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Well Being |
Mar 2004 |
Title: No Excuses
Length: 2700 words
It's too easy to find reasons not to do something. A positive philosophy of how we travel and live.
I suppose the question we’re asked most often is, “Why?”
Why would two normal, rational, moderately successful, generally sane Canadian citizens leave behind their jobs, their
apartment, their creature comforts, their entire lifestyle, to ride push bikes around an entire country?
Keep in mind that when I say “country”, I’m talking about Australia: one of the driest, most desolate, most sparsely
populated countries of the world. And when I say “push bikes”, I really mean a half-ton, five-wheeled... full article available in April
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Leatherwood Online |
Mar 2004 |
Title: A Tricycle Made for Two
Length: 3000 words
Edited re-print of our feature article about our Tasmanian cycling trip in Australian Cyclist Magazine.
Somewhere between Adelaide and Melbourne, we began sparring with the idea of “adding on” Tasmania. After all, we thought, can we really say we’ve cycled the entire country if we miss a state? Sure enough, it may be a small state, and you need a very large boat to get to it, but it’s still Australia.
“Adding it on” was a major blunder of thinking on our part (besides the whole chain issue, of course). One does not “add on” Tasmania. “Adding on” Tasmania to your Australian cycling trip is like ordering a 96oz Porterhouse Steak and “adding on” a family-size supreme pizza. Tasmania is its own meal in itself. ...
see the full article
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Australian Cyclist |
Series from Nov 2002 to Present |
How are our adventures around Australia any different than anyone else's in Australian Cyclist? First, we're not
Australian. Second, we're not cyclists. And third, it's not just a bike, it's a five-wheeled recumbent tandem "quike" that
we've got to pedal for 16000km.
Tassie or Bust Feature - Jan 2004
Length: 3000 words
They say you’re supposed to replace your chain every 5000km. When your tandem recumbent trike has four chains, like ours, replacement becomes a bit of a costly process, especially when (a) you have to replace eight clusters at the same time, (b) your circumnavigation of Australia is already four months over budget, and (c) you know that when your circumnavigation of Australia is over, you’ll probably never want to look at your tandem recumbent trike again.
The trikes themselves? Holding up wonderfully. However, at 14,000km into the excursion, our chains have seen better days, i.e. Day One, Day Two, etc. At Day 353 the chains run about as smoothly as a 40 year old cat, and twice as noisy.
Any other cyclist might have said, “Judging by the condition of my steed, perhaps now is not the time to attempt Tasmania. They say it’s hilly, you know. Ask anyone.” But we’re not any other cyclists.
That said, let’s begin....
see the full article
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Book Review - Jan 2004
Length: 600 words
Firstly, I should make it clear that I've never been a fan of the traditional Lonely Planet-style travel guides. Within seconds of opening a guidebook, my eyes begin to glaze over and I have trouble counting the number of stars next to a hotel I'll never stay in.
However, I've just finished reading Around Australia By Bicycle by Paul Elwood and I have to say that Mr Elwood has managed to put together a guide that is concise, honest and most importantly...
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One More for the Road - Nov 2003
Length: 1500 words
Though the story would be much more exciting if I could say we were held prisoner by the infamous Murray Bridge Bunyip, it sadly wouldn’t be true. In reality, our time was sucked away by the hungriest, most unforgiving, voracious monster of all:
Hospitality.
...
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Curse of the Nullarbor - Sept 2003
Length: 2600 words
It’s on everyone’s lips, though few dare to speak its name. It howls across the windswept plains, conjuring images of
fear into the hearts and minds and calves of cyclists...
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Hitched - July 2003
Length: 1250 words
Well well. After this week, the Nullarbor should be a piece of cake.
I can hear you asking… what? What happened this time? Did you run out of cordial? Nope...
see the full article
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It's All Downhill From Here - May 2003
Length: 1000 words
At least, that’s what we keep hearing. Ever since we reached the West Coast, at every petrol station
we’ve had to endure the same conversation...
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Redefining Keen Since 2002 - Mar 2003
Length: 1000 words
"All the way around Australia, eh? Well, aren't you keen?"
Keen, they say. It's the same everywhere, spoken with the same rosy expression: one eyebrow raised...
see the full article
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Now We're REAL Aussies - Jan 2003
Length: 1350 words
Mount Isa. A city of dreams. A city of lights. A city of dazzling romance, spellbinding mystery and unrefined intrigue.
Plus, it's got a Wooley's! Mount Isa represented...
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Letter From Overseas - Nov 2002
Length: 1200 words
This is the story of how two clever little foxes escaped the deathly grip of corporate America, only to find themselves
thrust into the deathly grip of outback Australia...
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T. Bay Chronicle Journal |
Feb 2004 |
Title: Around Australia on a Lawn Chair
Length: 800 words
A humourous account of the entire expedition from the viewpoint of several weeks later.
This was an exciting morning for me.
See, usually, my day starts with the sunrise, where I wake up sweating in my tent on the side of a red dirt road, kiss the Hubby good morning, then, within five minutes of opening my eyes, proceed to pack up all of my belongings and strap them onto the back of a tandem recumbent tricycle. Breakfast will be had ten kilometres up the road. It will take the form of an orange. Perhaps a mango, if it’s my birthday or some other special occasion.
...
see the full article
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| Beimers.com |
Online Chronicle of Our Adventures from Aug 2001 to Present |
Since abandoning our New Jersey apartment and heading for the open road, we've been allowing the world to keep tabs on us
through our website, beimers.com. Our readership has increased over two years from a few dozen people to 25,000
visitors each month. We provide readers with not so much travel information and advice, but rather a unique perspective into
the way we travel, and our thoughts during the journey, good, bad or ugly.
bikeabout.beimers.com
Cycling all the way around Australia by recumbent tandem trike makes for pretty good subject matter to the rest of
the working world. We keep writing, they keep reading. 30,000 people can't be wrong...
This man is a jackass. Oh, he may look like an expert fisherman on the outside, and he may even have a second career. But
whatever he does in his spare time... first and foremost, he's a jackass.
Read Week 2: The Jackass Report
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Format: Weekly
Scope: 70 Weeks (+)
Words/week: 3500 words
Photos/week: 40-50
Weekly Features:
Location & Distance
Daily Summaries
Editorials
Interviews
The How-To Section
Meet the Locals
Wally's Amazin' Facts
Word of the Week
See the entire site at
bikeabout.beimers.com
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If you've got to drink the bore, at least try to get good bore. This is like telling someone if they have to eat haggis,
at least eat good haggis. Not enjoyable at any rate, but some are worse than others. Here are the ones to avoid at any cost...
Read Week 8: Making Bore Bearable
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You know that expression "In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king?" Well, in the land of 50 degrees, 45 is pretty
damn comfortable for a short spell, and IT'S STILL PRETTY CRAPPY ONLY HAVING ONE EYE when the rest of the world has two.
Who wants to be king of the land of the blind anyway, unless you're a real ugly bastard...
Read Week 21: Whinge Week
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1. Before you start, let the squid expunge most of its black gook onto the jetty.
2. Shove your hand up inside the flute (aka. the squid's toque) and squelch out anything above the eyes.
3. Tear the slimy, membranous, filmy skin off the outside...
Read Week 39: How to Fillet a Squid
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Stuart Hill, 13 year old boy genius and all around footy star (with a season record of 10 goals 10), used his superhuman
intellect and sculpting skills in an effort to create the most frightening, malevolent, wicked, nasty, evil creature known
to man. He failed...
Read Week 43: Meet Mr. Skinny Legs
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roadtrip.beimers.com
Our first online adventure ended up gaining far more interest than we could have guessed. 200 days, 52,000km and 48 states
to visit every backwater tourist trap in America. We spared no expense, and left no Yankee stone unturned.
Detroit is what New Yorkers would like their city to be, in terms of tourist discomfort.
Trust us. They don't want you to visit. They don't even like you.
Read Day 45: Detroit, Michigan
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Format: Daily
Scope: 215 Days
Words/day: 1000 words
Photos/day: 10
Daily Features:
Location
Editorial
Distance & Gas
Facts On Location
Photo of the Day
Interviews
Food/Lodging Reviews
See the entire site at
roadtrip.beimers.com
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But how does one catch a crab? I went back to the car, and returned with the best tools for the job: a set of barbeque
tongs and a vegetable griller.
Read Day 80: The Florida Keys
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Before I came to the Alamo, I'm embarrassed to say that I really only knew two things about it:
1. Ozzy Ozbourne once urinated on it, and was arrested as a result.
2. Pee Wee Herman was told by a fortune teller that his bike was in the basement.
Read Day 108: San Antonio, Texas
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Could it be that she sensed that I loved Mel more than I loved her? The thought was preposterous. After all, she
was a beautiful woman, and Mel, well, Mel was a '92 Jeep Cherokee Sport...
Read Day 153: Truth or Consequences, New Mexico
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Washington State: Home of Grunge, Volcanoes, and America's only rain forest. Now you can say, ‘I like my states like I
like my women: dirty, hot and wet.’ Except no one will probably ask you how you like your states...
Read Day 196: Washington, the 48th State
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