The Accidental Bicycle Tourist

66 Episodes

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ABT066. Finding Adventure in the Everyday

2026-09-2557:01

Alexander Leonard reflects on a life shaped by bicycles, from his long student commutes across Montreal to his two-wheeled explorations through Berlin in search of forgotten corners like an abandoned swimming‑pool complex. In 2013, 18-year-old Alex traveled to Cambodia, where his volunteer work at an orphanage reshaped his sense of the world. He pedaled through Phnom Penh’s swirling scooter traffic, met curious locals, and taught students almost his age geography and astronomy. His journeys e...

ABT065. Live to Your Full Potential

2026-09-1101:03:58

In this inspiring episode, adventurer Renata Chlumska recounts her time supporting Göran Kropp’s historic, self-powered ascent of Mount Everest in 1996 and how witnessing both tragedy (the disaster Jon Krakauer chronicles in Into Thin Air) and triumph (Göran’s successful Everest summit) shaped her lifelong dreams and philosophy. In 2006, Renata followed the perimeter of the 48 contiguous United States by bicycle and kayak. In 2014, she conquered the Seven Summits, the highest mountain peaks o...

ABT064. No Ordinary Bicycle Ride

2026-08-2801:27:53

Imagine visiting a museum to study a penny-farthing—a classic bicycle with a giant front wheel and a tiny rear one—not out of idle curiosity, but with the intent to build one yourself. Then, you decide to hop atop this contraption with no gears, solid rubber tires, and virtually no brakes and eventually take it around the world. It sounds nearly impossible, yet that is exactly what Joff Summerfield did. After designing and constructing his own custom penny-farthing, Joff departed Greenwich, E...

ABT063. The TransAm Trailblazers

2026-08-0801:09:07

How do two novice cyclists with almost no overnight trip experience wind up pioneering the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail in 1974? For Jim Richardson and Linda Thorpe, the journey didn’t begin on a grueling mountain pass or in a velodrome. In September 1973, they crossed paths in a Weight Watchers class in Garden Grove, California. After Jim spotted a poster advertising Bikecentennial ’76 (now the Adventure Cycling Association) in a local bike shop, they decided to swap calorie-counting for a 4,2...

ABT062. The Original Bikepackers and the Improbable Bikecentennial (Part 2)

2026-07-1801:01:48

What happens when you combine empty pockets, stolen bicycles, sheer determination, and a healthy dose of pure 1970s idealism? You get the parallel wild stories of riding the second half of the Hemistour expedition and organizing the landmark Bikecentennial '76! In this episode, Part 2 of 2, join June and Greg Siple as they recount the chaotic, beautiful journey of cycling the rest of the way to Ushuaia, Argentina. Then, hear Lys and Dan Burden tell how they proposed the idea of a massive, tra...

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