Bikepaths.Org    BETA Recumbent Bicycle Touring Links, Resources, Articles, & Advice Independent Low impact Leisurely Self-contained Touring

Within these pages there is enjoyable reading for family, friends, and supporters, along with useful tips, tricks, resources and advice for the leisurely and independent recumbent bicycle tourist.

Bicycle touring is considered one of the most intimate and ecologically sensitive ways in which to experience a people, their culture, and land. Nothing compares to the feeling of freedom and independence you will gain on the open road as you move along under your own power, carrying everything you'll need to be comfortable. You'll see and experience much more as you move along slowly, ready to stop, explore, or photograph anything interesting that may catch your eye.

I have been bicycle touring independently with a Lightning Stealth recumbent for more than ten years. Within these pages I'll try to answer your questions, and welcome you to open a dialog for discussing anything related to recumbent bikes or bicycle touring in general. Write to me if you wish to know where I am, where I am going, or where I have been. I'll be happy to meet up with you, or discuss touring topics through email. If you want to break free from old routines, or are planning a first time tour, it'll be my pleasure to offer you personal advice, tips, and encouragement.

In 1996, at forty years of age, I found it difficult to believe that I too could bicycle tour around the world, but a close friend, Tim Travis, encouraged me to take up cycling. Now, at 53, bicycling has done wonders for my health and vitality. No matter what your age, such a simple tool as a bicycle can do the same for you.

If you have the desire and patience to get started, you too can do leisurely cycling on a recumbent bicycle, and I believe nearly anyone can. You'll need a love for adventure and the outdoors, but money, strength, and experience are not so important for your success. Independent world-wide bicycle touring requires time, determination, courage, and the right equipment. Recumbent cycling is a healthy, leisurely, low-cost, low-impact, fun and adventurous activity in which you can participate far into your retirement years. With a wireless notebook computer, and a little ingenuity, you might even postpone retirement, and earn a living while on the road.

Major Independent Recumbent Tours

• Flagstaff, Arizona to Fayetteville, Arkansas
• Fayetteville, Arkansas to Roswell, New Mexico
• Phoenix, Arizona to Salt Lake City, Utah
• Southern California Coast
• Honolulu, and the Island of Oahu, Hawaii
• Hilo, Kona, and the Island of Hawaii
• Siem Reap, Cambodia to Phnom Penh, Cambodia
• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Rome, New York
• Rome, New York to Toronto, Canada
• United Kingdom, Wiltshire, London and Surroundings
• Phnom Penh, Cambodia to Chiang Mai, Thailand
• Chiang Mai, Thailand to Sing Buri, Thailand
• Aranya Prathet, Thailand to Phnom Penh, Cambodia
• Phnom Penh, Cambodia to Savannaket, Laos
• Mukdahan, Thailand to Phnom Penh, Cambodia
• Phnom Penh, Cambodia to Aranya Prathet, Thailand
• Chiang Mai, Thailand to Siem Reap, Cambodia
• Siem Reap, Cambodia to Mukdahan, Thailand and back
• Siem Reap, Cambodia to Chanthaburi, Thailand
• Chanthaburi, Thailand to Sisaket, Thailand

The above tours ranged from periods of less than a week to more than six weeks between the years of 2000 and 2009. All tours were done solo, except one which was completed alongside fellow sojourner, Jeffree Pike. Distances covered on each ranged between 400 and 4000 kilometers, with an average distance of about 100 KM per day. With a tail wind on a flat smooth surface, I'll roll along easily at about 25 km per hour, and uphill against the wind, I may climb at 5 km per hour. I rarely ride at night, but it happens on occassion when I'm pushing to reach a destination.

Use the menu bar above and below to explore the website. If you'd like to write to me, you can make contact in a few ways:

• use the webform at www.recycles.org
• visit my Facebook profile
• comment on the Bikepaths Forum
• or send email to hopiland@gmail.com

Being on the road alone isn't always easy. One must expect tests and trials around any corner, but such things are what make us strong and cause us to grow. If you've found my site interesting, I hope to hear from you. Your few words of encouragement in passing are the same as a simple "thumbs up" from a stranger as I go along my way.

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