The Road That Has No End: How We Traded Our Ordinary Lives for a Global Bicycle Touring Adventure - Softcover

Travis, Tim

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0975442708 ISBN 13: 9780975442708

Publisher: Down the Road Publishing, 2004

Synopsis

Authors Tim and Cindie Travis accomplish the unthinkable, in an unprecedented worldwide cycling adventure. Their clever story explores the depths of humanity, as they expose themselves to life's perils on roads less traveled. This story is written as it happened, on the road in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama.

About this title

Synopsis

This title presents an inspiring and daring true adventure. Dare to live a dream! Tim and Cindie Travis accomplish the unthinkable, in an unprecedented worldwide cycling adventure. Their clever story explores the depths of humanity, as they expose themselves to life's perils on roads less travelled. This story is written as it happens, on the road. Digital technology and dot com know-how are in harmony with minimalist living. The result is salt-of-the-earth drama related on the fly through an internet journal, culminating in a series of captivating true stories. There is a winning combination of integrity and know-how, with a relaxing informal prose, become informative non-fiction that reads like a novel.This first book progresses from the shedding of a traditional lifestyle to discoveries made on their bicycle journey from Arizona, USA to Panama City, Panama. On bicycle, the Travis' are exposed to the ground level of society, an experience few outsiders will ever know.

Along the way, the Travis' witness a religious pilgrimage in Chalma, Mexico, visited ancient Aztec and Mayan ruins, were attacked by an airplane spraying pesticides in Guatemala and saw alligators, scarlet Macaws and three-toed sloths in the jungles and cloud forests of Costa Rica. This is a great addition to your high adventure travel collection.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Travelers call the road home, and our home is a road that has no end. Travelers wake to an itch, a need to trade the weight of material possessions, creature comforts and security for what is unknown, often uncomfortable and sometimes dangerous. In exchange, they experience new cultures, see beautiful places the world has to offer, and learn about themselves in the process. The trade is well worth it. As you read this, I’m probably on the road.
I began my obsession with traveling in grade school. My father returned from a business trip in Germany with a wall map of Europe. I found it alluring that the map was entirely in the German language. My imagi-nation was sparked! Maps, globes and world atlases mesmerized me.
I scoured my middle school library looking for books about distant countries and cultures. I can remember playing a game at the library. I would spin the globe and shut my eyes. Then, I would stop it with my finger and see what country I had randomly selected. Next, I would look the country up in the encyclopedia and search for all of the books that I could find about it.
Soon the answers I was looking for were not to be found in Indiana. The cornfields of Indiana can be a long way from anything. Little did I know that some day I would be riding my bicycle through remote vil-lages in Guatemala or discussing politics with impover-ished farmers in Nicaragua. Patience is essential for a traveling man.

Background
Born in 1966, I grew up in Greenwood, Indiana in a good home with two loving parents. I found my calling at the age of eleven when I became a cyclist. My par-ents were wise to nurture this instinct in me. I firmly believe that my involvement in cycling kept me out of serious trouble. I started riding bicycles in the mid-1970’s with a Campy five-speed bike, wool shorts and one of those funny leather helmets that cyclists wore back then. The bicycle racing movie "Breaking Away," hit the theaters and I quickly fell into racing. I was immersed in racing until I graduated from Indiana University in 1991 with a bachelor’s degree in Physical Education. Competing on a bicycle taught me many things, including riding techniques and mechanical skills I now use in my daily life on the road. More importantly, racing taught me how far I could push myself physically. This foundation prepared me for a future full of biking in foul weather and endless moun-tain climbs.
Once I was finished with undergraduate school, I was free to roam. I left Indiana permanently and headed west. I traveled by bicycle and worked in several different states in the western US. I existed on the least amount of money possible. I drifted around looking for work in each town, saved up a little money and moved on. This may sound romantic; but in reality, it was difficult. This kind of living can exhaust even a young man. I learned the ropes of basic survival and hard living. Looking ragged and being treated as an outcast taught me much about society. Many people looked down on me because I looked poor. They did not judge me on my actions but the way I looked. A few people didn’t notice my appearance and saw me as an equal. This served as a strong reminder of a value I had always known: avoid bias based on appearances.
I settled in Arizona where the climate and moun-tains suited me. I lived in Prescott for ten years except for two years of graduate school at Northern Arizona University (NAU) in Flagstaff. It was at NAU that I met Cindie’s twin sister, Cherie, and husband, Scott. They introduced me to Cindie who was living in New Mexico at the time.
Cindie was energetic and loved the outdoors. She was born in 1961 and grew up on the east coast. Cindie had previously attended NAU and finished with a Bachelor of Science in Geology in 1984. She was work-ing as a geologist in Albuquerque when I met her.
Cindie and I had a two-wheeled romance. When I met Cindie, she owned a mountain bike. Our first date was a mountain bike ride in Flagstaff. During this date, she crashed and bruised her knee badly. I helped her up and put her back on her bike. I wondered if she would finish out our ride or go home crying. She thought about quitting for a moment but, instead, finished the ride. Years later, Cindie told me this was a tender moment for her and explained that when I comforted her I encouraged her to do what she had previously thought impossible. This was a defining moment in our relationship for both of us.
Early in our relationship, I took Cindie on her first bike tour around the Yucatan Peninsula in southern Mexico. I took the cheap way down, riding a bus to Cancun, and met Cindie in the airport well after dark. I unpacked her bike and assembled it. She asked if we were going to one of the famous beaches. She was excited to have a romantic getaway. I have never liked tacky beach resorts and told her that we were going in the opposite direction. Cancun is only an airport to me. She asked where we were staying for the night. I answered, "I will figure that out when we get there." She nervously followed me into the Mexican darkness. She must have trusted me a lot to have done this. We found a construction site and set the tent up. In the morning, we met friendly Mexican workers and over a long conversation shared our coffee. She saw that traveling could be more than glitzy beach resorts.
A few months later, she bought a used road bike. She learned to draft and ride pace lines on the roads of New Mexico.

Edition details

• Publisher: Down the Road Publishing
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0975442708
• ISBN 13: 9780975442708
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320