This is really *such *an interesting book, and oddly for me as I've never had the faintest interest in travel writing or television. I'm in the middle of Chapter 3 now and one glaring omission lingers: I don't know why he's doing this. I mean I understand his interest in it but there's an overriding sense of "it just had to happen" that's never really explained, like it just became The Thing I Must Do and he went. As I'm stopped here to leave this note Stephen has just met another man on a bike who's been back and forth across Africa three times. Why? There doesn't seem to be an answer, between the two travelers I'm not sure it's even a question. They're out there because they are.
On Sunday, September 12, 2021 at 10:37:53 PM UTC-7 Joe Bernard wrote: > Prologue done, he's an interesting writer. There's a breeziness to his > style - a momentum - which is instantly inviting. An example, this refers > to his first bike trip with his brother in Chile: > > "We chose routes with impulsive pleasure and we ate like escaped prisoners > of war. Mountains rose and fell and there was an abiding sensation of being > dwarfed by the landscape, as if we were animals filmed from above in a > wildlife documentary." > > I also learned that hotchpotch is a word (or he invented it) and medical > stuff I don't understand is much more interesting than I expected. Oh, > there's stuff about riding, too 😬 > > Thanks for finding this for us, Leah! > On Sunday, September 12, 2021 at 8:18:29 PM UTC-7 Joe Bernard wrote: > >> "Leah, who has never even ridden a century..." >> >> I remember being about 60 miles into it and realizing there were 40 more. >> I was not pleased with this information! >> >> On Sunday, September 12, 2021 at 7:09:16 PM UTC-7 Bicycle Belle Ding >> Ding! wrote: >> >>> Doug, that’s wild! If you (or anyone) reads the book, report back. I’m >>> reading his journal online now. >>> >>> Leah, who has never even ridden a century, nor gone on a group ride. >>> >>> Sent from my iPad >>> >>> On Sep 12, 2021, at 2:35 PM, dougP <doug...@gmail.com> wrote: >>> >>>  >>> >>> >>> Yep, that's the guy. Quite an adventure. Seems odd to have worn out 5 >>> Rohloff hubs but they were seeing a lot of abuse. Off to order the book. >>> >>> Thanks for posting. I'd wondered what happened to the guy. >>> >>> dougP >>> >>> On Sunday, September 12, 2021 at 1:47:40 PM UTC-7 dougP wrote: >>> >>>> We saw a presentation at REI several years ago from (probably) that >>>> same Dr. He was raising funds for tropical disease research that Big >>>> Pharma wasn't interested in: no money as the countries where these >>>> diseases are a problem are all poor. >>>> >>>> He had lots of great stories. In one area of Africa, he said when he >>>> passed the same dead goat twice he knew he was lost. When we saw him in >>>> SoCal, he was on I believe his 3rd tent, and he had a set of Ortleibs >>>> where >>>> most of coating had worn off. He had a new set waiting for him in the Bay >>>> Area, & made it sound like "I'll just pop up there & get them". >>>> >>>> I'll have to check out those links. I always wondered if he made it. >>>> He had some pretty dodgy adventures. >>>> >>>> dougP >>>> >>>> On Sunday, September 12, 2021 at 11:53:24 AM UTC-7 Bicycle Belle Ding >>>> Ding! wrote: >>>> >>>>> I was listening to a podcast episode on The Moth. At the end of the >>>>> show, a bonus story was featured. It was told by Steven Fabes, an ER doc >>>>> who hailed from London, who had hatched an ill-formed plan to cycle >>>>> around >>>>> the world. He quits his job, buys a shiny new bicycle, and waves goodbye >>>>> to >>>>> 100 of his closest friends and family on the steps of his old hospital. >>>>> He >>>>> makes it as far as his favorite pub before he realizes he’s made a >>>>> terrible >>>>> mistake. And that’s all I’ll say. He was so engaging and so hilarious >>>>> that >>>>> I tracked him down online and found his website. His book detailing his >>>>> travels is called Signs of Life, and you can get it on Amazon (ebook for >>>>> me!). >>>>> >>>>> If you have a little wanderlust yourself (me!), you love bikes (ooh, >>>>> me!) and you are interested in medicine (also me!) you might enjoy his >>>>> book >>>>> or at least reading an article about his journey. >>>>> >>>>> https://stephenfabes.com/the-journey/ >>>>> >>>>> The podcast of his story - begins at the 15 min mark: >>>>> >>>>> https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-moth/id275699983?i=1000534944747 >>>>> >>>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the >>> Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this topic, visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rbw-owners-bunch/1HiHUtnBFf8/unsubscribe >>> . >>> To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to >>> rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com. >>> To view this discussion on the web visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/6099d458-d9cc-405b-a8bc-e980a474ec58n%40googlegroups.com >>> >>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/6099d458-d9cc-405b-a8bc-e980a474ec58n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>> . >>> >>> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/b328a965-064e-45b8-baad-cfd931e7318an%40googlegroups.com.
