Andrea Deaton Christensen/Jon Christensen
Biking Amsterdam to Brugge
SUMMARY OF TRIP INFORMATION
Biking Amsterdam to Brugge
Leader Andrea Deaton Christensen
Co-leader Jon Christensen
Amsterdam, Netherlands to Bruges, Belgium
May 25- June 5, 2016
Total # of days 12
Backpacking
Bicycling-Mountain
Bicycling-Road
Title of trip
Leadership
Location(s)
Dates
Type of trip
check all that apply
Primary type of trip
Number of participants
(excluding leaders)
Advertised cost
Airfare range if not included
When should the trip notice be
published in AMC Outdoors?
Do you wish to have your trip
listed online before it is
published in AMC Outdoors?
Smaller trips and leader
subsidization
Camping
Cultural
Family
Hiking
Paddling-Canoeing
Paddling-Sea-Kayaking
Skiing-CrossCountry (Nordic)
Trekking (e.g., hutto-hut)
Bicycling-Road
Minimum 10
Skiing-Downhill
Snorkeling
(Alpine)
Walking
Other – please describe
Select one of those checked above.
Maximum 14
$ 2500
Does it include airfare? Yes
No
$ 1500-2000
Will leaders assist participants with flights? Yes
No
First Appearance: Month Jan
Year 2015
Last Appearance: Month May
Year 2016
Note: AMC Outdoors is only published in Jan., March, May, July, Sept., Nov.
Yes
No If yes, please list the approximate month and year when it should
be posted on line.
Is this proposal for a small group trip – i.e., less than 14 participants and 2
leaders or 7 participants and 1 leader? Yes
No
If yes, why is a small group proposed?
If a participant fee increase of more than 15% is proposed, please explain why?
LEADER AND CO-LEADER INFORMATION
Leader name
Leader address
Leader email
Leader phone
Wilderness first aid
training
CPR training
Prior leading experience
Trip one
Trip two
Trip three
Other related trip
Form Revised February 2014
Andrea Deaton Christensen
PO Box 458, Moose, WY 83012
andrea.deaton@gmail.com
Home 307-201-5912
Work
WFA
AWFA
WFR
Expiration: 06/2016
Cell 267-738-8048
CPR
BLS
Expiration: 06/2016
If this is your first Adventure Travel trip as a Leader you must be present at the AMCATC meeting at which the trip proposal is considered.
Please list the last three longer (5+ day) trips you have led for the AMC including
destination, type of trip, dates and number of participants. Feel free to list additional
trips you have led, particularly if they demonstrate experience related to the trip you are
proposing.
Nepal, Annapurna Base Camp trek, Nov.2011, 15 days, 13 participants
Costa Rica, hiking, 15 days, April 2011, 9 participants
Hawai'i backpacking, 17 days, Dec 2010-Jan 2011, 8 participants
other trips led: Patagonia backpacking Dec/Jan 2008-09, New Zealand backpacking
Adventure Travel Trip Proposal Form, page 1 of 6
Andrea Deaton Christensen/Jon Christensen
Biking Amsterdam to Brugge
experience
Dec/Jan 2007-08; Yosemite NP backpacking August 2007; Kilimanjaro summit & safari
Dec/Jan 2006-07; Colorado Maroon Bells backpack Aug 2006; Belize Multi-Sport March
2006; Wyoming (Grand Teton/Y;stone) backpacking August 2005; Tuscany cycling Sept
2004 . Trips proposed: Thailand Dec 2014-Jan 2015, Patagonia (co-lead) Feb 2015;
South Africa, Sept. 2015
Co-leader name
Co-leader address
Co-leader email
Co-leader phone
Wilderness first aid training
CPR training*
Prior leading experience
Trip one
Jon Christensen
PO Box 458, Moose, WY 83012
jlcnpsla@netscape.net
Home 307-201-5912
Work
Cell 307-690-1869
WFA
AWFA
WFR
Expiration: 5/2015
CPR
BLS
Expiration: 5/2015
If you are a new co-leader you must submit an application to be an Adventure Travel
leader or co-leader prior to submitting this application. Also, it is strongly
recommended that you be present at the AMC-ATC meeting at which the trip proposal
is considered.
Please list the last three longer (5+ day) trips you have led for the AMC including
destination, type of trip, dates and number of participants. Please indicate if you were
the leader or co-leader.
proposed Thailand: Culture, Coral, and Cooking, December 2014, co-leader; proposed
South Africa, September 2015
Trip two
Trip three
Other related trip experience
Scouting
Have either of you led this trip
before or traveled to this area?
Languages
Does either the co-leader or
leader speak the local language?
Couples
Do the leader and co-leader
have a significant personal
relationship?
Private trips Do either of you
lead trips that are private - not
sponsored by the AMC?
White Mountain Hut to Hut trip June 2012, 15 participants, co-leader with Andrea
Yellowstone trip, August 2012, helped with trip leading for 3 days with Roger Scholl
and Barb Dyer who were trip leaders. 16 participants
Grand Teton family trip, July 2012, helped with trip leading for 3 days with Heather &
Steve DePaola; 12 Adult plus Child participants; graduate of AMC Mountain
Leadership School, June 2012
Yes
No
If yes, please describe below:
Both Andrea and Jon have been to Amsterdam and Jon has been to Bruges. Neither of
us has biked from one city to the other, though.
Co-leader: Yes
No
Leader: Yes
No
Not applicable:
Yes
No
If yes, please list who has agreed to be your back-up in case one or
both of you need to drop out. This is required for approval!
Backup leader if we have less than 14 participants: Mike Barry will serve as leader. If
we have the total # of participants (14) then Mike Barry will lead and Cindy Martell
will be the co-leader with Mike.
Yes
No
If yes, please note that you cannot advertise AMC and private
trips together unless there is a clear distinction between the two in any materials
you send out.
LOGISTICAL DETAILS OF TRIP
Summary
Please provide a description
of the trip and the activities
planned. If available, please
include or attach an itinerary.
Accommodations
Please describe your plans for
accommodation(s)
Form Revised February 2014
This trip is focused on bicycling through the countryside and towns of the Netherlands
enroute from Amsterdam to the town of Brugge in Belgium. There will be one day of
sightseeing in each of Amsterdam and Brugge with opportunities to enjoy the scenery,
attractions and small towns along the way. The route will primarily follow the extensive
dutch system of separated bicyle routes. Bikes will be rented from and luggage will be
transported each day by an outfitter.
Our accommodations will mostly be in 2 and 3 star hotels, some larger "chain" type, and
others smaller and privately owned. All will be double accommodations and are selected
with a key criteria of allowing us to store our bikes securely overnight.
Adventure Travel Trip Proposal Form, page 2 of 6
Andrea Deaton Christensen/Jon Christensen
Biking Amsterdam to Brugge
Meals: Please describe your
plans for providing meals. If
the budget includes any funds
for leader meals not shared
with the group please justify.
Local Transportation
Please describe your plans for
local transportation
Will leaders or participants be
drivers of motor vehicles?
Permits or permissions
Does the trip require special
permits or permissions?
(required on many U.S.
federal lands and national
parks)
Special equipment
Does the trip require special
equipment?
Breakfasts will be at each hotel (and will be included in the trip price). For lunches we
will stop along the way either at a deli or restaurant, or purchase items to have a picnic
along the way (we will have saddlebags to carry food). Dinners will be in restaurants in
the towns where we are overnighting. Lunches and dinners costs are not included in the
trip fee, but research will be done ahead of time to select interesting options as well as
make reservations for the group, if necessary. The welcome and goodbye dinners are
included in the trip fee. The leaders chose to do a land-based trip specifically to be able
to take advantage of the unique traits of each town in the evenings and to be able to meet
and interact with the people who live there and the culture (instead of a barge/boat tour
where all meals are taken on the boat but explorations are more limited).
We will not have any car transport except in case of emergency. While in the city of
Amsterdam we will either walk, take the metro or ride our bikes. We will ride bikes all
the way to Bruges, and then take the train back to Amsterdam together. Our luggage will
be transported by our outfitter, each day to our new hotel, but we will not be
accompanying them unless there is some emergency whereby a participant cannot
continue to bike. We will also have emergency roadside assistance available to us
provided by the outfitter.
Will leaders be drivers?
Will volunteer participants be drivers?
If so, MVR checks will be needed. See Appendix S1.
Yes
No
If yes, please describe below what you will need to do to obtain them:
If no, please describe the process you went through to find out that they were not
required:
Yes
No
If yes, please describe below what type of equipment and how you
will ensure that people know how to use it:
We are renting bikes and they come with locks, panniers and bags. Participants will be
required to bring their own helmets to meet AMC safety requirements (as helmets are not
often used by the Dutch while using the bike path system and are therefore not readily
available ).
Yes
No
If yes, please describe below what type of experience? Also describe
how you will ensure that the participant has this experience?
Participants must be able to ride approximately 30 miles a day at about a 10-15 mph
pace.
Yes
No
If yes, please describe below what you will do:
Not sure.
Special experience
Does the trip require special
skills on the part of the
participant?
Pre-trip activities
Do you plan to get your group
together before the trip for an
activity or social event?
Conservation, education and
recreation
How will this AMC-AT trip meet the
mission of the AMC?
www.outdoors.org/about/mission.cfm
Recreation: We will be actively recreating each day by bicycling from town to
town.
Education: We will be learning about Dutch and Belgian cultures by visiting
various sights of historic interest and immersing ourselves in those cultures.
Conservation: We will be travelling primarily by bicycle with a supplement of
public transportation and discussing the environmental benefits of that mode as a
primary means of travel by the Dutch people and contrasting that will the
environmental impacts of the Dutch engineering of canals, dikes and reclaiming
land from the ocean.
TOUR OPERATOR AND GUIDE SERVICE INFORMATION
This section should be completed if the trip will be using a tour operator, outfitter, guide service, travel agency or
other such company or person(s) for a significant part of the trip or for the entire trip. Any person(s) or companies
that are handling a significant portion of trip funds or arrangements need to be vetted. If there is more than one
tour operator please provide this information about each such entity.
Will this trip require a tour
Yes
No
Form Revised February 2014
Adventure Travel Trip Proposal Form, page 3 of 6
Biking Amsterdam to Brugge
operator or guide service
during part of or for the
entire trip?
Name of tour operator/guide
service
Tour operator website
Safety record
Please provide information
about their safety record.
Insurance
Do they have liability
insurance?
Emergency response
Please describe the outfitters’
response plan in the case of an
emergency.
Andrea Deaton Christensen/Jon Christensen
Please describe their services. If you are using a tour operator for the entire trip,
please describe why you will be using them rather than doing this trip on your own:
Although the trip is self-guided (no guide going with us), we are using a company to
provide our bike rental, itinerary and route suggestions, hotel booking and luggage
transfer. They will also provide emergency roadside assistance if we need it.
Dutch Bike Tours Molenveldlaan 110 NL-6523 RM NIJMEGEN Nederland
Telephone +31(0)24 3244712
www.dutchbiketours.com
The outfitter will not be guiding the trip and the bicycles will be self propelled. Bicycles
will be inspected by the outfitter, the leaders and each particpant prior to use. The
company has been vetted by Nancy Holland.
Liability? Yes
No
Maximum amt: $ 1.5 million Euros
Are they willing to list AMC as an
Yes
No
additional insured?
Since there will be no guide with us, the leaders will serve in this capacity. Leaders will
carry first aid kits and will pay for one phone to have international roaming in order to
make phone calls and provide data, either for emergencies or other needs. We will be
riding parallel alongside roads travelled by cars and although not heavily trafficked, we
will not be in the "backcountry" and away from amenities or services. If a true
emergency, we will call Dutch emergency services at "112" by cell phone. Cellular
telephone coverage is nearly ubiquitous along the route.
RISK ASSESSMENT
Please assess the risks and hazards of your trip. Carefully consider each area of risk and how it may affect your trip.
Devise a plan to prevent each hazard and to respond to it if it becomes necessary. Please be very specific for each section
if applicable.
Trail conditions, river crossings, weather, wildlife (bears, snakes, etc.)
Climate/terrain
Potential hazards
We will be cycling relatively close to the North Sea which will bring hazards of rain and
cold. The terrain is famously flat.
Response
We will provide information in the prospectus and during screening to alert participants
of the potential weather conditions and provide information on appropriate clothing. We
have also scheduled this trip to coincide with warmer, sunnier weather patterns.
Political concerns, crime, language translation, terrorism
Foreign Country
Potential hazards
Language barriers, crime
Response
The government and econonmy of these countries is stable. Dutch people speak English
very widely and the leaders will learn some basic Dutch phrases and will bring along a
phrasebook and mobile device capable of making translations. Locks are provided by
the outfitter for the bicycles and leaders will remind participants to keep valuables
secured and on their person. Leaders and participants will keep an eye out for each other
especially in densely populated areas. Information regarding destinations will be
communicated to participants in case of inadvertant group separation.
Road conditions, drivers, insurance
Transportation
Potential hazards
We will be reliant on our bicycles for transport and there is a risk of breakdown.
Response
The outfitter will provide roadside assistance by phone or direct assistance including
replacement bicycles as needed. Leaders will bring basic bicycle repair tools including
extra tubes, a pump and bike tool, and will conduct minor repairs as practicable.
Level of fitness, screening concerns, experience with equipment or activity
Participants
Potential hazards
Medical concerns, illness, ability to ride expected distances at pace to keep up with the
group, and cover required distances, familiarity with bicycle operations
Response
Participants will be screened and encouraged to train for the ride prior to the trip.
Reliable and definitive medical response is available throughout the route. Outfitter
and leaders will cover basic bicycle operation to ensure familiarity.
Conditions unique to this type of trip
Other
Form Revised February 2014
Adventure Travel Trip Proposal Form, page 4 of 6
Andrea Deaton Christensen/Jon Christensen
Biking Amsterdam to Brugge
Potential hazards
Response
EMERGENCY ACTION PLAN
Please describe your plans for dealing with emergencies. Give as much detail as possible and list any special
communications equipment you may need to ensure the safety of your participants. DO NOT LEAVE THIS BLANK
We will have cellular telephones with smartphone plans to allow data and phone
Emergency communication
Phone contacts, language,
comunication in destination countries. This information will be provided to participants
documentation, distance from
as well in case of inadvertant separation. We will provide participants with contact
emergency services
information and maps for each destination as a back-up just in case.
We will have two way radios for communications between leaders and or lead and
Emergency equipment
What sort of emergency first
sweep. We will have basic bicycle repair tools and access to roadside assistance by the
aid or communication
outfitter.
equipment (satellite phone,
two-way radios) do you plan
to use, if any?
We will use cellular telephones (coverage is reliable) to request emergency assistance by
Evacuation
Please describe your plan for
ambulance. We will not be visiting any remote areas on this trip so no specialized
evacuation from the
evacuation methods are expected.
backcountry location if
applicable?
Amsterdam
Medical care
Please describe the medical
VU University Medical Center PO Box 7057
1007 MB Amsterdam Ph: (020) 44
care available in the area(s)
44444
where you will be traveling
Gouda: Bleulandweg 10 2803 HH Gouda 0182 50 50 50
and list names and telephone
Vlissingen: Admiral De Ruyter Hospital PO Box 3200 4380 DD Vlissingen 0111numbers for these facilities.
430000
Brugge: Campus Sint-Jan Ruddershove 10 8000 Brugge Ph: 059 55 51 11
aslkdj
COST AND BUDGET DETAILS
The outfitter is paid in Euros, and all payments (restaurants, train) will
be paid in Euros. The outfitter and all costs were budgeted with an
exchange rate of 1.2683 Euro = 1 USD. The outfitter indicated that his
prices will likely increase for a 2016 trip, but he is willing to offer us a
final price based on the 2015 rate that he will have in early 2015. He
said that the increase would be 5% or less than his 2014 quote. We
estimated all trip expenses at the current rate plus 5% increase (and
included an additional 7% contingency as well).
The outfitter requires 15% of the entire trip cost to reserve the trip. The remainder is
due 6 weeks before the trip (by April 14, 2016).
Foreign currencies
For int’l trips list each foreign currency, the
current $US dollar exchange rate and what
contingencies you have if that rate changes. If
a tour operator or agent is being used, what
currency is the agent to be paid in?
Group Trip Deposits
What deposits will be required
from you by airlines, hotels, tour
operators, etc., and when?
Group Trip Refunds
What is the latest date you can
cancel and still receive a full
refund of any deposits?
Participant deposits
What are the initial deposit and
your schedule of payments by
participants to you?
Form Revised February 2014
You receive 100% refund if you cancel more than 42 days in advance (by April 21,
201. 28-42 days you receive 65% refund; 21-28 days you receive 60% refund; 14-21
days you receive 50% refund; 5-14 days you receive 25% refund; 5 days to the day
before departure you receive 10% refund;cancellation on the day of departure or later,
you forfeit 100% of your deposit.
We will require a deposit with application of $1,000. The second and final payment of
$1,500 will be due by November 1, 2015.
Adventure Travel Trip Proposal Form, page 5 of 6
Andrea Deaton Christensen/Jon Christensen
Biking Amsterdam to Brugge
Cancellation policy
What will be your cancellation
policy for the participants?
Minimum numbers
Will you still run the trip if you
do not get the minimum number?
Reference web links:
AMC-ATC Home Page:
Forms:
Deadlines:
E-Mail Addresses:
Club House:
AMC-ATC Chair:
Form Revised February 2014
If a replacement participant is found after a participant cancels, the cancelling
partcipant will be refunded their full amount paid minus $25 administration fee. If no
replacement is found, the participant will be expected to pay all costs/ fees that would
be required to not raise the cost of the trip for the other participants. Refunds will
reduce to a very minimal, if any, refund with any cancellation 30 days or less prior to
departure. Participants will be encouraged to take our trip insurance to cover
cancellations due to emergencies.
Yes
No
If yes, please describe conditions:
http://snebulos.mit.edu/orgs/amc/
http://snebulos.mit.edu/orgs/amc/application/
http://snebulos.mit.edu/orgs/amc/committee/proposals/
nholland@outdoors.org
mikebarry657@mac.com
Adventure Travel Trip Proposal Form, page 6 of 6