Motorcyclist ditches motor for world journey on regular bicycle

Aidan Pedreschi has been cycling around the world since July 2008 and still has a ways to go before he decided he's had enough. You can follow him at his website, www.acousticmotorbike.com

World Bike Touring Examiner (WBTE): Would you please explain a tad bit about where you’ve been and where you’re going?

Aidan: I’m currently in Chiang Mai, Thailand and am just about to start the S.E Asian section of my journey. I started my trip in July 2008 and I’ve been to Holland, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, India and Nepal.

I’m sitting here in my guesthouse surrounded by maps and I’m going to ride up to the North East of Thailand (The Golden Triangle) and then into Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia before returning to Thailand. I then go South into Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and from there I’ll go to Australia and then New Zealand. I’ll probably return to Ireland / England to see family and friends for a few weeks and then fly to New York and cycle to the West Coast, Canada for a month and then I’ll return to the US and cycle the Pacific Highway down to Chile. (See a slide show of Aidan's journey here.)

WBTE: What prompted such an extended journey? Had you done a lot of touring before?

Aidan: I’ve always had a bit of wanderlust and have travelled many times in Europe, India, Nepal and S.E Asia on a motorbike. I took a 13 months sabbatical from work in 2005/2006 in the hope that I’d get the travel bug out of my system. It didn’t work and I found myself standing on the summit of Kala Pattar, over looking Mt. Everest in December 2007. I had trekked up there by myself and it was there that I decided that I’d have to cycle around the world.

I’ve never cycle toured before, not even for one night, so this was all very new for me. I just hoped that I’d like it as I gave up my job, my flat, and sold all my possessions! I’m more of a motorbike person and only used my bicycle for commuting three miles into work.

WBTE: Why the bike? Why not take the “easy” way and travel on bus, train, plane, etc.?

Aidan: As I mentioned before, I’ve travelled by motorbike extensively and I’ve backpacked around S.E Asia, so I’ve spent countless hours on uncomfortable buses whizzing by amazing looking villages. I figured that if I were on a bicycle, I’d get to see more of the country and meet more of the local people. I had a big touring motorcycle and considered taking it, but I thought that if I travelled by motorbike, I’d have to pay for petrol, oil, spares, repairs, breakdowns and the dreaded Carnet De Passage. At least with a bicycle I could carry out minor repairs myself. A bicycle is far less intimidating that a motorbike and I’ve seen locals on bicycles even in the remotest towns.

WBTE: I know there are plenty of wonderful days when the sun is shining and you’ve got the wind at your back. But there are also days when it’s raining or you face a headwind or you’re climbing a hill that just won’t end. How do you get through those days? What keeps you going?

Aidan: My friend in Kathmandu, Nepal, runs a transit home for street children and I am trying to raise some money for the children. The hills that I have to climb are nothing compared to the one that these children have to climb.

Music is also very important to me and I couldn’t do this trip without it. It makes the bad days bearable and the good days unbelievable. I’ve got a laptop and an ipod and the ability to download music and audio books as I go along is amazing. Sometimes in Iran I would be in bed by 17:00 as it was dark and very cold (usually about 0 C) and the audio books were great to relax to.

WBTE: As hard as it is to pick out one or two highlights – would you, could you? Tell us about a couple of those incredibly wow-ing, drop-your-jaw experiences you’ve had.

Aidan: Wow. Highlights? I’ve seen many beautiful sights but the most incredible things have all been to do with people I’ve met. On my first day in Iran I was standing on a street corner with a map looking for the Tourist Office (private not Government) and a young woman wearing a headscarf approached me and she asked me, in perfect English, if she could help me.

I was amazed that she was talking to me and I told her that I was looking for the tourist office. I showed her the map that I had and she told me to come with her. I was then led to a car which her friend was driving and we spent the next three or so hours driving around Tabriz. It was surreal, here I was in Iran for the first time getting driven around by two young women and they were blasting Britney Spears on the car stereo!!! Not at all what I expected.

Another amazing experience was when I was cycling down the mountains and I came to this small town covered in murals of fallen soldiers. We stopped (I was cycling with two Dutch girls at the time) and went into a “café” for some food. We went in and managed to order an omelette (no one spoke English) and the locals were fascinated by us. About ten minutes later a customer walked in and he used to be an English teacher in one of the local schools. We got talking to him and we were introduced to everyone in the café and he told us some of their stories.

Everyone was interested to hear our opinions on Iran and terrorism and we had a good conversation. Suddenly everyone stood up and started applauding. We were fairly near the Iran/Iraq border and only about 200 km from Baghdad. The person they were applauding was G.W. Bush!! When I asked why, we were told it was because he had “got rid” of Saddam Hussein, the murals in the town were from the Iran/Iraq war and one of the guys sitting in the corner still suffers from the effects of a chemical attack.

The people of Iran are, in my experience, a lot different to the way they are perceived in the West. “We are not government, we are the People” was what I was told on numerous occasions.

Then there was the time I ended up drinking Sprite with the Taliban, but that’s another story…. I keep a blog on my website www.acousticmotorbike.com and you can read more about my trip there and see lots of photos.

WBTE: What about those days you wish you could forget (but you know you never will)? Those days when everything goes wrong and then even more goes wrong? Tell us about a couple of those.

Aidan: I’ve never had a day when everything has gone wrong. I’ve broken my chain a couple of times and had four punctures. Maybe I’ve just been lucky? There was one day when I was struggling badly for no particular reason. It was in Turkey (I think) and the two girls I was cycling with at the time were ahead of me all day and I just couldn’t get myself going properly. I tried to listen to music of all genres, but I couldn’t find any music to “get me going” properly.

I had no motivation and no energy and my mind was telling me to quit. And to be honest, if there had of been an airport within 50 miles I’d have probably gotten a taxi there and gone home. I struggled all day and the girls had picked up on this and when we sat down to dinner, we spoke about it. They listened to me and one of them said, “it’s ok, Aidan, it’s just your period (menstruation) day!” What could I say to that? I fell about laughing and told them that they were probably right, that laughing was just what I needed. The next morning I felt great and really enjoyed the ride.

WBTE: You’ve toured through many countries and I know they each are unique and have their advantages and disadvantages. But, if you were to talk with someone relatively new to cycle touring, where would you recommend they go? Why?

Aidan: I thought that it would be a very long time until I came across a country as beautiful as Iran. The people there were fantastic and they couldn’t do enough to help me. Especially the women, they would always approach me for a chat and I’ll never forget one of them blowing a kiss at me from a bus!

But for me Pakistan has been the highlight of my tour, for far too many reasons to go into here. The people are so friendly and I could hardly spend a rupee there. In the six weeks I stayed there I slept in hotels for seven nights, my tent for one night and the rest of the time was spent in total strangers houses. I try to be sensitive to people’s culture and I grew a beard and wore a Shalwar Kameez, which is the local costume. I also didn’t drink alcohol for 4.5 months (although it was offered on many occasions). I was invited to give presentations in schools and was on Pakistan TV and in the newspapers. I stayed in one town for nine days and I would spend hours playing cricket with the locals and I’d have two or three children on my bike as I gave them lifts around the village.

WBTE: Any special tips or advice to wannabe tourers?

Aidan: Just go for it. Do some research, check out some cycle touring websites, see where other people have been, but don’t be afraid to go off the beaten track. When you are on the road try keep an open mind, talk to people and if you don’t speak the language use sign language and try to keep a smile on your face. Try to learn about the local customs of a country to avoid embarrassment. Remember that you are an ambassador, not just for your country but also for other cyclists and you should behave accordingly and don’t mess it up for others who may be on the road behind you!

Enjoyed this interview?  Read more with other cyclists in the four corners of the globe!

Nancy Sathre-Vogel is currently cycling from Alaska to Argentina with her husband and twin sons. She is documenting their journey for Guinness World Records at www.familyonbikes.org and also has a column in the Communities to the Washington Times.