Blog – Renew Ride

In the last month of a four year bike adventure that spanned 63 countries through five continents, I rode the last of 77,000 kilometers across the northern United States of America. Riding across the great vast plains of the Dakotas gave me plenty of time to reflect on all the different places I had been around the world, and how my view of my homeland is forever altered. I saw the kind eyes and gentle smiles of farmers who work diligently on ranches that cover thousands of acres, herding animals and growing crops that feed millions of us in the USA. I heard the accent of the “Yuppers” in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, as I climbed apple trees and shook the branches to help them collect apples for deer hunting season. And as I rode back into northern Indiana where I grew up as a child, my family greeted me with open arms as they welcomed me back home. For those of you who I have met along the way, those who shared water, shelter, equipment, or a good story, I thank you and I look forward to when our paths will cross again. Keep going. Custer, South Dakota to South Bend, Indiana 13/9/19- 12/10/19

Back home with my Sisters and Father

Listen to this short interview I did with news station Sunny 101.5 about my trip around the globe

For the last of countless water crossings on my safari around the world, I put my bike in this paddle boat and rowed across the river to bypass a bridge construction in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan Sculpture Garden of Lakenenland, UP Michigan Sculpture Garden of Lakenenland, UP Michigan

Ashland, Wisconsin

Old clean energy meets new clean energy

I started my first business venture in the United States, Biker Mike Cycle Tours LLC, in July of this year. My first trip consisted of a loop of the western United States on a motorcycle with one client for the month of August. After discovering more of the gems throughout the West and enjoying the luxury of an engine, I decided to close the business for the season and have resumed riding my bicycle across the central United States of America. If you are interested in your own catered tour in the States or abroad, please message me through the contact page for a free quotation! Denver, Colorado 04/7/19 - Custer, South Dakota 13/9/19

VietnamI say goodbye to my Costa Rican machete which has been carving my pineapples for more than three years.Eight months ago I said goodbye to the Atlantic Ocean in the Netherlands. Now I say hello to the Pacific again in Vietnam. This picture shows these cool little bowl fishing boats used here.

These guys tried and failed to get me drunk on local Laos rice whisky, which goes great with freshly fried pork rindsThe world's most heavy duty mopeds can be found throughout Southeast Asia

In Laos, tree stumps are never wasted

Cycling through the rest of Burma, a rather cloistered country for so long, was a forward step back in time. The world felt old and original, with people still getting around in ox carts, rice fields being farmed in traditional ways, and life moving by just a little more slowly. The transition into Thailand was shockingly stark. I felt the heavy influence of western materialism, and the difference between two neighboring countries was one of the stronger I felt on this trip. But along back country roads through hilly Thailand, provincial Thai farmers still pick tamarinds off their trees by hand, and invited me over to share sticky rice out of bamboo baskets. And while the heat is nearly insufferable some afternoons, the myriad tropical fruits keep me motivated to explore almost every local market to shock my taste buds and watch the happy reaction of the people when they are. Mandalay, Burma 7/2/19 - Vientiane, Laos 3/3/19

I started the New Year riding out of India across the Northeast States, a unique part of India surrounded by Nepal, Tibet, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Burma that many different tribal groups still call home. Crossing into Burma I made my way to the old city of Mandalay where I completed a 10 day Vipassana Meditation course in noble silence. The positive experience left me feeling recharged physically and emotionally, ready to explore more of Southeast Asia. Siliguri, India to Mandalay, Burma 1/1/19-7/2/19 (Warning, the video above contains content that some may find disturbing)

On the dusty roads of Northeast India

I went for my first teeth cleaning in 3.5 years before leaving India. The sounds from the cleaning tool like a rusty screwdriver scraping on glass accompanied by the screams of a little girl sitting one meter away from me contrasted considerably to the dental experience in the United States. But boy are my teeth clean now. Fun fact: while I thought my cavity was due to my excessive consumption of cane sugar here, turns out cane sugar actually has cleaning agents. Even today some Indians use cane sugar as an alternative to brushing their teeth.Outside Mandalay, Burma

Northwest BurmaBurmese Ox Cart

Burmese ox facial hairWhile change currency in a Burmese bank, two men walked in and dumped this pile of cash on the floor out of a white sack taken from a truck parked directly outside the bank entrance. The men then threw stacked piles of cash over the counter.

Food offerings to local Gods during a festival in Manipur India

Endless construction on dusty roads in Manipur India

Manipur, India

Live frogs for sale in a market in Northeast India

Indian soldier on special operations shopping duty

Throughout India I find men bathing around small pools of water at truck stops on the side of the road. I join to wash my clothes and self, or just to cool down in the afternoon heat.

Merry Belated Christmas from India

So there are Baptists in IndiaSo many random gun stores in Nagaland, India, I felt like I was back in 'MericaThis is by far the coolest motorcycle I have ever seen

HOW TO MAKE CHIPATI / ROTI IN INDIA:

India on a protest day

More chickensLive borol (hornet grubs) for sale in a market in Northeast India

Bamboo ox carts in IndiaFrom the way Indians make the most of their bikes, my loaded bike blends right inBollywood feature filmI often saw families fishing in these muddy shallow pools. The children would move their hands through the mud until they found a fish and then throw it five meters up to dry land.

Chickens

Bed nets that I used to see in Northern Africa are common here in India as well

Pig

Unable to secure a visa for Pakistan or China, I had to fly from Uzbekistan to northern India. Cycling with a Dutch couple for a week brought peanut butter and Sinterklaas into my life, which made life more enjoyable amidst the constant din of horns that comes with cycling through crazy India. After a little trekking in the Himalayas, I made my way into Nepal to enjoy the serenity and playfulness of the gentle Nepalese people. Happy New Year to everyone, may 2019 be a special one. Tashkent, Uzbekistan to Siliguri, India 19/11/18 to 31/12/18

I wish these Nepalese signs were posted in India where the horn happy culture creates a din of honking all day everyday. I think my best idea to date is becoming a horn salesman in India, a lucrative endeavor undoubtedly.Helped cut and pack mushrooms with a family on a farm one night

Royal Enfield motorcycles are everywhere in IndiaPancake breakfasts in the foothills of the Himalayas

Kareri Lake in the HimalayasThis guy wins person of the day

Stayed with Hindu monk Swami G!

Met my new favorite Dutch couple, Tim and Gynn, in Uzbekistan and in India we biked togetherWhy is there a stadium built around this stretch of road? The bizarre police marching competition/ceremony that takes place daily at the border between India and Pakistan.

Nepal

A sprint across Azerbaijan and I reached the Caspian Sea, home of most of the world's caviar? While anchored aboard a cargo ship offshore in the Caspian Sea, I enjoyed typical Russian food and taught Russians how to play the card game Bulls**t. I wasn't as strong as the wild horses, the two humped camels, nor Borat in the cold steppe country of Kazakhstan, and so I took an old Soviet platskartny train into Uzbekistan. Biking the silk road in Uzbekistan has been a pure joy, enjoying old cities along the historic trade route, and the overwhelming hospitality of Uzbeks along the way who want to give me everything I could possibly need. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Tbilisi, Georgia through Azerbaijan, cargo ship across Caspian Sea, Kazakhstan to Tashkent, Uzbekistan 17/10/18 to 19/11/18