The Accidental Bicycle Tourist

Alan Gilbert has always been interested in long, challenging bicycle rides. For Alan, the chance to ride across the United States from Pacific to Atlantic in 38 days finally presented itself in 2022, upon retiring from his job as a technology executive. The timing also coincided with the end of COVID, which had kept Alan cooped up at home and yearning to get out, meet people, and explore the country 100 miles at a time. Rather than undertake this Big Hairy Audacious Goal alone, Alan found a riding partner, Dave, and their respective spouses, Sue and Dee, became known as the Support Angels. In this episode, we will dive into Alan’s BHAG, as well as trace his love of touring to its origins (a trip in Ohio when he was seventeen) and what he’s been up to since finishing his coast-to-coast adventure (a fully supported tour of classic mountain climbs in France).  

You can learn more about Alan’s adventures by reading his blog on Medium.

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Roger Levy, a professor of brain and cognitive sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, considers himself a scientist of language and a polyglot, speaking five languages fluently and many more conversationally. In this episode, Roger will share the sounds and flavors from his six bike tours across three continents. Since Roger also happens to be a longtime friend, I was his partner on two of the six tours. On his solo adventures, Roger enjoyed the delicious breakfast offerings in Taiwan and ended each day of riding in Scotland in a pub and perhaps a whisky distillery. He also trained with the Stanford University triathlon team and discovered the bicycle-friendly country of Rwanda. Everywhere he went, Roger bravely took on the roads, the weather, and the language barriers he encountered.

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Barbados. Dominica. Guadeloupe. Martinique. These are some of the exotic Caribbean islands visited by André Plumeau with his bicycle, Frieda. In Part 2 of this double episode, André again defies the odds by sailing west from the Republic of Cabo Verde on various boats, with diverse crews. Eventually, a spontaneous assignment to pick up a sailboat in Florida separates him from Frieda and the rest of his touring equipment. He makes his way around the United States to Mexico, where he hopes to be reunited with Frieda. At the end of the episode, André reveals his surprise plan for the end of the year, which we also hope will come true.

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Imagine that you are walking down the road near your home town in France when a friend calls you and invites you to join him on a bicycle tour. Since you don't own a bike, you buy one over the Internet and call it Frieda. You pack your bags and three days later you are cycling with your friend in Portugal. You don't know it yet, but this is the start of an adventure that will last at least two years, taking you to the tip of Portugal, into Spain, and then by sea, island-hopping across the Atlantic, with Frieda at your side. That is a very brief outline of André Plumeau's story. On part one of this two-part episode, we will hear about André's incredible journey from Porto in Portugal to the Republic of Cabo Verde.

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Steve Roberts is probably the world’s first high-tech nomad. For roughly a decade (1983 - 1993), Steve was either designing, building, or riding a custom computerized recumbent bicycle. Beginning with the Winnebiko, continuing with the Winnebiko II, and culminating with the 580-pound BEHEMOTH, Steve logged 17,000 miles, all the while writing articles for various publications and transmitting them from his current location. In a time before the internet and smartphones, Steve was one of the first people on the planet to be continuously networked and connected via various technologies, working and socializing, quite literally, on the road. He immediately drew attention from locals in every town, and made friends on CompuServe and other networks. As his exploits became publicized, he appeared on the front page of the Wall Street Journal and was a guest on the Phil Donahue Show in 1992. All these years later, Steve looks back on his amazing journey and his pioneering work on technologies that have become mainstream today.

Steve's appearance on the Phil Donahue Show can be viewed here:
https://www.facebook.com/technomadness/videos/1130296767041717/

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In 2009, Swiss graphic designer Martina Gees sold most of her possessions, flew to Buenos Aires, and  started pedaling. She got as far north as Inuvik, Canada, and eventually as far south as Ushuaia, Argentina. All told, her incredible Odisea Panamericana spanned 5 years, 25 countries, and 60,000 kilometers. This conversation with Martina is focused on her experiences traveling with a partner (with whom she started in Buenos Aires), with people she met along the way, and alone. During her journey, Martina fell in love, broke up, made lifelong friends, and was deeply touched by the hospitality of locals. Having lived through a series of coincidences and strange happenings on the road, it’s no wonder that Martina identifies herself as an accidental bicycle tourist. 

To learn more about Martina’s adventures, check out her German language website at colorfish.ch. You can also find her on Instagram: @colorfishes. 

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 With seven Caminos de Santiago by bicycle under his belt and an eighth one in preparation, Frank Foulon is uniquely equipped to inform us about this remarkable pilgrimage route that has been ongoing, with wild fluctuations in participation, since the ninth century. Frank discusses the historical background and cultural significance of the Camino, including recent changes as a result of the Camino’s rise in popularity. He also details the different routes in Europe that converge to form the Camino Francés, from the Pyrenees to Santiago de Compostela, as well as other historical starting points on the Iberian Peninsula (the Camino Portugués, the Vía de la Plata, and the Camino Primitivo). Additionally, Frank volunteered for several years as an hospitalero in the town of Los Arcos, where he welcomed, assisted, and encouraged thousands of pilgrims.

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Mimi Ji, a self-described map nerd and passionate cyclist, has turned her love for detailed route planning into a unique seven-step process. In this episode, Mimi shares numerous planning tips and tricks gathered from her experiences during outings with the New York City Adventure Cycling Club as well as tours in South Dakota, Quebec, and Slovenia. The conversation playfully dissects the seven steps, as Mimi compares different apps, describes how to stitch together weeklong itineraries, and encourages listeners to consider multi-sport touring. Along the way, we inevitably take several detours, with diversions into topics such as Bolivia’s Death Road, bikepacking culture in the United States, and much more.

You can read and subscribe to Mimi's Substack page at: https://winepacking.substack.com/

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Listener Frédéric Dith alerted me that long blue lines mark long distance cycling routes, not only in Japan but also in Taiwan and South Korea. During a year of backpacking in Asia, following a burnout from the pandemic and working at a Berlin startup, Fred bikepacked the 633-kilometer-long Four Rivers Cycle Route, traversing South Korea from Seoul to Busan. Fred learned all about South Korea’s engaging system of issuing bicycling passports and repurposing bright red phone booths as places to stamp your passport to show your progress. After completing his goal of cycling the entire Four Rivers route, Fred’s reward was a professional-looking certificate, suitable for framing. After talking to Fred, we also check in with previous guest Hannah Bowley, who has spent the past months riding in Japan and South Korea. 

To learn more about the colors of cycling routes around the world:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095756421000416

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If you enjoy hearing about random acts of kindness towards cyclists, you'll love this episode! Belgian cyclist Kris Vlaeminck shares selected tales of hospitality from his tours in Europe, North America, and Asia. With the help of strangers, Kris and his riding partners Johan and Luc overcome inclement weather in Scotland, water and food shortages in Iceland, a bear blocking the road in Alaska, and other perils. In Georgia and Kyrgyzstan, they are welcomed into family homes and lavished with food, drink, and accommodations. Kris also reveals the surprising country that he believes to be the most hospitable among the many that he has visited.

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