The other day we had an interesting visitor at the store. Ed Hurst is a tall and cheerful 29 year old New Zealander, a civil engineer by profession. He is like most of us, except that he is on a world tour on his bicycle.
Ed used to be backpacker, and had backpacked across various countries, but realised he wanted to see the planet in a manner that would let him appreciate the journey rather than just visiting a few spots. By July 2009 he had quit his job and had flown down to Bangkok with his bike, where he started his world tour.
1. Ed rode across Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand, and then flew down to Kolkata from where he stared his India chapter. He loves and misses the Cambodian food.
2. Ed has been in India for the last 3 months, and appreciates the diverse culture. Loves to meet and chat with locals, but finds the food a little too spicy.
3. He had ridden trough the alleyways of Kolkata, jungles of Kanha and Panna, the ghats of Varanasi and the orange orchards of Nagpur. He stopped over Hyderabad for 3-4 days, visited Golconda and came down to The Bike Affair store to pick up some accessories and spares. His tentative next destination is Hampi.
4. He likes to keep things simple. Doesn't use a GPS. Likes to ask people to check if he is on the correct route. He has also picked up a few Hindi words, but complains locals don't understand his Hindi.
5. He plans to ride to Chennai, Pondicherry, Kanyakumari, and then come up through the Western Ghats to Goa to Gujarat, and to the Himalayas. He keeps it flexible after that and would like to either take Pakistan- Afghanistan-Iran- East Europe route or Nepal-Tibet-China-East Europe.
6. Ed rides a Marin MTB sort of model (don’t remember the exact model name...might also be a custom made) bike loaded with tubus racks and ortileb pannier. He carries a tent weighing 2 kilos.
7. Doesn't cook. Tries to find a budget hotel for the night, and if he doesn't manage, puts up his tent where he spends his night. Always keeps some bread and Jam in his pannier for such occasions.
8. Not fussy about food and eats whatever he can find on the way.
Ed used to be backpacker, and had backpacked across various countries, but realised he wanted to see the planet in a manner that would let him appreciate the journey rather than just visiting a few spots. By July 2009 he had quit his job and had flown down to Bangkok with his bike, where he started his world tour.
1. Ed rode across Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand, and then flew down to Kolkata from where he stared his India chapter. He loves and misses the Cambodian food.
2. Ed has been in India for the last 3 months, and appreciates the diverse culture. Loves to meet and chat with locals, but finds the food a little too spicy.
3. He had ridden trough the alleyways of Kolkata, jungles of Kanha and Panna, the ghats of Varanasi and the orange orchards of Nagpur. He stopped over Hyderabad for 3-4 days, visited Golconda and came down to The Bike Affair store to pick up some accessories and spares. His tentative next destination is Hampi.
4. He likes to keep things simple. Doesn't use a GPS. Likes to ask people to check if he is on the correct route. He has also picked up a few Hindi words, but complains locals don't understand his Hindi.
5. He plans to ride to Chennai, Pondicherry, Kanyakumari, and then come up through the Western Ghats to Goa to Gujarat, and to the Himalayas. He keeps it flexible after that and would like to either take Pakistan- Afghanistan-Iran- East Europe route or Nepal-Tibet-China-East Europe.
6. Ed rides a Marin MTB sort of model (don’t remember the exact model name...might also be a custom made) bike loaded with tubus racks and ortileb pannier. He carries a tent weighing 2 kilos.
7. Doesn't cook. Tries to find a budget hotel for the night, and if he doesn't manage, puts up his tent where he spends his night. Always keeps some bread and Jam in his pannier for such occasions.
8. Not fussy about food and eats whatever he can find on the way.
9. Says that once he got used to his brookes saddle, its like sitting on a sofa.
10. He wants to cycle tour for 2 years, but again keeps it flexible and says he might stop if he gets bored.
The Bike Affair wishes him a sound and fun filled tour.
10. He wants to cycle tour for 2 years, but again keeps it flexible and says he might stop if he gets bored.
The Bike Affair wishes him a sound and fun filled tour.
Great inspiration. Wish him a great tour.
ReplyDeleteYes, he sure is an inspiration. And he has seen our blog post and send us a mail. Just copying a part of it here -
ReplyDelete"Oh, and liked ya blog too dude, btw my bike is a Marin Eldridge Grade,class of 1996 so an oldie! brought it cause it has a steel frame so I can get welded if it ever breaks!"
very nice blog. Happy that you have logged his biking life.
ReplyDeleteMallik
Thanks malik. You should have seen Ed's bike when fully loaded should have seen his bike. Must be atleast 50 kgs. He even carries a DSLR with multiple lenses aong with a full size tripod (tied against the downtube of the bike).
ReplyDelete