Twenty-eight-year-old Taiwanese Wu Shih-chang (吳時暢), who embarked on an around-the-world bicycle tour as a way to celebrate his 30th birthday, has recently reached Vancouver, Canada after starting his tour in Alaska on June 1.
A tanned Wu on Tuesday had his first good meal in 70 days at a Japanese restaurant at the invitation of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the city.
Wu says the most frightening experience on his ride from Alaska to Vancouver was the eight bears he encountered on his way through the Yukon, which straddles the Arctic Circle, and British Columbia. Although the bears didn’t seem hostile and didn’t follow him, he has taken some friendly advice and bought anti-bear spray.
PHOTO: CHANG LING-CHU, TAIPEI TIMES
Wu said the bears heard him coming from far away, but that he just kept on riding as if nothing had happened.
A story about him in the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) led a reporter from the German DPA news agency to find him, and it was only because this German reporter later sent an e-mail to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office that the office was made aware of Wu’s arrival in Vancouver.
Wu said he first thought that riding around the world on a bicycle was a romantic thing to do. After setting out, however, Wu said he came to realize there was nothing romantic about it, as he instead had to deal with loneliness and learn to survive.
Every day, he was busy thinking about how to make his food last until the next food stop 100km down the road and about where he would set up his tent that evening.
Wu said that during the first few days of his ride in Alaska, he miscalculated and didn’t bring enough food. With the next shop more than 100km away, his blood sugar levels dropped and he started feeling dizzy, as all the trees seemed to be white. After that experience, he said he never dared set out again on an empty stomach.
Every day he slept in a tent, and bathed and washed his clothes in rivers. He said the water in Alaska in June was only about 5ºC, so every time he washed his hair, it felt as if it would explode.
Wu said he hoped he would be able to ride around the world in 1,000 days. So far, he has only spent US$8 per day, which is within his budget of US$8,000.
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