Cycling America - Impressions from Bicycle Travels

Our hotel overlooked the bus stop.

The early morning mist gave the landscape an ethereal quality.

It also doesn’t help that many chauffeurs consider themselves the next Mario Andretti.

Sitting behind a gas station downing cold drinks, that’s Oman ten top.

A daily occurrence

“Honk, honk, honk!”

Out runs a guest worker to take the order.

Two minutes pass and another “honk, honk!” resonates through the parking lot.

The Asian cook then sprints out and tries to explain to the screaming Omani that his meal can’t be cooked within a minute.

Five minutes later, out comes the restaurant worker with the food.

The Omani grabs it, then drives off.

Omanis

They enjoy refusing freshly cooked food. “No good!” they say as they demand new portions.

Larger stores sometimes had a couple of Omani clerks. But we heard that was due to a rule that for every 5 workers hired, a business had to hire an Omani. Even then the Omani clerks would just point us towards the foreign worker to ring up our purchases.

One Omani clerk even refused to sell us an item because he didn’t wish to do the ‘work’ of opening the cash register.

We even woke up to the stuff.

And now you know why all the beer is up…

I don’t think this bus will be rear-ended soon!

But then again, that’s what girlfriends are for. Getting you back home safe and sound.

Marching in stilettos? Eek!

Just one of the many scenic streets in downtown Colchani.

And on particularly cold days, there’s a brisk market for imported Chinese blankets.

And when there’s a curve – it’s signposted.

We woke up to see this camp dog sheltering under our fly. He looked at us so pleadingly, we couldn’t shoo him out.

During winter, locals sew jackets for strays. They even place pieces of cardboard down on the sidewalks for them to lay on so they don’t get cold at night.

Barbecue dogs

They greeted you as long lost friends, hanging around and smiling.

That is until an even bigger portion of meat was put on the neighboring barbecue…

The best way to see Angkor Wat has to be by pedal power.

Even temples hold festivals

A Songkran warrior ready for battle.

After a long hot day, just what you want. Extra mirrors to see just how sweaty and tired you are…

His portrait even graced city archways.

Why fly? Thai long distance busses are outfitted with jet engines and can get you to your destination faster.

Views you can stare at for hours.

Hanging out with newfound friends

On the pathway leading up to the golden chedi, a row of brass bells is rung by the faithful – to help bring them good luck in life.

The casino boomtown of Boten. It’s full of Chinese gambling halls, brothels and karaoke bars.

And they even come with official license plates.

Even temples remain and locals still worship there.

Which girl wouldn’t feel like a princess in the Barbie doll rickshaw?

Crossing the river to find some peace and quiet.

All the way up Nam Phe I had been looking forward to my daily dose of sugary drinks and cookies.

“Hey… Everything’s wet, we’re underwater!”

“How can that be, we’re in the middle of the desert?”

In our early morning stupor, it took a while to sink in what had happened.

Earlier that day we rolled into Mesquite, Nevada and decided to camp in the city park.

Now we knew how they maintained the park’s lush green field. It had an automatic watering system and we had set up our tent over one of the sprinkler heads.

Misery

Before the days of Gore-Tex, we donned plastic rain jackets that didn’t ‘breathe’. After an hour of pedaling our clothes were drenched in sweat.

That combined with cold temperatures had us wondering, “What are we doing here?”

And for the elderly, a lap dog.

CCTV

China Central Television specializes in ‘over the top’ entertainment programs.

Modern Chinese architecture.

At first, we thought that ‘KTV’ was the name of a hotel chain.
Then we were given a room behind the KTV karaoke bar…

And packaging is provided to help bring your purchases home.

No need to speak Chinese, just point at what you want to eat.

We decided to take a pass on this attraction…

In Disneyland you can get your picture taken with Mickey Mouse. In Lijang, with a minority girl in traditional dress.

Probably Han Chinese…

But this was one sign we could understand!

O.k., maybe there was a bit of traffic…

Dali salesmen are ‘hard-core’…

If we even dared to edge ahead on a red light, out came their finger to shoo us back.

Background

The photographic journey began in 1981 while pedaling across the U.S.A. During that summer I not only met my future wife Grace but also fell in love with photography.

In the 1990s I began shooting bicycle touring photos for multi projector slide show presentations with the accent on spectacular downhill sequences of 20 or more images through monumental scenery.

Grace cycled with red Karrimore panniers and wore a red shirt so that she could be seen from a vast distance. After a few years I noticed some of the downhill series contained shots which were good enough to view as a standalone picture.

So I began concentrating on single shots to try and capture the ‘true’ experience of bicycling through immense and often threatening landscapes and the Little Red Cyclist images were born.

Bikecentennial ’76

In 1972 Dan and Lys Burden plus Greg and June Siple pedaled from Alaska to Argentina. En route, they conceived the idea for a bicycle tour across the United States to celebrate the nation’s bicentennial in 1976, naming the event Bikecentennial ’76. They created the Trans America trail which later turned into Adventure Cycling. More than 4,000 cyclists took part in the 1976 inaugural tours.

Following the success of the bicentennial summer, Adventure Cycling Association began charting additional long-distance routes for cyclists.

(Bikecentennial history text courtesy Adventure Cycling Association)

A Belgian beer.

Peter Gostelow

On the Pamir highway, Peter woke up to find the local drunk sheltering in his tent vestibule.

Horses

Whereas Dutch people are born on bicycles – in the Susaamyr valley, they’re born on horses.

What!? Not even a can of Dinty Moore?

But then again, maybe not…

Preparation

Ronald Albronda read Wim Dussel’s book over cycling across the U.S.A. and then lent it to Paul. They thought, “If Wim can do it, we can do it too.” They met Tim van der Made via Bikecentennial Holland and after 3x pedaling up Bloemendaal hill, they were ready for the challenge.

As for Grace, she wanted to drive across the states with her girlfriend Wendy. Their parents weren’t happy with that plan since neither of them can read maps or repair cars. So they decided to cycle to the east coast on a Bikecentennial group tour. After a couple of day rides, they felt confident and ready for the upcoming trip.

In Astoria, Oregon the Dutch and American group members met for the first time.

Tips voor trektochten

En dan was er nog het fietsvakantie-handboek van de toerclub Batavus uit 1979 met nuttige tips ;
Over spinnend klimmen en veilig dalen…..

Een fiets is een fiets, een paar tassen er aan, wat spullen erop en punt ! Geen flauwekul.

Zo kan het inderdaad en het aantal fietsers dat op deze wijze. al duwend, probeert om van land en volk iets te ontdekken is groot is, te groot. Sterke verhalen te over, maar van enig fietsplezier, van spinnend klimmen en veilig dalen, is veelal nauwelijks sprake. Wel van reklame voor vele gemeenten in Nederland, want in dat opzicht spreken de grijze vuilniszakken achterop duidelijke taal…

Over spinnend klimmen en veilig dalen…, een fietsvakantie-handboek met een aantal bruikbare sleutels.

Download dit fietsvakantie-handboek als pdf en lees over fietsvakantie voorbereiding, in de 70’er jaren

Bikecentennial Holland

Bikecentennial Holland organiseerde vanaf de 70’er jaren de Trans America trail voor de vele Nederlandse fietsliefhebbers. De stichting werd gerund door Gijsbert Valstar en Cobi Haarsten. Zij hebben een aantal jaren later in Woerden de fietsvakantie-winkel geopend en de fietsvakantiebeurs opgezet.

Wim Dussel

Wim Dussel werd geboren op 10 maart 1920 te Groningen.

Zijn eerste (ingezonden) stukje in het Nieuwsblad van het Noorden pleegde hij op z’n veertiende. Maar hij wilde iets technisch worden. Hij las op de lagere school voor -op zaterdagmorgen- en zijn beste vak, een uur per week op de MTS- was Nederlands …..

Later, in destijds Indie, kwam hij terecht bij de redaktie van het Mariniersweekblad “Ik zal Handhaven”. Daar werd hij “ontdekt” door Antony van Kampen” en dat was het begin van een serie boeken, verhalen, reportages en allerlei moeilijke reizen. Hij was een jaar lang eerste oorlogs-correspondent in Korea en reisde twee jaar en een half de aarde rond, eerst op een scooter, later in een Daf. Schreef en fotografeerde in meer dan 40 landen en interviewde onder ander Jawaharkak Nehru van India en koning Hussein van Jordanie – waarbij hij meer dan een week in diens peleis ronddoolde.

Wim zwierf ook in eigen land rond, zij het op een andere manier. Meer dan vijftienhonderd keer kwam hij vertellen van z’n reizen, de bekende “avondjes met dia’s – maar dan heel Dusseliaans : zonder “achtergrondmuziek” maar met een woordenstroom die je niet voor mogelijk hield.

“Dussel was” zo schreven zijn critici bij herhaling, “een geboren verteller met een scherpe kijk op de mensen en toestanden. Hij heeft een direkt aansprekende stijl en hij heeft een grote opmerkingsgave en een benijdenswaardig gevoel voor humor dat hem zelfs niet in de steek laat als alles hem tegen zit”. En verder: “hij weet op soms frapante wijze landen, volken en gewoonten met elkaar te vergelijken, er is vaak onverwachts een grote overeenkomst tussen twee landen en ook merkt Wim Dussel tegenstelingen op waar je ze helemaal niet verwacht.

Zijn dertiende boek was een reis waarvan hij, zelfs na vier keer in Amerika geweest te zijn, droomde die nog eens ooit mee te maken : doodgewoon op de fiets en niet langs grote steden, maar door de tuin, de achtertuin van dat bekende, heel andere, enorme grote Amerika.

from left to right: Ronald Albronda, John Lavely, Molly O’Brien, Tim v.d. Made, Patti Krupiarz, Gay Plungas, Jeannette Olson, Joanie Craik, Wendy Beasley, Grace Johnson, Paul Jeurissen

Breakdowns

Paul had tires from Korea that were a couple of sizes too small and not so strong.

Tim didn’t know what a flat tire was, let alone that the bicycle itself could break down.

Then there were also group members who had a few spoke problems…

A fragment from a live recording:

The fact that we haven’t talked about bicycle repairs doesn’t mean that suddenly everything is going well. It has more to do with the fact that it is so boring to keep on talking about them. Nevertheless, we will give the ‘scores’ up to this moment. Joanie 18 flat tires, Patti 16 flat tires, Ronald 13 broken spokes, Paul 12 broken spokes and Tim 40 liters of beer.

My hard bicycle seat

Oh, I’ve got pimples on my butt, but I’m pretty.
Got them from my hard bicycle seat.
I wonder how many times I’ve had the powder.
My butt you know I’m still in love with you.

I wonder when I’ll ever be able to sit still.
Have my little but feel cool.
But remember all you sore butted bikers,
Lazy Louie is nobody’s fool.

Bikers Dream

“That’s where the roads are all downhill,
the dogs all have rubber teeth
and peanut butter is 10 cents a jar.”

I’m riding my bike across the country.
I’m doing the Trans-America trail.
I’m going through all kinds of weather,
like sleet, snow and even rain.

I’m surprised to find so many bikers
that are doing their thing just like me.
And it is that wonderful feeling
to know that you still can be clean.

I think there’s a day that is coming
when you will see more bikes than cars.
And when that day ever gets here
then all the roads will be ours.

I’m riding my bike into heaven.
I pray they will let me through the gates.
But if one continues to remember,
they don’t want to ever see me late.

The Ala-too theatre in Bishkek – with its Soviet inspired murals.

Bungy cords

Just when you think that you can’t carry one more thing, that a six-pack of beer is a good idea, or the leader has asked you to carry the ‘groups cooking pan’ size army canteen, then the bungy cord comes to the rescue.

Good manners

In the midday heat, passing Missouri motorists handed us cold cans of beer. Paul & Tim gratefully accepted the gifts. The result can clearly be seen…

Exhibits in the Stone house museum.

We couldn’t resist re-writing the last sentence.

The ultimate street food is Chipsi Mayai; a potato-egg omelette fried in plenty of grease. Combine that with cold cokes and you can pedal a whole morning on just that one meal.