SEPTEMBER 29, 2012
“I just felt like running.”
- Forest Gump
Dear World. Meet Ken,
the real life Forest Gump. As someone
who makes their living coaching endurance sport athletes, I get to meet and
hear about a lot of inspiring athletes.
This guy takes the cake for 2012.
I met Ken at the same Shanti II Hostel in Skopje, Macedonia
where I met the other wonderful travelers referenced in the last post. Ken loves bikes. Not like most of us like bikes. Nor even like the shop rats at your LBS,
though that happens to be his job on the rare occasion he spends anytime there
back in his home country of Japan. You
see, Ken left home on his bike a little while ago. 19 months ago to be exact.
At first he was not very forthcoming with information. This being a function of the lack of
confidence in his English and also his deep, sincere humbleness. The phrase, “I am nobody special. I am just ordinary,” left Ken’s lips a dozen
times in the hour of conversation. It
took a few questions and a cup of Hojicha tea (produced out of seemingly thin
air by one of the Australian travelers who also spoke some Japanese) to open
Ken up. This is his story, as I
understand it.
About 19 months ago Ken flew from Japan to Vietnam with his
bike and panniers to start what he described as a life long goal to cycle the
world. 19 months later he thinks he has
covered about 50 countries and 30,000 kilometers of pedaling.
Why doesn’t he know exactly?
Why doesn’t he have a gazillion GPS waypoints or Facebooks Check Ins to
prove it? Because he doesn’t care. He just likes riding his bike. No sponsors.
No media. No hype. Just a guy and his bike.
As an editors note for those of you calling bulls#!t, if his
sunglass tan line isn’t enough for you, his passport was almost full and he
answered many questions about his route in much greater detail than I am
covering here.
Where does he sleep at night? Half the time he makes it to a hostel. The other half of the time he “bush
camps.” The woods are good he
claims. Graveyards are even better. Abandoned are houses the best. He claimed a sixth sense when it came to
seeking out safe places to sleep. We
asked if he was worried about strange animals in strange countries going after
him. Of course not. Nothing could be as bad as the bear attack he
survived when riding from Alaska to eastern Canada (on a totally different
trip). We asked if he was ever worried
about the heat in the deserts of the Middle East. Of course not. Nothing could be as bad as the heat
experienced during his North to South crossing of the Australian outback (on a
totally different trip) following a route that has killed those attempting it
in Jeeps and Land Rovers. And on and on,
Ken recounted for us tales of sketchy border crossings, good and bad locals,
and months of adventure in the saddle.
What’s next? He was
only a month away from reaching Istanbul, Turkey, the terminus of this
adventure. I offered to connect him with
bike shops, industry professionals, and what few media contacts I have. Surely someone would love to hear his story and
support him. No, he insisted. No sponsors.
No media. No hype. Just a guy and his bike.
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