Story from the Greenville Herald-Banner

Just rolled up to the town of Marathon, have a bit of spare time & the local library has internet so I thought I would throw the story you have all been waiting for up on the blog!

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On the road again
By Tracy Chesney

They were hungry and exhausted from their long trip. After 70 miles of bicycling in one day, all they wanted was a place to crash for the night. So they ended up in the middle of nowhere, camped in the midst of nature¹s beauty and received some great Southern hospitality. While visiting my daughter at Lake Tomahawk Baptist Encampment in Livingston last week, three men showed up looking for a place to stay. Nothing unusual about that. What was unusual is that they¹re from New Zealand and are on a cross-country bicycle tour. Not for fame or fortune or some great and worthy cause. They¹re just on a holiday, wanted to tour the Southern states, meet the Southern people and have a little fun.

Dave Aitken, 27, Ben Blundell, 26, and Ben Schurr, 25, are 10,000 miles from home. The men met in college, and Aitken is now a lawyer, Blundell is a corporate accountant and Schurr is a corporate manager.

They started their cross-country tour in Charleston, S. C., on March 28, and their goal is to be in Newport Beach, Calif., by the end of May. They travel about 70 miles a day and carry about 40 pounds of equipment apiece on their bikes including camping gear, tools, clothing, toiletries, food and water. They have traveled close to 100 miles in a day.

“The general consensus is that we’re crazy for doing this,” Aitken said. “Our friends do consider us crazy,” Blundell said. “But they also think it¹s pretty cool.” Schurr said they’ve received a lot of recognition in their country for attempting such a feat. “A few of our friends would like to do something like this, but they don¹t have the physical capability,” Schurr said. (He only said this to rub it in on his friends who couldn’t join them.)

The men heard that the South was famous for its hospitality. “And it has lived up to its reputation,” Aitken said. “Their hospitality has really helped us out.” I tried to convince the men to come to Greenville, telling them I could make them front page news. I even rolled up my sleeves and offered them some Southern hospitality - the best hot chocolate in the world and some home-baked chocolate chip cookies. They did consider it, but it would have been a four-day trip out of their way.

The men generally get up around 7 in the morning, and it takes them several hours to pack up their equipment. They’re usually on the road again by 9 a.m. and take several breaks a day. “We decide how far to go that day and aim for a town,” Schurr said. “By the end of the afternoon, we stop at a supermarket because we’re hungry. We start asking around about campsites or churches to stay at. And what we found is that people will take us in.” “I don’t know if they feel sorry for us or what,” Blundell added. “The people in the States, however, have been super, friendly and welcoming.”

The men said the American women seemed to go crazy over their heavy New Zealand accents, but some people find it a little hard to understand them. They, on the other hand, sometimes have trouble understanding the Southerners. “The people in South Carolina had a southern drawl,” Blundell said. “The people in Louisiana and Alabama were hard to understand, but the Texans are a little easier to understand.”

All three men have been in triathlons, and they call Schurr the Iron Man. “We should be in the best shape of our lives,” Schurr said, “but not right now. By the end of the trip, however, we will be.”

By now, the men would have just left Austin after a short two-day visit. Now, they’re on their way to Del Rio. They also plan to make a detour to the Grand Canyon. They estimate that they will travel more than 4,000 miles. They are, however, dreading the mountains and hills.

Aitken said the first part of the trip was tiring, but now they¹re getting used to their 70-mile-per-day ride. “It’s been quite smooth with no hitches or hiccups (a New Zealand phrase) and not too many problems,” Blundell said. “Although I did have a flat tire on Thursday,” Aitken said. “But after a quick change, we were back on the road again.”

The men have no immediate goals once they cross the country. “I just plan to get a real job, earn some money and get a haircut,” Aitken said. “Right now, I’m just worried about the few thousand miles that we still have to travel,” Schurr said.

So if you’re traveling in the Southern states in the next six weeks, be looking for the three bicyclists from New Zealand. They’re sure to be on the road again.