writING
cycling the world with mckenzie barney part 1
the radavist
“So what exactly is considered cycling the world? This is a quasi-arbitrary metric that I adopted for my adventure on two wheels after crossing paths with the now-fastest married couple to cycle the world. They mentioned their record-breaking attempt that would entail riding a minimum of 18,000 miles (29,000 kilometers)—as stated by Guinness Book of World Records—along with various other rules including a continuous direction and two antipodal points. Although I wouldn’t be winning any speed records, I was transfixed by this idea of a finish line for my world tour, hoping to arrive at a harbor of contentedness after my voyage through a sea of never-ending logistics and route planning. So I extracted the 18,000 mile benchmark and left the rest of the rules for the record setters. For years I had been pedaling the planet without a means to an end. Now I had a number to pedal towards.”
cycling the world with mckenzie barney part 2
THE RADAVIST
“Everyone tells you to be careful when adventuring as a solo female. I always take the words of warning with a grain of Bolivian salt, because what we hear on the news is not an accurate depiction of the world. As it turns out, I had more locals offer their help when I was alone than when riding in Africa with my partner. In my experience, people are predominately generous and helpful. I’ve lost count of the many “hellos,” free meals, souvenirs, and offers to stay in someone’s house that have been extended to me. Echoing from the theme I set for Australia, I wanted to push myself in Peru. Looking no further than the giant Andean peaks in the distance, I found the Peru Great Divide, arguably one of the most illustrious dirt-road touring routes in the world. My days were spent winding between alpine lakes, neck on a permanent 45-degree tilt, in constant awe of the snow-capped Cordillera mountain peaks.”
salt of the earth
Bedrock sandals
“For once, my wheels are not in motion. Silence twists around my charred skin. In this blanket of oblivion I am nowhere, but salt is everywhere. Dismounting my steel bike, I inhale, calibrating the vanishing beyond ahead. Grit crinkles around my toes. Halfway expecting an icy chill, my senses are shocked at the warmth of the ground. I wonder if this is what astronauts feel like, trying to make sense of a land unknown. Alone in an expansive nothingness of unfamiliarity. Drunk with depth-perception complications, my reality has become so distorted out here, on the world’s largest salt flats.”
the sunburnt desert: a solo bikepacking journey across australia
THE RADAVIST
“I went to Australia galvanized by Davidson’s historic expedition that opened my intrigue into a faraway land. I also went because I craved connection to an ancient landscape as much as an introspective battle of my own glass ceiling. Cycling three states and four time zones, my bike became not just my vehicle, but my home. Through unique flora, deadly fauna, summer heat upwards of 110°F, and courage-crumbling wind brawls, my setup was overhauled, packing condensed, and long days were prioritized over a more comfortable journey. In return, Australia opened its full menu of diverse wonders: infinite desert, unforgiving outback, oceanside cliffs, unique wildlife, and frenzied city centers.”
vuja de: BIKEPACKING NEW ZEALAND
THE RADAVIST
“There are certain events that become an invisible division of life before and after the milestone. Mine was thru-hiking the length of New Zealand. The frequently used French phrase déjà vu (literally “already seen”) is known to us all as that jarring feeling of experiencing something that we perceived has already happened. But what occurs when we flip that on its head and rewire our perception? Vuja de is the reverse of déjà vu. It’s experiencing the familiar as if it’s unknown; the very act of re-examining the recognizable. Walking long distances naturally evolved into bicycling long distances, and something told me that by re-visiting this corner of the atlas and embarking on a similar path that I first traveled seven years prior, the world would open up to me once again. I plotted out my two-wheeled route to roughly follow the Tour Aotearoa route through a concoction of cycle trails, gravel paths, dirt tracks, and pavement down the length of the South Island.”
Connecting Two Distant Corners: Cycling the Length of Africa
THE RADAVIST
“Cairo to Cape Town. The words tumbled together in poetic cadence. Africa’s malleable cycling route from the Pyramids of Giza to Table Mountain was my dream of a decade. Soured by the rigid nature of sponsors’ expectations, I chose a bare-bones expedition. Plans and timelines aside. To travel for travel’s sake. To sink my teeth into the truth and toss the rest by the wayside. I started from the Egyptian pyramids with just my kiwi partner, the most efficient machines ever created, and the entire African continent ahead. Southbound and on edge, we began our trans-continental cycling journey dissecting Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa…”
Cycling Africa from Cairo to Cape Town
BEDROCK SANDALS
“I am convinced that curiosity exists at the heart of every expedition. While most around our age are investing in mortgages, my partner Jim and I wander faraway places on our planet. Every time we examined an atlas, it seemed that one mysterious land mass continued to call our names: Africa. Inspired by Riaan Manser’s account of riding his bicycle around Africa, I felt compelled to explore the colossal continent by human-power. A few short searches later and there it was, etched into the fabric of my adventurous alchemy: a cycling route from Cairo to Cape Town…”
A Global Rucksack Revolution: Thru-Hiking, Bikepacking and Traveling 15 Countries with One Rucksack
Gossamer Gear
For us wild dreamers out there who crave connection with humans beyond our own borders, the treasures in these uncertain endeavors are infinite. We meet people along the way who serendipitously help us reach our goals. And, unbeknownst to us, we also inspire those exact people to push their perceived limits. It’s a contagious rhythm, the act of exploration, because within the human experience lies an unawakened dream within all of us. We are all born with seeds of untapped potential, no matter where we live on this planet.
Rewiring the Fear of the Unfamiliar
Columbia
“A thru hike is a long distance trail, end to end. When I first heard about a thru hike, it was from my friend who had decided to walk the Appalachian Trail instead of walking across the stage at college graduation. The allure of the grand adventure magnetized my soul, but I never thought I had what it takes to live in the woods for six months at a time…”
THRU HIKING NEW ZEALAND
Goal Zero
“There was an insatiable hunger in my soul to hike the 1,800 mile length of New Zealand. I can’t fully explain why, but I would argue you don’t need to put a tangible finger on meaning or purpose. I wanted to hike it because it was there. 18 months later, I awoke from adrenaline. It was 5:30am, the earliest rise of the entire TA trip, and our crew planned to attack the glorious day ahead. We were lucky enough to find ourselves sandwiched between two massive storm days. Yesterday we chose to wait out the sky’s eerie howls, hiking half the day to arrive at the Blue Lake hut that night. Tomorrow we would likely see the gnarliest New Zealand storm yet. But today we were infinite. There is wild, there is peaceful, and then there’s New Zealand - that’s both at the same time…”
Boundless & Free: Wildlife Filmmakers Traveling America
Big Agnes
“Somewhere beyond the hours of hurry, these are the moments of still that I savor. Camera down. Shoes off. I breathe in the wild, free, open air of mountainous New Mexico. Breathe out the day’s right doings and wrongdoings. I’m surrounded by sacred country, soaking in the crack in time, a wrinkle in possibilities for what lies ahead the next day. My mind races – did the trap cameras capture the mountain lion mom and her cubs at the elk kill site? Will the coyotes feast on a snow goose? Does the elusive Bosque del Apache bobcat dare to appear in the daytime?…”
10 PHASES OF A THRU HIKE
Gossamer Gear
“When I first began hiking New Zealand's 1,800 mile (3,000 kilometer) Te Araroa, I viewed it like a sport. Each day I would physically prepare myself for the journey ahead, calculating the number of kilometers and monitoring my productivity. But somewhere along the way, it hit me: thru-hiking is not measurable. There are no rules, guidelines, or how to's. There's not even a finish line or trophy. There is literally no one person you are supposed to compare yourself to out on the trail. The journey is your own. Once I was able to breathe the freedom of thru hiking, the uncertainty of the wild took hold of the reigns. Only then did Te Araroa (Maori translation: The Long Pathway) reveal its magic…”
Thru Hiking the Te Araroa: Food Planning
Mountain Safety Research
“We have a saying out here on the trail—“hike your own hike.” This has become a normal reply to most questions about resupply strategy. There are no right or wrong answers to thru-hiking, just find what’s right for you. The most important lesson I’ve learned so far is to pack food items that you actually want to eat. That might sound obvious, but when hunger hits, you want something satisfying. Your taste buds are reckless; they crave some of the most bizarre mixtures…”