FAQ

How can you travel a continent by bicycle?

When you’re self sufficient, it’s easy if you have enough time.  My bicycle is made for this type of travel, it can support lots of weight, is very durable for rough roads, and carries all of my sleeping equipment, tent, cooking materials, food, water, clothes, and anything else you would need to survive on a day to day basis.  My bike weighs about 70 pounds total before water and food.

Why do you travel this way?

I have done a bit of backpacking and my experience was that you just hit the major towns or cities. You end up on a bus or train for all the in-between areas, and more often than not, this is the interesting part of the adventure.  When I cycled in Vietnam in 2014, I found that cycling allowed me to explore the areas that were often skipped over when you took a bus or train and also allowed me to go on my own schedule and under my own power.  Not having to worry about schedules and buying tickets is actually a great relief.

How fast and far can you go?

Max speed is probably around 30kph due to my gearing.  Anything faster than that and gravity is doing the work for me.  My bike is geared very low so I can use less energy climbing big hills and mountains.  The majority of time on the bike I spend between 10-15kph.  Yes, that is pretty slow, but at the end of the day you can get anywhere from 50-100km.  On previous trips I have averaged about 60-70km per day.

Don’t you get tired?

Yes, of course! But with an extended amount of time to travel, you can go as far as you want on a particular day.  You can also take lots of rest days, and to be honest, after a couple of weeks on the bike, your body gets used to it and just craves more calories.  Feed your body and being on the bike every day becomes the new norm.

What’s the plan for the future?

As of December 2019, I am in South America traveling by bicycle, so that is the main focus at the moment.  Once that trip is over who knows what the future will bring!

What the FAQ?

Have a question that has not been covered here?  Send it in and I will make sure to put up an answer for you!