Ever seen a man biking from China to Europe on a bamboo bike? Ever seen a Chinese couple using plastic containers to store stuff on their bike?. Neither had I until today.

Let me introduce you to the underground meeting of tour bikers and their crazy ways of travelling:

Alright so on sight these guys might look like regular tour bikers(are there even such a thing?) but a closer look into the details you will see how these tour veterans made me feel like a green vegetable.

The guy that biked from China to Europe on a bamboo bike

So here's his story in short: he traveled to China by hitchhiking, then in China the man decided to bike back to Switzerland ,so he crafted a bamboo bike. Alright alright, he basically comes from where I'm heading, let's take a look at this masterpiece of a bike:

the whole frame is made of bamboo, even the water bottle holders. Even cooler he managed to cycle on this bike without a single puncture the whole damn trip, oh did I mention he had a selfie stick also made of bamboo? This guy is a fucking artist

a even closer look a noticed another stick at the side of his bike, that was his manual gear switch, I'm not kidding you, he uses this stick to switch his gear.

You could feel he had so much experience after 2 years of travelling and had so much valuable information he shared with me. Probably gonna be my go to guy if I have questions about reaching China.

The mad genius couple from China

Yes that is feathers on their helmets. These guys had already traveled for a long while, but right now doing a Europe tour that will later next year lead into a trip back to China, like the one I'm doing. Now let's take a look what so special about these guys, shall we?

Their bikes reflects that this couple have been long enough on the road to have found a perfect balance between madness and being a genius.

Plastic containers, cut up and attached to both their biked as extra storage, how does people come up with these ideas?
Once again they seemed to have a lot to share from their experience in countries they had biked such as Japan. I truly admired this couple for just living a dream together

The many ways of tour biking

Tour bikers are crazy, I think pretty much all tour bikers I have met have had their own unique way to travel depending on their life, their needs and their creativity. I was amazed by these guys at the bus stop, they truly opened my eyes for how much is possible if the will is there.

I have never felt my own bike was that innovative although it does have some unique features such as being chain-less and internal gear system, making my bike almost completely maintenance free. So even my bike reflects a bit how I am as a person, I like to keep things simple and easy, usually I like to cut corners where I can. Many have also admired how little a seem to carry for a long trip like this... Again, easy and simple.

Another example is this guy who even had a spot for his daughter on his bike. Taking her around Europe for a 5 months long bike trip. Anything is possible when you decide to tour bike no matter what circumstances your life might be in, it seems people finds a way that works for them.

I have also met a Romanian guy who had a small speaker attached to his frame, having his own party while biking, kind of hilarious!

The possibilities are truly endless when it comes to tour biking and how you want your own one to be. That's the beauty of this kind of travel and I'm thrilled to see what other kind of crazy stuff people along the way will be coming up with!

Stay Awesome!

-Holm