[HN Gopher] India's Mini-Craze for Bicycling Around the World
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India's Mini-Craze for Bicycling Around the World
Author : CapitalistCartr
Score : 97 points
Date : 2021-04-19 12:02 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (www.atlasobscura.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.atlasobscura.com)
| FpUser wrote:
| What an inspiring story. There are also many journals of similar
| cycling travels published on the amazing website of Neil Gunton -
| http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/
| lmm wrote:
| I've never found a satisfying set of rules for cycling around the
| world. Taking a ship for part of the way seems to undermine the
| endeavour - at that point why not just go by sea the whole way?
| But without water transport one could at best go halfway around
| (Bering Strait freezing permitting - which I understand it
| doesn't do so much any more), and the hardest part would likely
| be the Darien Gap which is not really a cycling challenge per se.
| nicbou wrote:
| If I learned one thing from long distance motorcycle travel,
| it's that there will always be someone who's more hardcore than
| you. You can try to beat that person, or you can focus on your
| own experience, which will undoubtedly be unique and memorable.
|
| In any case, no one is keeping score. No one will check your
| route to make sure it was as long and difficult as possible.
|
| Ships are inevitable. They let you avoid long detours or
| countries where your passport is no good, or where you must be
| escorted during your journey. In my case, that would be either
| Iran or China.
| bluGill wrote:
| There are pedal powered boats. People take canoes across the
| ocean so it isn't impossible if you are prepared. Every pedal
| boat I've seen has been worthless in even a gentle breeze, but
| this should "just" be an engineering challenge.
| gnopgnip wrote:
| There is at least one person circumnavigating without using any
| motorized transport. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-
| bqpGT7rVPJ-CEEdFIeTDQ They do mostly mix between sailing and
| cycling. With this one it is more about the interesting people
| and places and not just the trip, so no strict rules on land or
| sea travel. But they do strictly follow the rule of not using
| motorized transport so getting in and out of port can be
| interesting, often they need to get help from the locals to
| paddle in and out.
| hervature wrote:
| As others have said, I think these "around the world" cycling
| things are more just about touring. For actual challenges, like
| Everesting or becoming a High Rolleur, there are hard cut
| rules.
| dTal wrote:
| It's not like "going round the world" is even well defined
| either - you could just walk in a circle around one of the
| poles. Thing is, are you doing it because it's an amazing
| experience, or because you want to have satisfied some
| arbitrary criteria?
|
| And quite frankly, if you manage to pass through every line of
| longitude while lugging a bicycle the whole way, I don't give
| two hoots how many boat rides it took. That's heroic.
| lmm wrote:
| > It's not like "going round the world" is even well defined
| either - you could just walk in a circle around one of the
| poles.
|
| The traditional answer to that is that you have to pass
| through a pair of antipodal points.
|
| > Thing is, are you doing it because it's an amazing
| experience, or because you want to have satisfied some
| arbitrary criteria?
|
| I find having a goal makes for a more fulfilling experience,
| and can help me push myself a bit further than I would
| otherwise. I'm planning to ride around Shikoku starting in
| about a week, and I'm glad there's an official organisation
| with a set of rules to follow for that (collect stamps at
| these given places).
|
| Every version of "cycling around the world" I've heard seems
| a bit unsatisfying somehow. To the point that I think maybe
| aiming for Shanghai-Paris or similar might be more fun.
|
| > And quite frankly, if you manage to pass through every line
| of longitude while lugging a bicycle the whole way, I don't
| give two hoots how many boat rides it took. That's heroic.
|
| It really isn't though. If you take that challenge literally,
| you can just book a cruise ship and take a folding bicycle
| along.
| twic wrote:
| > The traditional answer to that is that you have to pass
| through a pair of antipodal points.
|
| Really? I believe that for ocean circumnavigation the rule
| is that you had to cross the equator, which rules out polar
| shenanigans.
| nkrisc wrote:
| > It really isn't though. If you take that challenge
| literally, you can just book a cruise ship and take a
| folding bicycle along.
|
| You could, but that's not going to impress anybody when you
| tell them about it.
|
| People do this kind of thing for their own personal
| satisfaction, or to impress other people. That accomplishes
| neither.
| JKCalhoun wrote:
| > The traditional answer to that is that you have to pass
| through a pair of antipodal points.
|
| Tedious.
|
| I would be happy defining it as a journey greater than
| 40,000 km since that constitutes the circumference of the
| earth.
| dTal wrote:
| Thanks for replying. I've no idea why you're getting
| downvoted. I do understand the drive towards some kind of
| exterior criterion to "keep you honest", and I didn't know
| about the antipodal criterion - which seems too stringent
| if I'm honest! I don't think I'd begrudge someone the
| accomplishment if they made it all the way around a single
| hemisphere.
| teh_klev wrote:
| > Every version of "cycling around the world" I've heard
| seems a bit unsatisfying somehow.
|
| Well make up your own version, no-one's stopping you.
| nkrisc wrote:
| You could take a ship most of the way around but then it
| wouldn't really be cycling around the world, would it?
| Obviously you can't solely cycle around the world (barring a
| short jaunt around the poles), so you just take a boat when you
| must. Why must it be all or nothing?
| lmm wrote:
| I'd like to draw a line in a place that makes sense. A lot of
| round-the-world cyclists take a boat further than strictly
| necessary (e.g. going from Singapore to Australia or
| California), and I don't think that invalidates it. But
| skipping the hardest parts of a round-the-world journey (such
| as the Darien Gap) that way feels like cheating too.
| InfiniteRand wrote:
| My little sister has done some long distance biking (not around
| the world but across India and a big chunk of the US) and the
| appeal for her seemed to be for the experience of adventure
| rather than a contest-like achievement with a certain set of
| rules.
| lmm wrote:
| Different things appeal to different people. Personally I've
| found that I enjoy audax much more than unstructured touring,
| so I'd like to have a similar framework for a challenge.
| taejo wrote:
| The rules are made up and the points don't matter.
| implements wrote:
| I asked someone from the British Cycle Touring Club (CTC)
| about cycling across the USA - his advice was "The middle bit
| will be week after week of hard slog across endless farmland
| - sun, wind, dogs - you'd be better off cycling the good bits
| and catching a ride for the rest".
|
| Advice I'd probably apply to riding around the world - no
| sense torturing yourself for 'completeness'.
| jerf wrote:
| Even driving or taking a train across the middle of the US
| is a bit of a slog. I can't imagine trying to get up for
| one's thirteenth consecutive day of corn, followed by corn,
| followed by more corn, then a small farming town you can
| cycle past in about a minute, then... corn... more corn....
| and you check the map and you've still got several days
| left to go. You'd better love cycling for the sake of
| cycling itself.
| second--shift wrote:
| imagine living here
| Steltek wrote:
| A permanent opener that was always presented as a joke but
| that's also eerily close to a rule of life, albeit on the
| nihilist side.
| guenthert wrote:
| Rules? I'm sure, if you want to break some Guinness Book
| record, they have rules for ya, but I'd think most world
| travelers just want to see a lot of it or partake in cultural
| exchange. Those don't need rules to pick their destination or
| mode of transportation.
| williesleg wrote:
| India is a shit hole.
| sfblah wrote:
| If the men's faces remind you a little of Freddie Mercury that's
| because he too was a Parsi.
| fiftyacorn wrote:
| Ive got "Bicycle Race" going thru my head now
| yazaddaruvala wrote:
| Thanks, this triggered my nepotism and got me to actually read
| the article :)
| whall6 wrote:
| Is this where the band Bombay Bicycle Club gets its name?
| whall6 wrote:
| Actually I just looked it up. They were named after a
| restaurant of the same name. I wonder if the restaurant got its
| name from this story though?
| Mediterraneo10 wrote:
| I am an avid long-distance cycle tourer myself. From time to time
| on cycling forums someone claims "only privileged Westerners can
| cycle across multiple countries, because people from the
| developing world don't have the means to, or in those countries
| social expectations demand that young people stay at home and
| work hard to support their families."
|
| This article is therefore welcome proof that, even though
| Westerners certainly enjoy some privileges like a stronger
| passport, this pastime has nevertheless attracted even Indians.
| And for it's worth, probably the first mention of cycle touring I
| ever saw as a young man, was two Iranians (!) cycling around the
| world and giving an interview to a Canadian newspaper about their
| experiences while passing through that country.
| FpUser wrote:
| With some exceptions most of the would be travelers from the
| less fortunate countries would simply be denied visas.
| Mediterraneo10 wrote:
| Round-the-world trips may be hard to manage, but people from
| developing countries can often still visit neighbouring
| developing countries visa-free. For example, Indians have
| visa-free access to much of South and Southeast Asia, while
| Moroccans can go to West Africa either visa-free or for a
| visa that is always granted. So, when people from these
| countries get into these forms of travel, they often do take
| advantage of this to explore the neighbours.
| FpUser wrote:
| >"Round-the-world trips may be hard to manage"
|
| And yes we talking about that specific type of trips.
| JKCalhoun wrote:
| > It's not completely clear what inspired these young Parsis
| ... but Babani believes it was their way of participating in
| India's freedom struggle. "Instead of waving flags and joining
| demonstrations, they chose to pedal on a perilous path," he
| says, "to paint for the world a true picture of India that
| would depict the glorious civilization, culture, and
| architecture of our native land."
|
| What a beautiful idea.
| whydoyoucare wrote:
| I hardly call this "proof" - the cyclists belong to Parsi
| community, an affluent and financially stable community in
| India for a long time now. Thus, they would be an exception,
| not the rule.
| divs1210 wrote:
| Fun fact: the GP mentions they met Iranians, and these people
| are Parsis - Zoroastrian Persian immigrants to India.
| truth_ wrote:
| True. Even though Parsees escaped Iran to flee Islamic
| persecution one day, they have become Indians. Identifying
| them as "Iranians" is dumb.
| bellyfullofbac wrote:
| But well, 98 years since they started their bike tour, an
| Indian's passport would be Indian and not British, and that
| would shut many borders (unless they can show enough financial
| stability to satisfy immigration authorities that they're not
| going to stay illegally), it would be hard to think they'd be
| hired for odd jobs in the western world or have the Pope
| welcome them, so my cheap conclusion would be, privileged Non-
| Westerners would also be able to do a world tour, but middle
| class ones?
|
| But what an adventure, it's almost like the movie Forrest Gump,
| with them witnessing history and even meeting characters like
| Mussolini.
| somberi wrote:
| https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-35299608
| garyfirestorm wrote:
| A 100+ yrs of toxic culture with no end in sight to toxicity in
| immigration officials
|
| 'They found other parts of the American experience disheartening,
| such as the rude and insulting immigration authorities. "The
| immigrant is at best tolerated and viewed with suspicion," they
| wrote'
| N1H1L wrote:
| This is also the height of anti-immigrant fervor in the United
| States. This is 9 years after the Johnson-Reed Act (Immigration
| Act of 1924) [1], which basically tried to ban all immigration
| from Asia.
|
| There is a great Hasan Minhaj episode that showed how Asian
| populations in the US owe their presence a lot to the
| Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which passed during
| the Civil Rights era [2, 3].
|
| References:
|
| [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_Act_of_1924
|
| [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_FE78X-qdY
|
| [3]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_and_Nationality_Ac...
| tomasdore wrote:
| But one of the guys stayed? " Gustad Hathiram, decided to
| stay in the United States."
| googlryas wrote:
| According to this, he cut off contact with his family in
| India and became an auto mechanic in St Petes, FL
|
| https://zoroastrians.net/2017/11/13/the-mystery-of-gustad-
| me...
| timonoko wrote:
| I think they are trained that way. Correct reaction is to be
| somewhat annoyed but not too nervous. If you are totally cool
| with insults and inquiries, you are obviously a trained spy or
| professional criminale.
| yardie wrote:
| US passport holder here, IME skin tone and country of origin
| has as much to do with it. I've had equal pleasant and
| unprofessional instances with USCIS while traveling alone,
| with a greencard holder, or with children. I've literally had
| agents be pleasant to families in front of us while being
| unpleasant to us when it was our turn at their desk.
| vmception wrote:
| This reminds me of the times I've experienced things like
| that and other people's default reaction is to invalidate
| my experience
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