India is my favorite country for cycling! Nothing could be better..the country roads, the ubiquitous paraos where the rider can eat, drink, wash, and sleep for a small fee; the hustle and bustle of the grand trunk road or the squeak of a bullock cart on a rural lane; the screeching of parrots in the trees above or the monkeys hugging the shoulder, hoping for passerby to toss them a crumb. You can wild camp anywhere, in the open spaces or the hilly Ghats. And if you are lucky and your soul is worthy, you may see the sun burning thru the early morning mists. It is no wonder there are so many gods in the Hindu religion: i never saw the face of God manifest in so many ways as I did my 9 weeks in India.
I'll update my photos and flashbacks on a regular basis. Bookmark this site now to keep abreast of changes and improvements.

NEW as of November 25th, 2000!!! Read an ongoing, wideranging interview with Roughstuff, about his trip, his mind, his soul. What a world cycling tour is really all about. Humorous, serious, informative! Click here to have a look.

Stars and Stripes Reader Special: Have a look at some monstrous photos of my world cycling tour. All these photos are over 500 KB in size, so if your connection is slow, you'll have to be very patient. The photos further down are much smaller.

• The high alps of the St. Bernard Pass into Switzerland make for pleasant viewing.
• Bow Pass on Canada's icefields parkway is dominated by a mountain which gives it its name.
• This small cafe east of Innsbruck Austria, gave me some great coffee and conversation.
• You don't have to ride a bicycle on the Karakoram highway in Pakistan! Try a camel instead?
• My second crossing of the Andes, back into Chile at Cristo Redentor, was a wet and chilly one.
• Deceptively calm amidst a quiet Turkish morning, the Euphrates has traditionally been the boundary between east and west.
• The Human race, could use a place, like Hunza!
• I crossed into Vietnam from Laos over the highlands which were once used to shell Khesanh during the Vietnam War.
• Wanna see my military escort I told you about in my article? Click here to see them in their grim, but pleasant, welcoming demeanor.
• Eastern Turkey's Kurdish regions are a delicate balance between acceptance and unrest.
• This world tour was my first time crossing the Pyrenees. I was not disappointed.

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Welcome to my new and improved cycling web page. This page is under construction even as you read this, so links and subpages referred to below will be added almost on a daily basis. For now there are two ways you can read about my tours.

• my Outline. Follow me from the windswept tundras of Alaska to the deserts of Chile's Atacama. Read about Hurricane Mitch in Nicaragua...killer bees in Mexico...a total solar eclipse in Turkey...a military coup in Pakistan..the Grand Trunk road in India...wild fires in Southeast Asia. The outline covers my world tour chronologically, from pretrip preparation, to end of trip product evaluations. Use this outline if you want to prepare for a trip yourself, or read about one part of my journey in more detail. Just click on the relevant highlighted outline portion and off you'll go to text, photos, essays, FAQ's, links and other wonderful things about the region of the world you have selected. You are welcome to submit your own material, sites, and photos. I'll gladly include them here.

• I also have a vast selection of photos I have from my numerous cycle tours. Enjoy the scenery that cyclists see every day in the saddle! Enjoy the short story that accompanies each photo, too.
  
  
• This is not the only bicycle tour page on the internet. When you are done, have a look at some of these pages. They might even as be as good as mine!
  
  

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Roughstuff's World Cycle Tour Outline

I am working on this even as you now read it. Please be patient while I add the JPGs, links and text. You will notice that i am starting in Asia and working backwards.

(I) So! You're thinking of a bicycle tour...
(IA) Pre-trip philosophy , musings and planning started months before I left. (IB) What did I think about before I left on my trip? You might be surprised.
(II) The Compleat Biker: clothing from head to toe.
(III) THe Compleat Bike: equipment and gadgets to look for
(IV) Livin' and cycling on the road: Roughie's tips.


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(V) Purple Mountain Majesties:the first 10 weeks.
• Alaska and the Yukon.
• Canada's Western Wilderness:
• Roughstuff special: the Icefields Parkway.
• Roughstuff special: the Blue Ridge Parkway
• Big Sky Country
(VII) Salsa, Stings and Storms: Till early November
• The Spanish Southwest
• Mexico's Sierra Madre
• Roughstuff drama: killer bee attack south of Guadalajara. (text only)
• Isthmus, Schmisthmus!
• Roughstuff special: the brooding terror of Hurricane Mitch.
(VIII) From the Andes to the Ocean: very long story almost all the way to Buenos Aires!
• Coastal Ecuador and Southern Colombia
• Interior Ecuador and the northern Peruvian Highlands
• Sand, Surf and Silence
• the Green Returns
  • Pass Agua Negra at 4670 meters is a fine capstone to a tour in the Southern Andes.
• Roughstuff special: a guide to water in the Atacama,the driest area on earth.
(IX) Europe
• Iberia
  • The Christian pilgrimage site of Fatima
  • The Pyrenees deserve far more attention than they get from the world's tourists.
• France
  • Col de Galibiergives the cyclist one of his most commanding views in the Alps.
  • After your alpine climb, relax at my Chateaux, a modest palace on the Rhine.
  • As a geologist, cyclist, and climber, I love to follow rivers to their source. Look what the mighty Loire river becomes up in the hills of south central France.
• the Alpine Region Proper
• the Balkan Gateway
  • Down the Dalmatian coast
• Roughstuff Special: Austria's Hochalpenstrassen.
(X) Passage to India
• Secular and Singular: Turkey
  • Western Turkey and the ruins of Troy.
  • The Black Sea and Medittereanean Coasts.
• Iran
  • Iran's Elburz and Zagros mountains are highlighted in this large photoessay
• Pakistan: Paradise deferred
• Roughstuff Special: powerful musings on the road to Lorelai
• Roughstuff Special: the Karakoram Highway
• India: Paradise Found
  • The road to Amritsar and the Gold Temple of the Sikhs.
  • The Highlands of Simla and the Himalayan foothills.
  • Look where roughstuff's traveling nose found him a small hostel in New Delhi!
  • The countryside of India is where its at.
  • Goodbye! as only the Asians can say it! China, India, Laos, and god knows where else....
(XI) Southeast Asia
• Indochina
  • Vietnam's northern coast road
  • Hanoi has parks, temples, and the Hilton where John McCain was a long term guest.
• True grit in the middle Kingdom
  • Guangxi countryside and the pinnacles of Guilin.
  • Not all of the gorges in China are in danger of being flooded by the new dam.
  • The regions just north of the Yangtze tested my riding ability and my patience!
  • Denouement: Shandong and the In'chon Crossing.
    • Reforestation of sorts is slowly taking place in China, one tree at a time.
    • Making noodles comes second nature to these vendors in Kaifeng.
    • The burial forest of Confucius is an island of calm in a busy region of the country.
    • Taoists and pilgrims will want to climb Tai'shan, China's most sacred mountain.
    • Yummy yummy! A pastry shop in Tai'an made my sweet tooth ache.
    • Was my landing at Inchon any easier than MacArthur's 50 years ago?
    • The legend of the Bixi
    • Echos from Tolkien rattled in my head as I reached the end of my trip at Qingdao .
• Roughstuff Special:
(XII) Memories and Epilogue

• Korea: A peninsula divided against itself.
(XIII) Equipment Reviews
• Orlieb Panniers..yuck!
• Cannondale bicycles..two cheers
• Blackburn racks...excellent!
• Columbia raingear..save $$$
(XIV) A Roughstuff Exclusive:Cycling in the world's dangerous places.
(XV) Links to other sites about cycle touring.
• other riders world tours
• country information
• cyclists and hospitality networks
• and MORE!

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Photos and Essays from my bicycle tours on 4 continents!
• name someone else who has gone bicycle touring in Siberia and you'll get a special award from Roughie!
• Other bikers often carry more equipment than me.
• Have a look at the Blue Ridge Parkway.
• We bikers get hungry while riding. Check out my breakfast in the Sierra Nevada.
• And if you are still Hungary, have a look at Budapest.
• This peaceful scene in Slovenia belies the recent history of that often war-torn region.
• The California coast highway is great summer ride for west coast cyclists.
• Cambridge England is green river cycling country.
• In Canada Mt. Edith Cavell can be seen by rugged riders in the rockies.
• After a tough ride in France relax at my Chateaux.
• Cherry Blossom time in japan beats washington DC hands down.
• Its your move, Signore! In this chess match in Lago Lugano, Switzerland.
• Few tourists attempt to see the Matterhorn from the Italian side. Its well worth it.
• The lowest pass in the Sierra is Donner pass, shown here.
• The Canadian rockies abound with wildlife , as this elk n Jasper National Park illustrates.
• Enjoy a nice town park in Evian Les BainsFrance on Lake Leman (Geneva).
• The Rhine in the Rhain is mainly on the plain. Have a look at this drippy day in Switzerland!
• I prayed for the soul of my bicycle when I visited Fatima in Portugal earlier this year.
• France's Col de galibier is a must for alpine riders.
So too is the nearby Great St. Bernard
• Far in the austrian alps lies the king of Alpine passes, the Grosseglockner.
• Halstatt is viewed as one of austrias most picturesque towns.
• Hoot and holler at 11,000 feet on Colorado's Hoosier Pass.
• Canada's Icefield Parkway is a strong contender for the worlds' premiere cycling road.
• be a part of the INN CROWD when you cycle in Austria.
• Deep in the Haute savoie of France lies the skiing and cycling paradise of Val D'Isere.
• Switzerland's Kandertal is often overlooked by tourists streaming to interlaken.
• Not all Llamas are in south america, as this farm in Oregon shows.
• In Glacier park you can enjoy a nice rest at Logan Pass.
• High near Gerbier de Jonc lies the source of Frances' Loire river.
• The dense forests of idaho escort you along with the Loscha riveren route to Lolo pass.
• Few tourists visit the Lotschental valley of switzerland, preferring to visit nearby Zermatt instead!
• In Glacier National Park beware of the bears near McDonald Lake.
• The grim moorsof central england can be a spooky ride on a bike when the fog rolls in.
• Did roughie see the Loch Ness Monster?
• The Petit St. Bernardlacks the glamour of its grand cousin, but has more switchbacks to climb.
• This is a huge Pinecone in California's Sierra!
• On a misty day these Poplars framed the road in the Rhine valley of switzerland.
• Snow stays late as this June picture in Rainier national park shows.
• Mt Robson is the Monarch of the Canadian Rockies in British Colombia.
• Your cycling is alive with the sound of music when you are in Salzburg, Austria.
• Deserted in the summer, but still Sestriere is a great climb in the Italian alps.
• Mt Shasta stands sentinel over the valleys of northern California.
• Further south in the Sierra lie the granite peaks of Yosemite national Park.
• Did Joseph of Arimethaea really plant this original thorn tree when he visited England?
• Some cows in Switzerland's Graubunden region seem to be udderly amazed at the view.
• Fall colors in Vermont are unmatched anywhere in the world.
• High on the Italy/French border Mt. Viso gives rise to the river Po.
• Merry Christmas from one of my earliest cycling tours!
• Pudding is not the only things Yorkshire is known for!
• Touristy or not, no visit to Switzerland is complete without a visit to Zermatt.


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