I think a number of Tour Divide riders experience fear at some point along their journey. And I mean genuine fear, not just your basic worry about strange noises coming from your bike, nagging saddle sores, or the possibility of having consumed contaminated water. I mean fear for your life. It could be a chance encounter with the local fauna. I met one rider who got close enough to a grizzly to have to use bear spray....
So, I was reading the latest copy of Adventure Cyclist, and I came across an article by Brendan Leonard titled “Island Hopping in Arctic Norway: How far are you willing to go for the perfect campsite?” Apparently there’s this cultural tradition in Norway called allemannstretten. I have no idea how to pronounce it, but you could translate it as “right to access.” Basically, as long as you stay away from cultivated land and are at least 150 meters away from buildings, you can set up a tent and camp....
A bike shop owner once told me that when he first got into the business he had dreams of building wheels all the time. Sam had learned the art from a master wheel builder and had grown to appreciate the care and skill that went into the practice. A quarter turn here, an eighth of a turn there — tension, dish, true — tension, dish, true. “It’s almost meditative,” he said....