybody. Alex Klopfer

Clifford Barnett

I am an avid cyclist that started cycling with the Edmonton Bicycle and Touring club in 1986. In the early 1990's I joined the Rocky Mountain Randonneurs and did the Paris-Brest-Paris in 1995. The past ten years I have been commuting back and forth to work on my Mountain Bike. May 28, 2017 I when out for the first time this year and completed a 100 km ride and signed up for the trip the next day.

Rob Waghorn

I retired early and have enjoyed my bike riding a lot since then, so I am looking forward to another challenging trip. I have enjoyed riding long distance events for all my years of cycling. I have completed classics such as Land's End to John O'Groats in the UK and also various Audax events from 200K to 1400K. I have also raced in events of 12 & 24 Hours. In the last few years I have taken part in The Andes Trail and a journey across West Africa, both with another company similar to TDA. I did the North American Epic with TDA in 2013. Also Oh! Canada with TDA in 2017. In 2018 I rode from Lhasa to Timbuktu over The Himalayas with another cycle touring company based in the UK. So looking forward to meeting some more intrepid riders on the journey through Europe.

Robert Rowley

"Oh Canada, Oh Canada, Where art thou?", Robert Shakespeare Rowley says, " I am excited to be cycling across this great country meeting interesting people, seeing pretty scenery and rolling along on pavement." On my last two tours I did Tour D' Afrique in 2012 and the Silk Route in 2014. I experienced long days in the saddle, early sunrises, sharing tea and vodka with the locals, had mechanical and physical breakdowns and produced three talent shows when the moral was down. I've learned that what is most important on these lengthy bicycle rides is getting along with everyone. It doesn't matter how good a cyclist I am. I just have to be able to self manage myself. I sit here imagining pushing the pedals with the wind at my back as we glide over the wind swept prairies toward Winnipeg. There is less than 90 days left until June 3. "There are miles to go before I sleep," Robert Frost writes. So, get after it, ride your kilo - meters before hand so you're ready to pedal OH CANADA!

Stirling Lee

I probably like cycling more than cycling likes me. That means I will probably be at the rear of the group but I have completed every trip I have been on. I enjoy eating enormous amounts of food, cycling means I do not gain weight while eating. I also speak a little of any language in any part of the world we are likely to travel in.