I shared our Bicycle Geography adventure with the folks at Patagonia. They kindly posted the blog today. You can read the post here.
Enjoy!
LK
Showing posts with label bicycle touring around the world. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bicycle touring around the world. Show all posts
Monday, December 29, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Poland to Portugal: How Far? How Many?
Here’s the recap from the Europe leg of our Bicycle Geography Adventure…
Days on the Continent/Days Pedaling: 106/62
Distance Covered: 3,625 km
Hours Pedaling: 244.5
Avg Speed: 15.0 kph
Longest Day: Beziers to Perpignan 104 km
Incidents: 2 (one angry driver in Croatia, one accident in the Alps)
Countries Visited: 9 – Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Italy, Switzerland, France,
Spain, Portugal
Languages Attempted: Polish, Slovakian, Hungarian, Croatian, Italian, German, French,
Spanish, Portuguese
Favorite Country: Croatia (CK), Croatia/Portugal (LK)
Favorite Food: Anything at a tapas bar (CK), croissants (LK and only the ones in France)
Best Beer: Zlaty Bazant – Slovakia
Europe was fantastic for bicycle touring. The continent is full of amazing scenery and interesting culture. Despite the language barriers, we found the interactions with the locals to be quite friendly. We weren’t rock stars as we were in Laos, but we got plenty of smiles and waves.
Although the US Dollar is weaker than the Euro, there are many deals to be found. If you’re into camping and self-catering you can live quite well.
We found roads and highways to be in great condition and drivers are used to bicyclists. In fact, most towns and cities were full of people pedaling.
Stay tuned for the entire trip recap…
LK
Days on the Continent/Days Pedaling: 106/62
Distance Covered: 3,625 km
Hours Pedaling: 244.5
Avg Speed: 15.0 kph
Longest Day: Beziers to Perpignan 104 km
Incidents: 2 (one angry driver in Croatia, one accident in the Alps)
Countries Visited: 9 – Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Italy, Switzerland, France,
Spain, Portugal
Languages Attempted: Polish, Slovakian, Hungarian, Croatian, Italian, German, French,
Spanish, Portuguese
Favorite Country: Croatia (CK), Croatia/Portugal (LK)
Favorite Food: Anything at a tapas bar (CK), croissants (LK and only the ones in France)
Best Beer: Zlaty Bazant – Slovakia
Europe was fantastic for bicycle touring. The continent is full of amazing scenery and interesting culture. Despite the language barriers, we found the interactions with the locals to be quite friendly. We weren’t rock stars as we were in Laos, but we got plenty of smiles and waves.
Although the US Dollar is weaker than the Euro, there are many deals to be found. If you’re into camping and self-catering you can live quite well.
We found roads and highways to be in great condition and drivers are used to bicyclists. In fact, most towns and cities were full of people pedaling.
Stay tuned for the entire trip recap…
LK
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
The End is Just the Beginning
Day 421
Lisbon
In the beginning we approached the planning of our trip like writing a business plan. As rigid as that seems, it gave us some boundaries to work with. Here are some definitions that helped us to define those boundaries:
Bicycle Geography: The study of the world and all that’s in it (people, places and time) from the seat of a two-wheeled, human powered machine.
Commitment – engagement and involvement
Trust – belief and confidence in the reality, truth and goodness of a person or thing
Adventure – participation in bold and exciting undertakings or endeavors
Humility – having an unassuming nature
Wonder – a state of mind created by something unexpected or extraordinary
I remember many days where I recited those values in my head. It was mostly just a way to keep myself in context, going forward in the direction of the goal. I guess it worked.
Sitting here, writing this blog from Portugal, I laugh at the thought of our first day out in New Zealand. We didn’t really know what we had gotten ourselves into. I think that was a good thing – it made the humility and wonder part all the better.
See you next time on home soil,
LK
Lisbon
In the beginning we approached the planning of our trip like writing a business plan. As rigid as that seems, it gave us some boundaries to work with. Here are some definitions that helped us to define those boundaries:
Bicycle Geography: The study of the world and all that’s in it (people, places and time) from the seat of a two-wheeled, human powered machine.
Commitment – engagement and involvement
Trust – belief and confidence in the reality, truth and goodness of a person or thing
Adventure – participation in bold and exciting undertakings or endeavors
Humility – having an unassuming nature
Wonder – a state of mind created by something unexpected or extraordinary
I remember many days where I recited those values in my head. It was mostly just a way to keep myself in context, going forward in the direction of the goal. I guess it worked.
Sitting here, writing this blog from Portugal, I laugh at the thought of our first day out in New Zealand. We didn’t really know what we had gotten ourselves into. I think that was a good thing – it made the humility and wonder part all the better.
See you next time on home soil,
LK
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Just Wanted to Let You Know
Day 418
Setubal to Lisbon
Time: A little riding and a lot of train
Distance: 58.3 km
Avg Speed: 43.5 kph (that’s the train)
Terrain: Flat
Location: N 38˚ 45’ 32.7”, E 09˚ 09’ 10.9”
After 418 days on the ‘road’ I have to come clean. We haven’t left Leslie’s parents basement in over a year. The whole blog and picture thing was made up. It was all fabricated off the internet. The stories from the road were made up with the help of Lonely Planet books. All the photos with us in them were photo shopped.
There, I now have a clean conscience.
On a happier note, Leslie and I just finished riding our bikes around the world. I know that we did ride a train today, but it was in between two riding sections. Where did we celebrate our achievement…McDonald’s of course!!
We are both blind to the fact that we just finished a long sought after dream. I would imagine that in a day or two we will realize that we ‘nuked our foundation’ and have a much different life to return to. The beauty of that is the fact that we are much different people. Sometime, somewhere along the way we both changed. It wasn’t a wake up different change (although some mornings it felt like it), it was a gradual change. We knew we would, we just weren’t sure how much. I don’t think either one of us is sure how much we have.
Right now our priorities are finding a laundromat, finding some boxes for the bikes and doing a little souvenir shopping. I think that the Laundromat may be the hardest one. The nice thing is we have some clothes that are so worn and smelly that they won’t be getting a ride back home with us.
Lisbon isn’t where we thought we would be 416 days ago, or even a month ago. Us being flexible with the weather along with our refusal to ride in the cold brought us here. Not much did go according to our little blueprint we hammered out before we left. I think that our relationship came through the stresses and triumphs with strength and grace. I attribute that to my fellow traveler and partner in crime. I have come to know that wherever I am in the world, I am always home as long as Leslie is at my side (or pulling me through a headwind).
Loving being loved.
CK
Setubal to Lisbon
Time: A little riding and a lot of train
Distance: 58.3 km
Avg Speed: 43.5 kph (that’s the train)
Terrain: Flat
Location: N 38˚ 45’ 32.7”, E 09˚ 09’ 10.9”
After 418 days on the ‘road’ I have to come clean. We haven’t left Leslie’s parents basement in over a year. The whole blog and picture thing was made up. It was all fabricated off the internet. The stories from the road were made up with the help of Lonely Planet books. All the photos with us in them were photo shopped.
There, I now have a clean conscience.
On a happier note, Leslie and I just finished riding our bikes around the world. I know that we did ride a train today, but it was in between two riding sections. Where did we celebrate our achievement…McDonald’s of course!!
We are both blind to the fact that we just finished a long sought after dream. I would imagine that in a day or two we will realize that we ‘nuked our foundation’ and have a much different life to return to. The beauty of that is the fact that we are much different people. Sometime, somewhere along the way we both changed. It wasn’t a wake up different change (although some mornings it felt like it), it was a gradual change. We knew we would, we just weren’t sure how much. I don’t think either one of us is sure how much we have.
Right now our priorities are finding a laundromat, finding some boxes for the bikes and doing a little souvenir shopping. I think that the Laundromat may be the hardest one. The nice thing is we have some clothes that are so worn and smelly that they won’t be getting a ride back home with us.
Lisbon isn’t where we thought we would be 416 days ago, or even a month ago. Us being flexible with the weather along with our refusal to ride in the cold brought us here. Not much did go according to our little blueprint we hammered out before we left. I think that our relationship came through the stresses and triumphs with strength and grace. I attribute that to my fellow traveler and partner in crime. I have come to know that wherever I am in the world, I am always home as long as Leslie is at my side (or pulling me through a headwind).
Loving being loved.
CK
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Day 412: Sagres to Odeceixe
Time: 4:00
Distance: 62.46 km
Avg Speed: 15.6 kph
Terrain: Hilly
Location: N 37˚ 25’ 56.9” E 08˚ 46’ 11.1”
Our stay at the pousada last night was kind of a random splurge on our giant ocean of nights on the road. The room was nice and tidy, the dinner was worthy of writing home about and this mornings breakfast was a sight for hungry eyes. We both were happy to have voluntarily wanted to stay there and were quite cheery as we got on the road this morning. Leslie started the day off by posing a question (she has become more and more philosophical the closer we get to going home). She asked ‘where do you wish we had gone that had planned to go and didn’t end up going and where do you wish we had gone and didn’t plan on going’. She didn’t want my answer right then, she wanted me to think about it. The first part of the question is easy; Vietnam. I think it has to do with being so close to its border and deciding to head home with a broken wheel in tow. Leaving Vietnam untouched worked out and we were able to have a nice summer in Colorado. The second part of the question was a little tougher and I don’t think I have come up with a definitive answer. Right now I am wavering on South America and the far north of Europe. At least I have it narrowed down to a planet.
With fodder to chew on we rode out of Sagres and north to Odeceixe. The landscape changed from the dessert-scape of the southern coast to eucalyptus forest with agriculture and cork tree groves sprinkled here and there. I finally did some reading about the cork industry here and found out that a cork oak has about a 150 year life span of harvesting. The first harvest of a tree’s bark usually doesn’t occur until the tree is about 20 years old, but after that it is harvested every 9 years or so. The cork taken off of older, more harvested trees is of higher quality and gets better money. The plastic cork revolution has taken its toll on the cork industry in Portugal, but the industry is looking into making cork a fashionable wine stopper once again. Feel free to wow your friends around the water cooler.
Leslie set a new all time record for photos shot on a riding day. Her rest day record is set high at around 150 photos, but today she was able to squeeze in 81 shots even with riding for 4 hours. Nice to see that she hasn’t slowed down.
We were warned that Odeceixe is a pretty sleepy little town in the off season. I think that sleepy is an understatement. The first two guesthouses we went into were wide open, but totally unmanned. Usually there is a sign saying help yourself and catch up with me later, but here there was nothing. Finally we were about to just sit at a café and wait awhile, but when I looked back up the street I saw a little lady waiving to me. I quickly walked up to her and she got us in to her place. I guess a little old man on his walk saw us step into her place and then saw us head down to the café. Not wanting his friend to miss out on business he went and found her and got us all straight. Sometimes it is nice to stand out like sore thumbs.
Standing bigger and better,
CK
Distance: 62.46 km
Avg Speed: 15.6 kph
Terrain: Hilly
Location: N 37˚ 25’ 56.9” E 08˚ 46’ 11.1”
Our stay at the pousada last night was kind of a random splurge on our giant ocean of nights on the road. The room was nice and tidy, the dinner was worthy of writing home about and this mornings breakfast was a sight for hungry eyes. We both were happy to have voluntarily wanted to stay there and were quite cheery as we got on the road this morning. Leslie started the day off by posing a question (she has become more and more philosophical the closer we get to going home). She asked ‘where do you wish we had gone that had planned to go and didn’t end up going and where do you wish we had gone and didn’t plan on going’. She didn’t want my answer right then, she wanted me to think about it. The first part of the question is easy; Vietnam. I think it has to do with being so close to its border and deciding to head home with a broken wheel in tow. Leaving Vietnam untouched worked out and we were able to have a nice summer in Colorado. The second part of the question was a little tougher and I don’t think I have come up with a definitive answer. Right now I am wavering on South America and the far north of Europe. At least I have it narrowed down to a planet.
With fodder to chew on we rode out of Sagres and north to Odeceixe. The landscape changed from the dessert-scape of the southern coast to eucalyptus forest with agriculture and cork tree groves sprinkled here and there. I finally did some reading about the cork industry here and found out that a cork oak has about a 150 year life span of harvesting. The first harvest of a tree’s bark usually doesn’t occur until the tree is about 20 years old, but after that it is harvested every 9 years or so. The cork taken off of older, more harvested trees is of higher quality and gets better money. The plastic cork revolution has taken its toll on the cork industry in Portugal, but the industry is looking into making cork a fashionable wine stopper once again. Feel free to wow your friends around the water cooler.
Leslie set a new all time record for photos shot on a riding day. Her rest day record is set high at around 150 photos, but today she was able to squeeze in 81 shots even with riding for 4 hours. Nice to see that she hasn’t slowed down.
We were warned that Odeceixe is a pretty sleepy little town in the off season. I think that sleepy is an understatement. The first two guesthouses we went into were wide open, but totally unmanned. Usually there is a sign saying help yourself and catch up with me later, but here there was nothing. Finally we were about to just sit at a café and wait awhile, but when I looked back up the street I saw a little lady waiving to me. I quickly walked up to her and she got us in to her place. I guess a little old man on his walk saw us step into her place and then saw us head down to the café. Not wanting his friend to miss out on business he went and found her and got us all straight. Sometimes it is nice to stand out like sore thumbs.
Standing bigger and better,
CK
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
A Year on the Road: The Day 365 Interview
Yesterday we sat down and reflected on the last year. The podcast versions are available on our website at: http://bicyclegeography.googlepages.com/home
How has your world view changed in the last year?
LK: Although I have become more patriotic about my country, I believe that the US must come to know the world more. US citizens should travel abroad and learn about other places and people. Knowledge is power. Integration is better than assimilation.
CK: The biggest thing I realized was that people everywhere are just doing the best they can. Poor, rich, 3rd world, 1st world. I found that people and cultures adapted and adopted their surrounding with ease and that life doesn’t have to be a struggle or a chore. People everywhere are good and they just need a reason or a chance to show it.
Looking back on the year, what was the biggest thing on your mental map that was completely blown out of the water when we actually started touring?
LK: Bicycle touring is not glamorous. I think I had this picture in my mind that every day would be wonderful. If it was glamorous, everyone would do it. However, I do believe it is the best way to travel if you’re up to the level of effort it requires.
CK: I think we both thought that it would be a lot more glamorous than is actually is. Eating, sleeping, working on the ground. Going to the bathroom off the side of the road. Chased by dogs. Grocery shopping. They are all things that can be done at home, and the only thing that makes them glamorous is that you are in a foreign place.
What was something that held true that you didn’t think would?
LK: I still love to ride a bicycle. In fact, I think I’m more passionate about bicycles and all they represent.
CK: My lust for travel and adventure, whether on a bike, or foot, or train, or car hasn’t diminished. In fact I think it has become even stronger and more focused. I love getting up every day and getting on my bike and seeing what is around the next corner and what is over that next hill and what the locals are like and what the local beer tastes like. I really feel like this trip is just feeding the beast.
If you could sum up your life now in a couple of sentences, what would you say?
LK: This journey has helped me figure out who I thought I was, who I really am, and who I might become.
CK: Simplicity. It is a lot less than a couple of sentences. Through this journey I have found that I need very few items to keep my life happy, and fulfilled. I need very few feelings to describe how I feel and I know that the woman I married is L-O-V-E...love.
What’s one experience, good or bad, that will stay with you for the rest of your life?
LK: The Laos route from Luang Prabang to Vientiene with Joanne, Hamish, Donal, Hans, and Ben. It seemed like it all came together in Laos. The positive energy was flowing. I felt like we were just doing the trip rather than just trying to do the trip. I think it was a period of time where I was most in the moment everyday.
CK: I don’t think that there are any bad experiences from this trip. The spirit of the road from meeting the bike crew in Laos is probably the biggest experience that will stay with me. Meeting randomly, bonding over food and drink and staying together for the better part of two weeks. We had just a moment in time together and parting we knew that we would probably never see one another again, and that was ok. What we did together, saw together and experienced together affected me a lot more than I realized at the time.
How has your world view changed in the last year?
LK: Although I have become more patriotic about my country, I believe that the US must come to know the world more. US citizens should travel abroad and learn about other places and people. Knowledge is power. Integration is better than assimilation.
CK: The biggest thing I realized was that people everywhere are just doing the best they can. Poor, rich, 3rd world, 1st world. I found that people and cultures adapted and adopted their surrounding with ease and that life doesn’t have to be a struggle or a chore. People everywhere are good and they just need a reason or a chance to show it.
Looking back on the year, what was the biggest thing on your mental map that was completely blown out of the water when we actually started touring?
LK: Bicycle touring is not glamorous. I think I had this picture in my mind that every day would be wonderful. If it was glamorous, everyone would do it. However, I do believe it is the best way to travel if you’re up to the level of effort it requires.
CK: I think we both thought that it would be a lot more glamorous than is actually is. Eating, sleeping, working on the ground. Going to the bathroom off the side of the road. Chased by dogs. Grocery shopping. They are all things that can be done at home, and the only thing that makes them glamorous is that you are in a foreign place.
What was something that held true that you didn’t think would?
LK: I still love to ride a bicycle. In fact, I think I’m more passionate about bicycles and all they represent.
CK: My lust for travel and adventure, whether on a bike, or foot, or train, or car hasn’t diminished. In fact I think it has become even stronger and more focused. I love getting up every day and getting on my bike and seeing what is around the next corner and what is over that next hill and what the locals are like and what the local beer tastes like. I really feel like this trip is just feeding the beast.
If you could sum up your life now in a couple of sentences, what would you say?
LK: This journey has helped me figure out who I thought I was, who I really am, and who I might become.
CK: Simplicity. It is a lot less than a couple of sentences. Through this journey I have found that I need very few items to keep my life happy, and fulfilled. I need very few feelings to describe how I feel and I know that the woman I married is L-O-V-E...love.
What’s one experience, good or bad, that will stay with you for the rest of your life?
LK: The Laos route from Luang Prabang to Vientiene with Joanne, Hamish, Donal, Hans, and Ben. It seemed like it all came together in Laos. The positive energy was flowing. I felt like we were just doing the trip rather than just trying to do the trip. I think it was a period of time where I was most in the moment everyday.
CK: I don’t think that there are any bad experiences from this trip. The spirit of the road from meeting the bike crew in Laos is probably the biggest experience that will stay with me. Meeting randomly, bonding over food and drink and staying together for the better part of two weeks. We had just a moment in time together and parting we knew that we would probably never see one another again, and that was ok. What we did together, saw together and experienced together affected me a lot more than I realized at the time.
Here's to a year on the road,
LK and CK
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