Danger zones and weapons on a biketravellers trip through the Americas

Aug 21st

Posted by Harry in FAQ

2 comments

One upcoming biketraveller from Canada got worried about what would happen with him and his friend once crossing into Mexico. He was considering bringing a gun because of all the bad stories he has heard. I would like to share my responses to him here.

My first reaction (other reacted as well, in a similar way):

 

Don’t believe the hype. Unless you want to sell or buy a kilo of drugs, you should not get involved in any drugs violence. We crossed in Tijuana (cycling the regular highway in) and stayed a few days there with some Couch Surfers. We visited the nice market, the beach, the border, a great new museum (one of the very few in our entire trip J) and no problems at all.

Only problem is traffic as it is busy until after Ensenada (and every now and then some oversized US SUV that zooms past too close in the rest of Baja).

Don’t think about bringing a gun. Just think about what will happen with it:

–          You will get checked at one of the hundreds of checkpoints you will see: you will end up in jail

–          You will use it: you will end up in jail

–          It must be More >

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Harry uses free WiFi to update his blog WorldOnaBike.com, from Alaska to Ushuaia on a bicycle.

New feature: use your own domain.com on your free BikeTravellers blog!

Oct 25th

Posted by Harry in FAQ

No comments

Of course it is very nice to have your own free Coolname.BikeTravellers.com blog, but maybe you already had a shorter or more descriptive domain name, like http://WorldOnaBike.com.

Good news! We have enabled the possibility to add your own domain now.

This means you can still register a free blog, like coolname.biketravellers.com but the URL (the part you see in the address bar of your browser) could be coolname.com or any other domain you would like to use (so you can loose the nice but interesting ‘biketravellers’ part).

Harry uses free WiFi to update his blog WorldOnaBike.com, from Alaska to Ushuaia on a bicycle.

The example above (http://WorldOnaBike.com), works like that: the original blog address was http://harry.biketravellers.com, but WorldOnaBike.com was easier to share and to remember! Note that the original address still works, it will redirect automatically, so you do not have to worry if your old address is already ‘out there’.

There are a few things you need to do in order to use this service:

  1. Of course, first register a free blog, like coolname.biketravellers.com
  2. Register any domain at any of the main registrars, for example from Dotster.com or GoDaddy.com or Networksolutions.com in the USA or 123-reg – the UK’s No. 1.. This can be any .com. net .nl or whatever domain.
  3. Once your registration More >
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Mark Beaumont finished America Cycle: a note about critiques

Feb 21st

Posted by Harry in News

No comments

Congratulations to Mark Beaumont for finishing yet another interesting trip. He climbed Denali (mt McKinley), then cycled most of the way to Argentina, climbed Mt Aconcagua (another one of the “7summits”), and continued to Ushuaia, the most Southern point in the Americas. This had not been done before and he even raised money for charity on this well-publicized trip. Good for him.

I just read some news pages and noted several people’s critiques, already during and now also after his trip. About how his trip was sponsored, what kind of person he is, about publicity. I left a comment on one of the Bike news sites and will copy that here and expand a bit as I think it might be interesting for other BikeTravellers:

We met Mark in Guatemala and had a nice dinner together (photo here). By that time we were already more than a year on our way and now he is finished, we are still in Venezuela 🙂

Yes, there are more people cycling the Americas (actually many are in contact regularly for tips, help etc), but every trip is different. Different route, different motivations, different people, different journey. All the critics should maybe try it before they complain about anyone? More >

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Embed external videos easily with the new WordPress

Jan 20th

Posted by Harry in Manual

No comments

Embeds

(Via the WordPress Codex: http://codex.wordpress.org/Embeds ) Contents:

// < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ if (window.showTocToggle) { var tocShowText = "show"; var tocHideText = "hide"; showTocToggle(); } // ]]>Starting with WordPress 2.9, it’s super easy to embed videos, images, and other content into your WordPress site.

In A Nutshell

You could always easily embed videos from extrenal sites using the plugin Vipers Video’s quicktags.

We just upgraded to the newset version of wordpress and now all you need to do to embed something into a post or page is to post the URL to it into your content area. Make sure that the URL is on its own line and not hyperlinked (clickable when viewing the post).

For example:

Check out this cool video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTDNLUzjkpg

That was a cool video.

WordPress will automatically turn that into a YouTube embed when the post is viewed. (Check the “Auto-embeds” check box in Administration > Settings > Media SubPanel.)

You can also opt to wrap the URL in the shortcode. It will accomplish the same effect, but does not require the URL to be on its own line and the More >

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The new BikeTravellers.com community

Oct 14th

Posted by Harry in FAQ

1 comment

You might have noticed a few changes already 🙂

After some testing, we have added the community features to BikeTravellers.com. What does this mean for you and your blog?

Your blog is still the same (yourname.biketravellers.com), so nothing changes there. You might only notice a new adminstration bar on top, with links to your new profile, your blogs and more. Check it out!

  • On the new homepage a lot has changed: you can now see the latest posts of all bikebloggers, the latest comments and much more.
  • There are now links to lists of blogs, users, forums and more, check out the menu above.
  • You can become ‘friends’ with other biketravellers, and can send private instant messages, write on their ‘wire’ (like the Facebook ‘wall’) and much more
  • We have added forums and groups, so you can discuss with other users about specific subjects. You can add as many groups and forums as you want!
  • You can even add a groupblog to your group, where all members can post.
  • You can add Avatars/logos to your profile, groups, forums etc, all with just a few clicks.

More features will be added and I have not even described the current ones here, so check out the new Biketravellers.com, your profile and More >

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How to get sponsoring for a bicycle trip?

Sep 1st

Posted by Harry in FAQ

No comments

Last week, I received the following question by email:

I’m starting a solo trip in May from Alaska to Argentina.  I’m using this trip not only for my own desires, but to raise awareness and funds for an organization that aims at putting an end to factory farming and animal abuse in said farms.

I’m only at the beginning stages of preparation at this point.  I noticed you have obtained sponsors for your trip.  This is something I’m very interested in, as I have very limited resources and can use all the help I can get.  I’m here to ask you for advice on how to obtain sponsorship.  If you could give me some help as to how you went about getting sponsors, it would be greatly appreciated.

I replied the following, which might be helpful for others:

Thanks for your email. Great you are going to do it. I am not sure if you already have a blog, but you can open one for free at http://BikeTravellers.com. About the Sponsoring: do not get your hopes up too high. Basically I got sponsored, because I am already a well-known (published) writer, climber and photographer. Still many, many more said no and financial support is More >

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Bike Travel from home!

Aug 15th

Posted by Harry in Gear & reviews

1 comment

A while ago, I got an email though the contact form:

I’m writing from Global Ride Productions (www.globalride.net). We make virtual cycling training DVDs for indoor cycling. As a cycling blogger, we thought you may be interested in writing a review of our product.

Our virtual cycling DVDs are different from any others you may have tried. We travel to exotic locations, have multiple coaching tracks on every DVD, licensed music, and bonus yoga, pilates or strength training sessions designed for cyclists. They’re a great product and we just want to spread the word.

Though normally I would decline such an offer, I realized that not everybody has the chance to go out and ride through the real landscapes and frankly, I was curious to see them. I replied: “Sure, anything that will help people get on a bike is cool with me 😉”

It took a while before the DVD’s reached me as I am BikeTravelling myself, but I finally got too watch them, so here it goes:

I saw all 3 Hawaii Rides DVD’s and generally liked them. It is very hard to imagine sitting on a home trainer or a spinning bike in front of a TV or computer, while sitting on More >

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Around the world in 150 days. On a Santos Bike, with belt-drive.

Apr 30th

Posted by Harry in Uncategorized

2 comments

James Bowthorpe will try to beat the record on his round-the-world bicycle trip.

The record time for cycling around the world is 194 days 17 hours set by Mark Beaumont early last year. Now British cyclist James Bowthorpe is aiming for 150 days, with a goal of raising funds and awareness for a Parkinson’s disease charity.

The 31-year-old will leave London on 29 March, with a goal of riding 120 miles a day and travelling 18,000 miles through 21 countries. He hopes to raise £1.8 million (US$25m) – £100 (US$140) per mile cycled – for the Psychiatry Research Trust’s What’s Driving Parkinson’s? campaign.

Setting off on his Dutch Santos Travelmaster bike with Rohloff hub and the Santos belt drive system, Bowthorpe will pass through Western and Eastern Europe, Iran, Pakistan, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, Portugal and Spain.

Read the following press coverage for more info:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/all-geared-up-for–the-ride-of-his-life-1656047.html

http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/british-cyclist-aims-to-break-round-the-world-record-20690

The concept of the world record is well established in the UK and something of a British obsession. The present record holder is a guy called Mark Beaumont who completed the ride last year on a Koga. He received a lot of press coverage and the BBC also produced a 4-part TV documentary which was More >

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New BikeTravellers T-shirts: Pretty & useful :)

Jan 10th

Posted by Harry in Gear & Stuff

No comments

Ok, you have made the selection and chose your 2-3 shirts for the road. But why those ones? Because they make you look cool/young/sexy or all of the above? Because they are (not) cotton and lightweight?

As a BikeTraveller you need to combine functionality as much as possible, so you can minimize the stuff you are carrying. So what better way to be dressed and get attention from potential hosts than get a specialized BikeTravellers t-shirt!

They are not just pretty (you can still customize them and choose the colour, size, fabric, quality), but will also help you, as the message is clear:

– “Will Stop/Talks for Pasta” will tell others that the beter have a big portion ready if they want you to talk about your adventures!

– “Make Miles not War”, “1500 MPG (and that’s just for my stove)” & Reall? (gas prices went up again?) will tell everybody, how you think & feel about SUV’s and other gas guzzlers!. Spread the word and help yourself start some good conversations and likely get invited to stay for dinner 🙂

In this little flash panel below, you can see a sample of our new BikeTravellers T-shirts. They are not just beautiful (you can still choose More >

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  • Welcome to Biketravellers.com Bicycle blogs

    Cycling near the Dutch windmills Welcome at the new Biketravellers blogs. Here everybody who is interested in bicycles and bike trips can open a free blog and start posting right away!

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