OCTOBER 2016 - WWW.BICYCLETRAVELER.NL 1

WWW.BICYCLETRAVELER.NL - OCTOBER 2016

Gloves ChinaShakespeare Guatemala- - -

International Magazine on Cycle TouringBicycleTraveler

Kyrgyzstan -

OC

TO

BE

R 2

01

6 - W

WW

.BIC

YC

LE

TR

AV

EL

ER

.NL

1415

By: F

RE

DR

IKA

EK

ww

w.thebikeram

ble.comIm

age from the R

oad: CH

IN

A

OC

TO

BE

R 2

01

6 - W

WW

.BIC

YC

LE

TR

AV

EL

ER

.NL

1617

BY

: FR

ED

RIK

A E

K w

ww

.thebikeramble.com

Image from

the Road: T

AJ

IK

IS

TA

N

OC

TO

BE

R 2

01

6 - W

WW

.BIC

YC

LE

TR

AV

EL

ER

.NL

106O

CT

OB

ER

20

16

- WW

W.B

ICY

CL

ET

RA

VE

LE

R.N

L107

Judging by everyone’s weird tan lines and the ri-

diculous portions of food on their plates – it was

clear. These people were cyclists!

In the end I spent three full days in Bukhara. O

ne to become hum

an again, and the rest explor-ing the city and preparing for the rest of U

zbeki-stan. The w

hole time I stuffed m

yself with unrea-

sonable amounts of food to try and get back the

weight I lost in the desert.

The highlight for me in Bukhara w

as meeting

all the other cyclists. Ever since I left Sweden 5

months ago I had only bum

ped into a handful of other tw

o wheeled travellers. M

ost of the time, I’m

looked upon like a com

plete alien wherever I com

e crashing in w

ith my fully loaded bike. Som

ewhere

down the road I think I’ve started to consider m

y-self as som

ewhat of a w

eirdo as well.

Here – for the first tim

e, I truly felt like I was part

of a comm

unity.

SU

RE

. It really is one weird com

munity. O

ne w

here saddle sores is a completely legitim

ate top-ic of discussion during dinner, and w

here the top speed of m

osquitoes (14 km/h for anyone lacking

this piece of knowledge) is considered to be truly

valuable information.

But however strange it m

ight be, it really is like som

eone said during breakfast one morning:

‘Guys? I do know

it’s a twisted one. B

ut this re-ally is m

y tribe – and I love it.’O

ne thing is clear though. While having bicy-

cle adventuring in comm

on, we’re still as diverse

as any other group of people. Everyone’s reason for doing this is different. Everyone has their ow

n style. Their ow

n goals. Their own story of how

they ended up on the saddle of a bike.

DU

RIN

G M

Y T

IM

E in R

umi H

ostel more than

10 cyclists came and w

ent. No one w

as alike.There w

as the British guy Nick, w

ho started off

from hom

e a bunch of months ago – going ‘until he

finds somew

here worth staying’. The silent Italian

couple going around Central Asia for a few

weeks

as their honeymoon. The older G

erman couple, on

the last leg of their several stage world tour. And

Peter from Belgium

, who had a heart of gold – but

who hated anyone in a uniform

and got in trouble w

ith authorities when doing so shouldn’t even be

possible.

TH

ER

E

WA

S

the Slovenian

former

jave-lin throw

er weighing in on 90 som

ething kg of m

uscles, always sitting in the sam

e chair with a

constant smile on his face. H

e described every-thing as ‘Super cool!’ and had the cutest lisp-ing I’ve ever heard. Then that loud guy w

ho was

travelling with rather than on a bike since he

had hitchhiked most of the w

ay from Europe.

Then there was m

e.And a couple of dudes w

ho I think can pose as the perfect exam

ple of how one touring cyclist

does not equal the other. These guys are both in it for the long run, but have – apart from

their mean

of transport – absolutely nothing in comm

on.Patrick from

Germ

any is currently on his 8th year of touring – aim

ing to go to every country in the w

orld with his bicycle. D

ressed in lycra from

head to toe he has the most light and aerodynam

ic set up I think I’ve seen, and he covers som

ething like 200 km

on any normal day on the bike. Patrick

is a sportsman and the w

orld is his arena.And then there is O

livier from France.

Six or so years ago he left his hometow

n, and has been on the road ever since. C

arrying everything from

toothbrush to a paraglide, he is the Jack Sparrow

of bicycle touring and really has the bike to m

atch it. This guy is a traveller down to the core

– and let’s just say he’d need a bit of a tailwind to

cover 200 km like Patrick.

CO

MIN

G T

O B

UK

HA

RA

I was drained, in ev-

ery sense of the word. But leaving, I w

as filled with

this childlike inspiration and motivation I hadn’t had

since the very start of my tour. I had been rem

ind-ed of m

y reasons for going on this journey, and even gotten a few

new ones. Being still, I could

feel my love for being on the m

ove stronger than I had done in m

onths.M

y body surely would have done w

ell from

sticking around a few m

ore days, but my m

ind just w

ouldn’t have it. I was packed up and ready to go.

TribetheText &

photos: FR

ED

RIK

A E

K

OC

TO

BE

R 2

01

6 - W

WW

.BIC

YC

LE

TR

AV

EL

ER

.NL

108O

CT

OB

ER

20

16

- WW

W.B

ICY

CL

ET

RA

VE

LE

R.N

L109

Pedalling into the old city of Bukhara, I slow

ly found my w

ay to Hostel

Rum

i. By word of m

outh alone, this has become the m

eeting point of all

touring cyclists entering and leaving Uzbekistan. And sure enough, just

as the sun set and I was rolling m

y bike into the courtyard, I was m

et by

six or so other touring bikes and a table full of smiling people, just about

to dig in on dinner. Judging by everyone’s weird tan lines, and the ridicu-

days in Rum

i Hostel, I saw

more than 10 cyclists

come and go. N

one of them w

ere quite the same.

There was the British guy N

ick, who set out

from hom

e some m

onths earlier, and planned to keep going ‘until he finds som

ewhere w

orth staying’. Som

e, like the silent Italian couple on their honeym

oon, were only travelling the re-

gion for a few w

eeks, while the older G

erman

couple, were heading hom

e on the last leg of a w

orld tour. There was also a loud guy, travelling

with rather than on a bike as he had hitchhiked

most of the w

ay from Europe.

Perhaps the two cyclists w

ho stand out most

in my m

ind, however, w

ere two w

ho showed

perfectly how one touring cyclist does not equal

the other. Both were in it for the long run but –

apart from their use of bicycles to get around

– had absolutely nothing in comm

on.Patrick, from

Germ

any, had already been touring for eight years and intends to see every country in the w

orld with his bicycle. D

ressed in lycra from

head to toe, his setup was the m

ost

lously oversized portions of food, it was clear –

these people were definitely cyclists.

That night was m

y first taste of Bukhara. In total, I spent three full days in Bukhara: one just to becom

e human again after a particu-

larly gruelling stretch, and a couple to explore the city and get m

yself and the bike ready for the rest of U

zbekistan. During m

y entire stay, I stuffed m

yself with unreasonable am

ounts of food to gain back the w

eight I lost in the desert.Being together w

ith so many other cyclists

was a huge highlight for m

e. Since leaving Swe-

den some five m

onths earlier, I’d only bumped

into a handful of other two-w

heeled travellers like m

yself. Mostly I felt like a com

plete alien, as I rolled into tow

ns with m

y fully loaded bike. And at som

e point on the road, I think I started to con-sider m

yself as somew

hat of a weirdo as w

ell. H

ere in Bukhara, for the first time, I truly felt

like I was part of a com

munity.

Now, to be fair, it w

as one eccentric com-

munity. W

here else would saddle sores be a

completely legitim

ate topic of discussion dur-ing dinner, or the top speed of m

osquitoes (14 km

/h for anyone lacking this possibly vital piece of know

ledge) be considered as truly valuable inform

ation? But however strange it sounds, it

really was as som

eone remarked during break-

fast one morning: ‘G

uys? I do know it’s a tw

isted one. B

ut this really is my tribe – and I love it.’

Despite our shared love of bicycle adven-

tures, we w

ere still an incredibly diverse group of people, w

ith different reasons for setting out, our ow

n styles, goals and our own stories of how

w

e ended up on the saddle of a bike. During m

y

OC

TO

BE

R 2

01

6 - W

WW

.BIC

YC

LE

TR

AV

EL

ER

.NL

110O

CT

OB

ER

20

16

- WW

W.B

ICY

CL

ET

RA

VE

LE

R.N

L111

Be

low

: Patrick from G

ermany w

ith his super lightweight setup.

In 2013 Fredrika Ek stumbled upon bicycle

touring and pedaled 3 months across Eu-

rope. She becam

e hooked and began to plan her dream

trip even before she was back in

Sw

eden. ww

w.thebikeram

ble.com

light and aerodynamic of any I’ve seen. H

e cov-ers som

ething like 200km on any given day. Pat-

rick is a sportsman and the w

orld is his arena.And then there is O

livier from France, w

ho left hom

e about six years ago. Carrying everything

from a toothbrush all the w

ay up to a paraglider, he is the Jack Sparrow

of bicycle touring and re-ally has the bike to m

atch. This guy is a traveller dow

n to the core – and let’s just say he’d need a bit of a tailw

ind to cover 200 km like Patrick.

In the midst of all these com

ings and goings, there w

as me.

Com

ing to Bukhara I was drained, in every

sense of the word. But leaving, I w

as filled with

a childlike inspiration and motivation, the likes

of which I hadn’t had since the very start of m

y tour. I had been rem

inded of my reasons for

going on this journey, and even gotten a few

new ones. W

hile standing still, I could feel my

love for being on the move stronger than I had

done in months.

My body surely w

ould have benefited from

sticking around a few m

ore days, but my m

ind just w

ouldn’t have it. I was packed up and ready

to go. Ready to fully explore this new

country I w

as in. To live life, in the best way I know

how. I w

as ready to head out and create new stories.

And to outrun some m

osquitoes.

Rig

ht: Frenchm

an Olivier stands in front of his overloaded bike.

Subscribe now, it’s

Free!

www.bicycletraveler.nl

Subscribers can dow

nload earlier issues of B

icycleTraveler at:

BT