Nearly two years ago, our buddy Charles Ilsley Brigham IV, sold pretty much everything he owned, loaded up his Trek touring bike and rolled out of Madison vowing to see us again in a few years after he'd made it round the world under his own power. As you can imagine, that is no small task. There are oceans to contend with, pockets of revolution, malaria, seasons, etc. As the months have rolled by like the miles under his wheels, I've followed Charlie via his web posts at Crazyguyonabike.com.
I grew up on a steady diet of London, Alex Supertramp and Kerouac, day dreams about hitching across the country, and an under current of wanderlust that has never gone away, so I've always been excited to read his exploits. Call it living vicariously. When he wrote that he was going to stow away on a freighter, I thought "Yeah right. In a post 9/11 world it's tough enough to get on airline with a ticket." But he scored passage across the Atlantic on a 68 foot ketch flying the flag of the Caiman Islands called "Asteroid." Late last year, he ended up in an Irish hospital after a serious crash broke both his leg and his frame. More recently, it seems like he's fallen for a freight hopping, film making woman in Holland.
What does all of this adventure have to do with PDW you ask? Everything. Charlie is living the dream. His bicycle is his paintbrush as he paints his masterpiece on the canvas of the world. He stays positive. He's having the time of his life. Living everyday with purpose. Meeting people, eating from dumpsters, seeing places I've only read about, etc. He is cold and wet half the time, and he probably doesn't smell like roses, but he is doing exactly what he wants to do. It is part of what motivates us.The bicycle to him, like us, is much more than a toy. If you are reading this blog, it probably is to you as well.
I particularly enjoyed this series of pictures he took of recent day out with his lady to the coast, kind of a "how to" have a great date in Holland:
Get a bakfiet. Any old bakfiet will do.
Toss in some bedding.
A couple of bottles of vino, some water, a cook pot, etc.
Blankets and a tarp, gotta be prepared for anything.
Throw in your lovely dutch gal pal (or handsome dutch fella)
Ride to the nearly abandoned coast, and enjoy yourself.
