Tag Archives: bike touring

PJ Park: The Long Ride To Maya Pedal


PJ and his Big Dummy in Antigua, Guatemala. Photo from PJ’s blog.

Last week, I wrote a short post about an awesome organization in San Andrés Itzapa, Guatemala called Maya Pedal. The group re-purposes old bikes into bicimaquinas—pedal-powered machines used for washing clothing, drawing well water, shelling nuts, milling grain, and more. After I posted it, a friend of mine told me that one of his co-workers at the Mt. Rainier Bike Co-Op in Mt. Rainier, MD is currently volunteering for Maya Pedal. That co-worker is MRBC founder PJ Park who is not only volunteering for Maya Pedal, but rode his bike all the way to San Andrés Itzapa to do so! PJ told me about his work with the organization so far, his long tour from the United States to Guatemala, and what Maya Pedal needs to continue to succeed.

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Bike Camping 1972-Style

I rely on Google for too much, arguably. My email, my calendar, the analytics for this site, searching the Internets. Now, thanks to their mad attempt to scan every published document in existence, I can use Google to get cutting-edge bike touring tips from 1972.

Laura and Russ of The Path Less Pedaled (two previous Bicycle Story interviewees) posted a link on Twitter to a Google books scan of the April 1972 issue of Popular Science. The issue contains an article by A.J. Hand with the straight-forward title “Bicycle Camping–What you need to know to join the fun.”

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Laura Crawford and Russ Roca: Touring America On The Path Less Pedaled


Laura and Russ. Photo by Russ Roca.

Over the past two years Laura Crawford and Russ Roca have ridden thousands of miles around America, exploring its nooks and crannies, meeting its people, and documenting their adventures on their website, The Path Less Pedaled. Though a multi-year bike tour already sets them apart from the average tourist, Laura and Russ’ trip is that much more unique because it is open ended. Before taking their first pedal strokes away from their California home in 2009, they sold or gave away everything that wasn’t coming with them on the bikes. I caught up with them in Portland, OR where they’ve settled in for the winter to talk about their journey, feeling disconnected, and their practical advice for touring wannabes.

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Tara Alan and Tyler Kellen: Going Slowly Round The World


Jetlagged in Glasgow at the very start.

A few years ago, Tyler Kellen had the sort of hair-brained scheme that many cyclists have: set off on a tour around the world. He started asking his then-girlfriend now-wife Tara Alan if she would join him and eventually she said yes. Flash forward to April 2009. The Minnesota duo flew to Scotland and set off on a trip that’s taken them all over Europe, into northern Africa, across Russia, and into South East Asia where they’re currently riding and exploring. Tara and Tyler have thoroughly documented their trip with journals, photography, and audio recordings on their website Going Slowly (to which they link extensively throughout the interview). I spoke to them about the experience of undertaking such an immense journey, their reception abroad, and how a tour like this has influenced their life plans.

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