Isn't bicycle touring hell?

Isn't bicycle touring hell?

This is the question you read on tourist's faces as you ride or push your heavily laden bicycle past them as they wait to get onto their air conditioned bus in the back blocks of an Asian country. After the initial shock, some give you an admiring glance while others are confronted by the fact that their grand adventure might not be so adventurous after all.

Careful examination of these photographs will show that bicycle touring bears no resemblance to hell ... not at least the hell portrayed in these paintings on a Chinese temple wall in Eastern Malaysia! Bicycle touring is much more fun!!

Pictures...

Children are always facinated by cyclists.

The closer to the ground you travel ...

The closer to the ground you travel, the more you see and experience. You get to feel the texture of the country through the saddle of your bike, greet people as you ride through towns and villages, stop and chat to people who never get to meet tourists.

Pictures...

The Mekong - Southern Laos.

The truth lies in the paradox.

The space between the spokes is just as important as the spokes.

The journey is just as important as the destination.

The cadance, the rhythm of riding becomes a focus that gives as much satisfaction as the sights you have the privilidge of witnessing.

you can't get there from here

Some of the better things start as a small idea, and, with time, develop and take on a vision of their own.

All this started with the statement, "you can't get there from here." What was offered as a statement of fact by the speaker more than twelve years ago has become a challenge that we deal with at least once a year.