“It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of the country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them.” — Ernest Hemingway
To kick off this blog, I would like to set the stage by putting up a three-part series of short pieces on why I ride and what brought about my transition to cycle trekking as my primary form of independent travel, both short and long distance.
PART I: IN SEARCH OF A BETTER WAY
“All things living are in search of a better world.” — Karl Raimund Popper
Seeking a Purer Experience
As an avid, life-long traveler, I’ve always sought a purer, more genuine travel experience. Traversing several continents and a numerous countries, I’ve always looked to experience the environment and people in the most authentic way possible. Trekking through the Himalayas, across the Rock Mountains, along the High Sierra Nevada’s, and in the backstreets and neighborhoods off the beaten paths of over-exposed tourist meccas such as Paris, Kathmandu, Beijing, and Tangier, I’ve found being mobile and moving slowly on the land yielded much more engaging experiences, allowing me to more fully immerse myself and wade deeply into the environment, and to more closely engage locals and other travels along my way in the locations I was visiting, which is not possible when traveling by planes, trains, or automobiles, where one tends to encounter other tourists, travelers, touts, and street hustlers.
A Natural Transition
Like most Americans, I’ve been riding a bike for most of my life, so cycle trekking as my primary means of independent travel was a natural transition. I learned to ride when I was 4-5 years old and have been riding ever since, first playing as a kid with my friends, then as a means of exercise and as a sport, and now as a means of local transportation and long-distance independent travel. For me, there has always been something magical about bicycles. There mechanical simplicity and capacity to transport me long distances at an early age spoke to the independence and desire to travel innate within me. The bike’s ability to put me out on my own spoke to my sense of adventure and desire to see the world. Simple and efficient, riding my bike put me on the ground, free to cruise along ditch banks, pastures and fields, up alleys or to the local grocery store unfettered, on my own, independent, only limited by my ability to pedal myself down the road. I was free to pedal across town, or perhaps one day around the world.
Enter the Humble Bicycle
Long distance cycle trekking has enriched my travel experience and taken independent travel to a whole other level. Being on a bike exposes me to the environment and makes me more vulnerable to experience, putting me out in the elements and in direct contact the people I pass along the way, free of barriers to engagement and interaction normally found when traveling by automobile, in a train, or heaven forbid, by commercial airliner. Cruising down country roads, highways and byways, I am open to experience the sights, sounds, and smells of the open road. Quietly riding down urban streets or country paths, I am free to follow my muse and let curiosity take me where it will. Rolling up on local markets and bazaars, I am free to immerse myself in the local color, culture, and ethic customs. Being surrounded by local villagers, farmers, and curious bystanders, I am free to interact and establish rapports with people from different walks of life, to taste local fare and learn about their culture through their food and drink. Locals are free to approach and engage me as they often do. When I stop at local grocery stores for a drink or for a short break along the way, locals frequently approach and engage me, curious to know who I am, how far I’ve traveled on the bike, and where I’m going. People tend to smile at people on bikes.
Kicking It Up a Notch
Cycling trekking has taken my travel to another level, culturally, spiritually, and physically. Traveling by bike has opened me up to a whole new world, giving me the ability to stay in direct contact with people and the environment while allowing me
to cover much longer distances than walking alone. Being self-supported and carrying everything that I require, there is no need to return to a hotel or hostel as I travel on my way. Easing into the saddle and pressing down on the pedals, I am filled with the palpable anticipation of the unknown, fueled by curiosity and a deep seeded desire to see what is down the road. With nothing but a distant horizon before me and the wind at my back, cycle trekking puts me in the company of strangers, vulnerable to new experience and the opportunity to meet new people and make new friends along the way to points over the horizon. For me, cycle trekking has become my primary means of independent travel, providing me with a purer, more authentic travel experience, allowing me to more fully feel the world around me. As so many before me have discovered, rolling down the road on two wheels has enabled me to pull up roots and travel the world, to live on the wind, and travel like a gypsy, living a life nomadic.
Avoiding the Bummer Life,
Johnny I.
