The Velo Hobo

And they’re off!  Who will win?

Follow along live as ten intrepid travelers race to be named the fastest world bicycle traveler (currently the fastest circumnavigation cyclist is Alan Bate (UK) ~ 96 days, 10 hours and 33 minutes).

 To make your prediction of who will be the fastest:  Click Here.

 To follow along live:  Click Here.

Pearls Before Swine Comic Strip, February 08, 2012 on GoComics.com.

Okay, I get the humor.  And yes, if I weren’t a cyclist and so many other cyclists hadn’t been killed by careless and distracted drivers, I may not find this offensive.  But I do.  What I find more offensive than the comic strip itself, is some of the comments.  The cartoonist is making a statement, ‘some cyclist are elitists or have a better-than-you attitude’.  Okay, true enough.  Some are. The problem is this sort of thing promotes the idea that the life of a person riding a bicycle is of less value than the life of a person driving.

Or am I just taking this too seriously?

I’m really digging this Global Warming. While our brethren to the north are being hammered into submission by blizzard like conditions, we southerners are basking in freakishly warm sunshine. If all that CFC laden hairspray I used in the 80’s caused this, you have my deepest apology, but today I rode as if it were a summer day. Yes I know. We will all be dead soon from the cosmic radiation once held at bay by that ozone stuff. In the meantime is there any reason to not enjoy a 60 degree day in mid-February? Here’s a picture.

When I was in school a group of Tibetan monks visited the little backwoods college I was attending.  They owned little and laid claim to nothing.  I sat for hours each day on the upper mezzanine of the student union, sipping my 5 dollar lattés, watching as four of the youngest monks toiled with intense concentration to create a beautiful sand mandala.  Each and every grain of sand meticulously placed to create one of the most beautiful works of art I’ve ever seen.  Days later they finished; minutes after that the eldest monk took a broom and swept it away.

“Now this is about to get really interesting” I thought to myself.  I ran to the edge of the mezzanine waiting for the four young monks to whip out some pretty sweet Kung-Fu moves and lay waste to the old bastard.  Nope.  They bowed respectfully and started cleaning up the mess.  This disturbed me for weeks after.  “Why didn’t they flip out and beat the stuffing out of the old guy?  Was he some kind of retired ninja master assassin and they were afraid?  Was he packing a pistol under his robes?”

With one swipe of his broom the elder monk had taught the four younger monks valuable lessons.  Nothing is permanent and suffering comes from attachment.  I think they also learned that joy comes from the process of creating not from the thing created.   My Westernized mind could not grasp the concept of non-attachment and impermanence.  I still struggle, but I try.  As The Velo Hobo approaches the 100,000 visitor mark, I toy with the idea of hitting the “Delete This Blog” button.

I’m not a spiritual person and despite minoring in philosophy and religion, the deepest thought I think now-a-days is “how do they get tabasco sauce through that little hole in the bottle?”   But I have been thinking lately how my life might be different if I were unplugged from the matrix?   Would I be more creative?  More productive?  Would I read more books?  Spend more time with my family?   Spend more time riding than writing about riding?  Maybe. 

The Velo Hobo receives between 5,000 and 6,000 visitors a month and those numbers grow each month.  Blogging has been a fun pastime and I’ve connected with some great people.  So for now it’s business as usual, but somewhere around mid-summer I’ll have a decision to make.

Thanks for reading, Jack

Follow along as an intrepid ten cyclists battle it out to be named the “World’s Fastest Bicycle Traveler”.  No doubt they will be traveling Ultralight.

Here’s the link:   The BROOKS Despatch.  Here the link to follow the race live: Worldcycleracing

Impending Race Around the Globe,

18,000 Miles by Bicycle

“World Cycle Racing Grand Tour” gets underway on 18 February 2012. Ten cyclists from the British Isles will take off from Greenwich, London on 18 February to assault en masse the Guinness World Record for the Fastest Global Circumnavigation by Bicycle. The coordinated attempt is the largest of its kind ever to take place.

The concept of this simultaneous attempt is the brainchild of Vin Cox, who held the record until very recently, having completed the 18,000 mile journey in just 163 days. Fellow Englishman Alan Bate however, recently bested Vin’s record with a stunning time of under 97 days.

Since Guinness included the record for the first time in 2008, cyclists have been fiercely competing to hold the crown of world’s fastest traveller. Last year alone the record was broken a number of times, before finally being held by Mr. Cox for over one year.  ~ From The Brooks Dispatch

The 2^nd issue of Bicycle Traveler Magazine is available.  It’s downloadable as a PDF and has some of the most spectacular photographs and stories from around the world.

 Check it out here: Bicycle Traveler Magazine.  Extra points if anyone can spot the quote by yours truly.

Before I say a word about my favorite outdoor gear supplier, let me say that I am in no way affiliated with the retailer.  This is a totally unsolicited review of what I believe to be the best source for most anything camping related.

Campmor has been around since 1978.  In 1978 I was a poor kid living in a mountain community with few opportunities for shopping around for gear.  This was years before Al Gore invented the internet and even if he had there were no computers to use it.  Catalogs were my only choice for lusting after gear.

Campmor’s catalogs were small un-glossy things without photographs.  All the goodies, from snow shoes to Swiss Army knives were simple line drawings and still are to this day.  Campmor must have a team of artists locked away in some back room feverishly drawing each and every item.  Of course today (thanks to computer scientist and former VP Al Gore) you can go to their websight and see pictures of the items.  I sincerely hope this new technology doesn’t put line drawing artists out of business.

But anyway, if you’re new to outdoor sports or have never happened across Campmor, give them a look.  After several decades of buying tons of gear from them, I have never had a bad experience and their prices are usually the best around. ~ Here’s the link: Campmor

Just my opinion, Jack

As the temps drop into the single digit range in the ridge tops of the Smokies, I have two choices if I want to avoid the cursed stationary trainer.  One, seek out lower elevations.  Two, say ‘frostbite be damned, I’m riding as high as I can go”.  As often as possible, I’ll take choice two.  A good pair of booties is worth the price to keep toes toasty, warm and dry. 

I’ve owned this pair of Sugoi Resistor bike booties around four or five years now.  They’ve ridden from the mountains of North Carolina to the coast and on countless shorter tours and day rides and are holding up remarkably well.  They’re always with me on tours, stuffed away with my rain jacket and helmet cover and are very easy to put on and take off.  In the dead of winter they provide just enough wind resistance and insulation to keep my feet comfortable in the coldest weather.

The 8 inch high Sugoi is made from a fleece lined rubberized material.  Features include a full length rear zipper held securely in place with a Velcro tab. An un-coated yellow material in the heel and toe creates a nice snug fit and an elastic band runs across the middle.  The bottom is open to allow for cleats and this also makes them more durable for walking around during the ride.  Reflective trim and logo adds to visibility. Cost is somewhere around fifty bucks and we bought ours from REI.  Well worth every penny.

This was an unsolicited review.  I just like them, Jack

Hello.  My name is Jack and I’m a recovering hammer-head.  You may have seen me before.  I’m the guy who flew by you screaming “On your left!!!!!”  You remember, I was the one riding an inch off your back tire.  The one deep in the drops, clipped in, head low, elbows in.  That was way back in the early 80’s.  I rode like a racer, dressed like a racer, and rode a racing bike but I’ve never been in a single race. 

That was over thirty years ago. I think I’m in full remission and not likely to relapse. My palms no longer get sweaty when I see an all carbon bike and I can’t even remember how to spell paleton or have a clear recollection of what VO2Max is (a shampoo maybe?).  I pawned my heart rate monitor decades ago to pay off a bar tab.  I can’t remember the last time I rode a bike with a computer on it.

I’m 48 and getting thick around the middle.  I’m no longer aerodynamic.  My knee is shredded and pops out of joint if I try to sprint, not that I ever try.  But every year my love for cycling grows deeper.  No, that’s not it.  Every year my love for where bicycles take me grows deeper. 

If you’ve stumbled across this blog, and for some odd reason, keep returning, maybe hoping it will get better, 2012 will be an interesting year. 

Thanks for reading, Jack

The Velo Hobo stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 48,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 18 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Congratulations HA1KU!

HA1KU, if indeed that is your real name, following a random drawing, you are the Grand Prize Winner of a custom hand crafted alcohol stove and wind screen.  Cash value is less than nothing of course, but fame and adventure is your true reward.

I’ll be contacting you tomorrow via e-mail to get your shipping instruction.

Thanks, Jack

 New York, Nova Scotia, Montreal and back to New York.  This is definately one my wife and I would consider.  She a native New Yorker and we’ve both talked about touring Nova Scotia.  This one also looks as if it hugs the coastline, which is what we try to do as much as possible when near the coast.

Check out the map at:

 » Tour Over: here’s a rough map of my route PB & J All Day. 

Jack

You just never know what’s around the next corner.

                           ha1ku | Twenty-two Hours.

All this in only 22 hours…now this is adventure cycling!  Follow the link above for the rest of the story.

Another friend caught my tweet and asked how my stay was.  I jokingly replied that the room smelled like a cheap hooker.  Whatever.  I showered, watched t.v. and surfed the web for two more hours before giving in entirely to exhaustion. ~ ha1ku

As the years end is drawing near, I sit here reflecting on a pretty active year of cycling and camping.  For me, an ailing Basset hound (who we finally had to put to sleep), a new position at work, studying for my substance abuse counselors’ certification and family obligations has kept me from putting together a longer tour this year.  Still I managed several S24Os and ‘base camp’ bike tours within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  I’m hoping to get back to more multi-day and week to 2-week tours in 2012. 

At the beginning of this year I posted a contest of sorts.  We have a couple of entries so far.  If you have a trip to enter you can leave it in the comment section or email me.  Internet access here is a bit sketchy, but I’ll be returning home next week.  I’ll put all the names in a hat and draw the winner.  Schlocky prize to be determined…perhaps a hand crafted stove.

Follow this link for more details:   The 2011 Velo Hobo Challenge

As always, thanks for reading, Jack