Across Continents

Ken's Blog

Tipped off

February 16th, 2011

I’d been tipped off. Another British long-haul cyclist in Cairns. Ridden up north from Melbourne. Chris. Who’d just received word there was another rider in town. That’d be me.

Cyclists - web

Pavement cafe. Coffee. Much to chat about. Identical cameras. Similar politics. Even shared a Serbian contact. Chris was a lifelong environmentalist. Much of it spent seeking change from within the system. Through engagement. Informing and influencing. Sustainable solutions rather than simple protest.

Admired his dedication, and that of his riding partner Roland. The outcomes they sought. Even if, I suspected, our respective rationales might be very different. Catch up with Chris and Roland’s venture at www.biketheearth.net

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The Stronger Sex?

December 7th, 2010

Pam - web

Pam Goodall. Ann Wilson. Anne Mustoe. Closer to home. Somerset. Astrid Molyneux. Ingrid Criddle. Household names? Celebrities, a brief foray into the limelight then gone, certainly not. Rather, they have shared in a far greater endeavour. Cycling across entire continents. Some the world. Englishwomen. Alone.

That’s not to say there aren’t plenty of the male species who have completed similar challenges. Faced hardship. Adversity. It’s just simply that I’m aware of more women. Not very scientific I admit. Nor is the observation it confined to those with bicycles. Louise in Dunhuang. Angela I’d met briefly in Xi’an.

I’d been intrigued by the demographics. Men mostly in their twenties. Women often quite a bit older, a good number in their second half century. Which just shows you’re never too old to chase a dream. To go out into the world. Do something bold.

[Pam Goodall’s account of her ride around the world – “Riding It Out” can be found on amazon.co.uk. You can read about Astrid Molyneaux’s exploits on her blog at www.cyclingfullcircle.com. Ingrid Criddle can be found at www.justgiving.com/cycletoistanbul. And to find out more about Ann Wilson and Anne Mustoe, just pop their names into a well known search engine]

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New Zealand Nomads

August 1st, 2010

Thorns together - web

Their plates were empty, mine still largely untouched. I apologised for talking so much, the opportunity for conversation in a shared native tongue irresistible. But I think they understood, they’d encountered solo travellers before, had said so much when they’d been given the chance.

Mike and Jo were fellow long-haul cyclists, New Zealanders who’d ridden from Beijing with an eye towards France. We’d met by chance at a small cafe at the top of the Kokpek Canyon in eastern Kazakhstan. They were trying to fathom the menu as I arrived, their cycles, from the same bike builder as my own, immediately catching my eye.

Some striking similarities, not just the choice of equipment. Philosophy, how they approached life on the road, resolved the inevitable problems, issues that cropped up from time to time. But still lots to share. And then off on our separate ways, they to find a secluded spot to camp, myself on towards the Chinese border.

[Title inspired by Mike and Jo’s choice of bicycle – the Thorn Nomad]

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Tour du Monde

July 5th, 2010

They were a rarity in Central Asia in two senses. Long distance cyclists. And French. We’d met whilst queuing for visas at the Chinese Consulate in Almaty, Kazakhstan. And their situation made my present tussles attempting to enter China appear to be nothing more than a minor inconvenience.

Their Kazakhstan visas would expire in two days, and, contrary to the advice they’d been given, could not, as they’d now discovered, be extended. And they’d no visa for any of the neighbouring countries. All their hopes lay on securing entry to China, and in just a couple of days.

To be fair, seemed they’d been mis-advised by the Consulate when they’d been given their Kazakhstan visa. I’d not been surprised by this, as I’d found contradictory information about Kazakh immigration and visa rules on official websites. An understandable mistake.

Like most languages, other than English and a smattering of Welsh, my French was never great and hasn’t improved. But found I could make some sense of their website – www.freresquiroulent.fr – appeared they too were on an around-the-world trip, albeit skipping Australia and Africa. Assuming they don’t get detained or deported in Kazakhstan first.

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