Stories of bicycle travellers & free weblogs for biketravellers!
Outside the lines
Danger zones and weapons on a biketravellers trip through the Americas
Aug 21st
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 >
Mark Beaumont finished America Cycle: a note about critiques
Feb 21st
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 >
New BikeTravellers T-shirts: Pretty & useful :)
Jan 10th
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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