John you have great way with words. That’s a talent. Well said.
Speaking of traffic, one almost unavoidable thing about cycle touring is that we are confined to roads, and usually main roads. So unless we choose to make substantial detours, have decent off-bike layovers, or go right off-seal, we are going to only experience a very narrow band of country. And that narrow band of land, especially the verges, probably present the least attractive samples any country has.
Last night I attended a free film showing by a young local guy, Jack Keogh, who participated in the Great Divide bike race.
He bike packed (much of the route is off seal) j 25 days from Banff to the Mexican Border. 4800 km. He condensed the journey into 1 hour of video clips. It was very uplifting to see so much beautiful scenery. And zero traffic & litter.
Andrea all excellent points, especially the one about journals reporting and representing the world as we see it.
It’s interesting that my friend who is struggling on the final stage of his long expedition tour, is taking in a very different perspective of Indonesia than I gained from taking many rural leadership development groups there over recent years.
I also saw some horrendous environmental and social situations during many visits to numerous regions in Java, Sumatra and Sulawesi over nine years, but I saw (I was taken to) many locations which exemplified the contrary. I experienced much which gives me hope for the future of that complex country.
As much as I love cycle touring as a travel mode, it can present a country through a very narrow lens unless we take time, and make the effort, to get off the bike and delve deeper and more broadly into other areas away from the roads. And often these detours will involve locals providing insights and access to places we won’t easily find riding quickly from point to point. An error that I often made in my earlier tours.
"For example, on my most recent, longest tour there was a stretch of road which seemed to have an inordinate number of roadside memorials to road accident victims. Many of them to multiple people in single accidents. I found this very confronting but I did take photos of many of them to remind myself I’d seen them. However I only posted a few of them in the journal, because those memorials were a distinctive feature of the scenery."
Good grief Graham- this observation has stirred a ton of touring memories and sent me down more than a few rabbit holes...
I rarely photograph the memorials, in part because I find them an intensely personal expression of someone else's grief and loss. BUT... I'm a Deeply Flawed Rubbernecking Cyclist (TM) and have on occasion been dumbstruck but either the location or thought that went into the memorial and absolutely wanted a visual keepsake. Two that really stand out were in the Atacama desert in Chile. The first was a miniature tinplate circus tent beside a vast empty straight stretch of road. Of course I had to stop and read the attached plaque in memory of a circus performer, who I can only assume had fallen asleep at the wheel or had a tire blow out at speed. The second was at the bottom of very long and straight 500m vertical descent near the town of San Pedro de Atacama. Near the bottom of the descent the road makes a sharp 90 degree turn and at least one unfortunate truck driver failed to take it. The memorial took the form of a miniature house surrounded by brightly painted flowers and pinwheels - the location, like so much of the Atacama had a gobsmackingly desolate beauty to it, being in a vast, empty, monochrome pastel coloured valley ringed by volcanic peaks.
In Australia the memorials are like a depressing catalogue of the misplaced bravado of young men.
In Greece (I think it was on Crete, but a loooong time ago, so no guarantees) I was shocked at the sheer number of roadside memorials, but then *kind of* hugely relieved to be informed by a local that I shouldn't worry because they didn't usually mark where people had died, but rather were built in thanks to their patron saints by those who had survived their accidents!
Hi Syd, great to hear from you. Long time, No post.
I love the concept of building Gratitude for Surviving roadside memorials. Especially if there was a specific type for cycle-tourists. They could add brightness and cheer to otherwise dreary curves, shoulderless roads and intersections.
Perhaps an ecumenical Saint for Cycle-Tourists needs to be invented.
"Perhaps an ecumenical Saint for Cycle-Tourists needs to be invented."
I propose San Roque (see https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Roch). He is the patron saint of many things from junk collectors to used car salesmen. Cycle tourists would be a small burden to add to his load.
Jean-Marc well suggested. He definitely sounds like a contender. We’d fit as the things in the pannier of the eclectic types in his ad hoc peloton.
“He is a patron saint of dogs, invalids, falsely accused people, bachelors, and several other things.”
No need to add to the already heavy load of San Toque when there is already an official Patroness of Cyclists, the Madonna del Ghisallo. She has been officially declared by Pope Pius XII IN 1949 and has a shrine with bicycle museum already devoted to her.
The Madonna del Ghisallo sounds to be an even better contender. Great suggestion. Thanks.
I feel the burden of cycle tourers struggling through polluted regions being shared and lifted.
Wayne I have similar photo preference. I tend to post photos which have photographic merit, rather than photos eg sunsets, which convey a message or information which I’m trying to communicate.
Ideally I’d prefer to post photos which are good photos, but also do ‘say’ something useful without much caption.
For example, on my most recent, longest tour there was a stretch of road which seemed to have an inordinate number of roadside memorials to road accident victims. Many of them to multiple people in single accidents. I found this very confronting but I did take photos of many of them to remind myself I’d seen them. However I only posted a few of them in the journal, because those memorials were a distinctive feature of the scenery. But they weren’t the dominant features of the landscapes. They were just one of many features which make that area unique in my memory.
1 year ago