Charles Brigham was 28 when he got on his bike to go on an ecological tour of the world but could be 33 by the time he returns home to Madison, Wisconsin, in the US.
“I love bikes and wanted to travel,” he told AFP while in Paris to recharge his batteries.
“I don’t think it’s natural to fly in a plane or even travel by car. People weren’t meant to travel so quickly.”
So Brigham, who studied electrical and computer engineering but hates technology, set off in September 2007 with a good bike, US$3,000, a pair of trousers and 30kg of camping, cooking and first aid gear.
“I packed a bunch of stuff, threw a party and rode out of town,” he said.
After cycling to the Atlantic port of Norfolk in Virginia to cross the Atlantic, Brigham realized there were only freighter boats “that were not ecological.”
So he cycled to Miami instead to find “nothing but power yachts, huge gas-guzzling things that were even worse than a freighter. So I decided to become a sailor.”
After sailing to the UK via Ireland, Antigua and the Azores he eventually took a ferry ride to mainland Europe when bad weather stopped him from sailing.
“I have vowed since to completely boycott even ferry rides and I haven’t participated in the oil industry since.”
The point? “I want to promote bicycles. I’m working against addiction to speed. That’s what makes people burn oil,” he said. “I want people to realize there’s an alternative.”(AFP)
查爾斯．布利罕騎上自行車展開環球生態之旅時是二十八歲，但等他返回美國威斯康辛州麥迪森的老家時可能已經三十三歲了。
他在巴黎停留休息時對法新社表示：「我熱愛騎自行車，也想要四處旅遊。」
「我認為坐飛機或甚至搭車旅行都不是自然的方式。人類本來就不應該這麼快速地旅行。」
因此，學電子和電腦工程，卻不喜歡科技的布利罕在二ＯＯ七年九月，帶著一輛三千美元的高級自行車、一條褲子和三十公斤的露營、野炊及急救用具就上路了。
他說：「我打包了一堆東西，開了場派對後就騎車上路了。」
他騎到維吉尼亞州瀕臨大西洋的諾福克港要橫渡大西洋時，才發現那裡只有「不符合生態」的貨輪。
於是他又騎到邁阿密，結果只找到「耗油量大的動力遊艇，那比貨輪還更糟。因此我決定要學會駕駛帆船。」
他經過愛爾蘭、安地卡和亞速爾群島航行到英國後，碰上惡劣天氣導致帆船無法繼續航行，最後只好改搭渡輪到歐陸。
「自那之後，我就立誓絕對連渡輪都不搭，也沒再使用過石油相關產品。」
這樣做意義何在？他說：「我想推廣自行車。我竭力反對沉溺於飆風快感，那是人們不斷燃燒石油的原因。我希望人們了解我們還有其他的選擇。」（法新社╱翻譯：袁星塵）
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