• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content

Johnny Isaak | Adventure Cyclist

A compendium of adventure cycling chronicles, travel lore, tips, techniques, and tactics for the adventure cycling perplexed.

  • Home
  • Welcome
  • Blog
    • Bike
    • Gear
    • Travelogue
  • Images
    • Bikes
    • Travelogue
    • Kyoto
    • Hokkaido
    • The Pacific Coast
    • New Zealand
  • Links
  • About
    • Bike Setup
    • What’s in the Bag
  • Contact

New Zealand

Grateful for Travel

Grateful for Travel

by Johnny Isaak ·

The last day of 2019 has passed. Into 2020 we go. Looking back over the past five years, I’m so grateful for the travel I’ve had, the journeys I’ve been on, the adventures I’ve experience.

Exploring the water town of Xinchang, China

Oh, the places I’ve been. Looking back, Asia seems like a dream. It was. It was a dream come true. So glad I took the time to go. Five years abroad is a gift that will keep on giving in the years to come.

Cape Reinga, New Zealand

Time abroad has widened my perspective and deepened my insights about the world in which we live. The friends I’ve made, and the people I’ve met have made me a better person. My hard drives are filled with images; my journals are replete with experiences. I’ve come away changed for my peregrinating exertions.

Following China’s “Mother Road” (G312) along the Silk Route through the Hexi Corridor entering the Gobi Desert.

Commitments at home hold me close. Far-ranging forays lay on distant horizons. Hence, this is a time for reflection of journeys past and preparation for adventures to be had. There is still so much more to see.

Exploring quiet villages in Zhejiang Prefecture, China.

The dream is alive. Winding my way back home, future adventures still await. The time is to move boldly into 2020, to set the conditions for journeys at home and abroad. As Newton posited, “An object in motion tends to stay in motion…”

Sunset on the coast of Hokkaido, Japan

Adventure is out there for those willing to look for it, and time never waits. Many want to go, but few are willing to pay the price required to go. Nothing stands between you and your dreams but thin air and opportunity.

Peering into the endless sands of the Taklamakan.

Go while you have the chance. Get on your bike and ride. You won’t regret it. Pushing it off to “someday” is a risky business. Life is a fickle thing. The day may never come. Act while you have the opportunity. 2020 and years beyond are full of promise. Move forward with confidence in the pursuit of your dreams. Live the life you have always wanted.

A glance back after crossing the Golden Gate while returning to the U.S.

Filed Under: Adventure Cycling Tagged With: Asia, bicycle touring, bicycle travel, Cape Reinga, China, Co-Motion, Golden Gate, Hexi Corridor, Hokkaido, Japan, Morro Bay, New Zealand, San Francisco, Silk Road, Taklamakan, Zhejiang

A Brief Canticle to Travel in 2018

A Brief Canticle to Travel in 2018

by Johnny Isaak ·

Before I knew it, we’ve done another lap around the sun. It’s the last day of December, and a new year is just hours away. Sipping a Turkish coffee and peering out of the window of our high rise over the snow-covered roofs of Shanghai, I’m quietly watching the final moments of 2018 draw to a close.

Pudong from the Bund, Shanghai, China.

Before this year becomes a memory, it’s time to take one last glance over my shoulder and savor the journeys, the challenges, and the adventure of such an awesome year before jumping headlong into 2019.

The past twelve months have been four action-packed seasons of continual travel, questing, and adventure, both on and off the bike. It’s been a series of nonstop journeys all about getting out there. It was a year of spending time in incredible places, meeting new people, and by chance, a day catching up with one good friend.

Sunrise over Cook’s Cove, the East Cape, North Island, New Zealand.

Land of the Long White Cloud

Journey to the Southern Hemisphere. Cycling across New Zealand from Bluff in the south to Cape Rienga at the northern tip, a most incredible Kiwi adventure. The family riding for the first part, and solo on the second. Meeting the Maori of the Eastern Cape. Many nights spent camping under the Southern Cross and the Milky Way. Riding to beat the tide along Ninety-Mile Beach.

The Eastern Steppe, Inner Mongolia.

Wandering on the Eastern Steppe

Inner Mongolia, a land of endless grasslands under everlasing azure skies. Days spent chasing the light along meandering rivers. Tramping through the former lands of the mighty Mongols and Genghis Khan. Pausing on windblown hilltops to capture glimpses of herds of galloping ponies. Capturing faint shadows of the Golden Horde in the corner of my eye. Exploring the sidestreets of Russian border towns. Standing on the edge of the river peering into Siberia. Thinking about adventures for another day.

Uyghur Mosque, Kashir (Kashgar), Xinjiang, China.

The Old Silk Road

Xinjiang, a new frontier, and a land of many things. A Silk Road odyssey pedaling into the heart of Asia, a place I’m forever drawn to. Endless days in the saddle making passage in this mysterious land. The Pamir Mountains lie to the west, with the Kunlun forming a border to the south. The Tian Shan runs roughly through the center east to west, and the Altai Mountains are in the north. The Gobi guards the east and the Taklamakan lies in the south between the Kunlun and the Tian Shan — such a rugged land.

Kanas River, Altai Mountains, Xinjiang, China.

Cycling through the ancient oasis cities of Turfan, Kucha, Niya, Khotan, and finally to old Kashgar located on the eastern front ranges of the snow-capped Pamirs provided me with a fleeting glimpse into ancient trade route. Mud-walled homes and dusty palm trees among grape fields and nut tree orchards harkened back to a wilder time, one that still maintains its mystic aura today.

Turning north across the eastern reaches of the Tian Shan. Heading north into the Altai Mountains. Reaching the fringes of the boundless Kazak Steppes whetted my appetite for deeper forays to the stans of Central Western Asia. It’s a land of dense forests and grass-covered hills bisected by turquoise rivers. Lazy woodsmoke emanating from clusters of white yurts wanders up cold valley floors.

Little Dragon Lake on the Duku Highway in the Tian Shan Mountains, Xinjiang, China.

Duku Highway

Traversing the heart of the Tian Shan brought me in contact with welcoming Kazaks and Mongols still living in clutches of yurts scattered across the land. Many offering spicy lamb kababs and fresh naan to us as we passed by. Uyghur people inhabited the land to the south of the towering mountain range. Our time on the road was filled with seemingly unending days climbing and descending among massive snow-capped granite giants.

Taklamakan Desert, Xinjiang, China.

Sands of the Taklamakan

The Taklamakan, whose name means “Those who go in don’t come out.” Also referred to as “The Desert of Death,” the barren land is a sea of endless dunes circumscribed by the northern and southern routes of the Silk Road. Some of the dunes reach a height of a thousand feet. Few have dared to enter. Fewer still returned once they did. The wise and less foolhardy chose to go around, and still do today. Traveling in the shadows of Aurel Stein and Sven Hedin set me to wondering what they would think of Chinese Turkistan today with the endless stream of lorries transporting Chinese goods to the west, and the vast oil and gas fields tapping the rich underground resources.

Chaing Mai, Thailand.

Time in the Tropics

A couple of short trips to Chang Mai and Phuket in Thailand provided a much-needed respite from the cold winter weather. Thailand is filled with plenty of old temples to explore, cheap beer, savory fare, and friendly Thai people.

Friends remembered.

Friends Remembered

Time with a loyal friend, a trusty comrade of distant adventures, is among the most savored of moments. Time catching up on old times. Journeys remembered. However, time moves on, but old friends are not forgotten. Bonds remain across the span of time.

Into the Tian Shan.

The Dream is Alive

A new year is upon us. 2019 is here — the open road beckons. Many dreams still remain unrealized. Time is short, and I’m running behind. I long to feel the free wind blowing in my hair, to spend more time in incredible places. There are still place left to see through the lens of my camera. Lonely highways still yearn to be pedaled. See you out there. Cheers.

Filed Under: Adventure, Adventure Cycling, Inspiration Tagged With: adventure cycling, bicycle travel, bike travel, Eastern Steppe, Inner Mongolia, Kashgar, New Zealand, Shanghai, Silk Road, Taklamakan, Thailand, Tian Shan, travel photography, Xinjiang

Travelogue: An Unexpected Detour onto the Coast to Coast Trail

Travelogue: An Unexpected Detour onto the Coast to Coast Trail

by Johnny Isaak ·

Life is an open road. You can go pretty much anywhere you want. It’s really up to you. It was a day riding solo while enjoying the quiet and solitude of a beautiful day on New Zealand’s Coast to Coast Trail on the North Island.

[Read more…] about Travelogue: An Unexpected Detour onto the Coast to Coast Trail

Filed Under: Travelogue Tagged With: adventure, adventure cycling, bicycle, bicycle touring, bicycle travel, Co-Motion, Coast to Coast Trail, Divide, Jones Bar, New Zealand, North Island, travel photography

Travelogue: Night Ride Up 90-Mile Beach

Travelogue: Night Ride Up 90-Mile Beach

by Johnny Isaak ·

Waves were washing ashore on my left. Countless stars speckled an inky black sky. The Southern Crux and Milky Way showed brightly. The constellations seemed close enough to touch or maybe scoop a handful from the air. To the north was Ninety-Mile beach cloaked in featureless black. Beyond that was Cape Reinga, my destination for the day and this journey lay on the other side. Signpost to adventure up ahead.

[Read more…] about Travelogue: Night Ride Up 90-Mile Beach

Filed Under: Travelogue Tagged With: 90 Mile Beach, adventure, adventure cycling, bicycle touring, bicycle travel, bike travel, cycle touring, exploration, New Zealand, Ninety Mile Beach, North Island

To Feel the Wind

To Feel the Wind

by Johnny Isaak ·

Realizing your dreams and living free is about putting yourself out there. It’s about venturing forth into the wind. Hummingbirds are small, but the can cover vast stretches of open water during their annual migration.

[Read more…] about To Feel the Wind

Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: adventure, adventure cycling, bicycle touring, bicycle travel, bike travel, Co-Motion, exploration, New Zealand, South Island

Travelogue: Cape Reinga

Travelogue: Cape Reinga

by Johnny Isaak ·

Should I leap and descend into the underworld? Standing on the windswept bluff overlooking the meeting place between the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean, it’s not difficult to see why the Maori consider Cape Reinga such a special place.

[Read more…] about Travelogue: Cape Reinga

Filed Under: Travelogue Tagged With: adventure, adventure cycling, bicycle touring, bicycle travel, bike travel, Cape Reinga, cycle touring, exploration, New Zealand, North Island, Reinga

Travelogue: East Cape

Travelogue: East Cape

by Johnny Isaak ·

Cycling up the North Island’s East Cape has been a highlight of my kiwi adventure. I sacrificed days out of my way to go there, and the detour has been worth it. The riding is remote and off the beaten track. The travel is relatively isolated and secluded.

[Read more…] about Travelogue: East Cape

Filed Under: Travelogue Tagged With: adventure, adventure cycling, bicycle touring, bicycle travel, bicycling, bike travel, New Zealand, North Island

Next Page »

Copyright © 2025 · No Sidebar Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

 

Loading Comments...