A photo of two loaded bikes reached thousands of people. One driveway answered. On algorithms, hospitality, and what still can't be automated in bike touring.
I probably came across the spoke yokes the same way you did; one day, they just appeared in my algorithm on Substack. I communicated with them off and over a few months and hoped to meet them, but I think they had to leave the United states to comply with our bizarre visa rules. Not sure. In any event I loved your reference to the half second where the decision is made to interact with others on a personal level. My most recent experience with that was while I was at a local food store and ran into two Bike travelers from the UK who had come up from Key West to Maine using the East Coast Greenway. Whenever I see folks in that situation, I am immediately brought back to situations where I was either in trouble or needed some assistance with shelter food or medical issues on the road and always found kindness. It is really a wonderful community, and whether it’s brought together by a Rolodex or an algorithm really doesn’t matter
Could not have said it better. Yes, visa rules can certainly change plans, too bad it didn't work out for them. There will always be other bike tourers presenting themselves via face to face or through the algorithm. Thanks for the note!
Super Cool!
I probably came across the spoke yokes the same way you did; one day, they just appeared in my algorithm on Substack. I communicated with them off and over a few months and hoped to meet them, but I think they had to leave the United states to comply with our bizarre visa rules. Not sure. In any event I loved your reference to the half second where the decision is made to interact with others on a personal level. My most recent experience with that was while I was at a local food store and ran into two Bike travelers from the UK who had come up from Key West to Maine using the East Coast Greenway. Whenever I see folks in that situation, I am immediately brought back to situations where I was either in trouble or needed some assistance with shelter food or medical issues on the road and always found kindness. It is really a wonderful community, and whether it’s brought together by a Rolodex or an algorithm really doesn’t matter
Could not have said it better. Yes, visa rules can certainly change plans, too bad it didn't work out for them. There will always be other bike tourers presenting themselves via face to face or through the algorithm. Thanks for the note!
Love this!