Victor Weinreber makes a stop at a diner and art gallery near Bluff, Utah, during his bike ride around the globe. Asked how he’s saved up so much money for a three-year trip, he said, ‘I get 10 miles to the banana.’
It’s probably safe to say that literally thousands of people decide to make a trip around the world at some point in their lives, but it’s a safe bet very few of them decide to make the journey under their own power. But that’s exactly what high-tech bicyclist Victor Weinreber has decided to do. This 30-year-old professed environmentalist and fitness enthusiast is calling his personal journey ‘BikEarth ‘ 3-year ride around planet Earth.’ Well, he’s no Phileas Fogg, since it’s going to take him at least 1,000 more days to go around the world Of course Weinreber says he obviously won’t be able to make the entire trip on two wheels. ‘I’ll catch rides on ships going across bodies of water when I have to,’ Weinreber said, ‘but on the land portions, and there is a significant portion of the world that you can cover by land, I’ll do that by riding the bicycle.’ So far, Weinreber is taking a circuitous route on his trip. He wanted to officially start his journey in San Francisco, Calif., but he had a bit of a problem. He had to get there first. And as might be expected, he decided to make the trip on his bike, which resulted in his first jaunt through Warren County. ‘I started out in Asheville, N.C.,’ Weinreber said. ‘I went across the United States out to California, down the Pacific Coast into Mexico, went down Baja, took a ferry over to the mainlands, across the Sierra Madre mountains, took the southern route across the Chihuahua desert before turning northeast into Texas, re-entered the U.S. through southeastern Texas, worked my way through the United States back to Tennessee. This is actually my second visit to Warren County, because I went through here on my way out.’ Though he essentially went the opposite of his intended direction on the first leg of his trip, Weinreber says he is very much on track now. ‘I’m going to head back over to Asheville, then work my way up the eastern coast of the U.S. to Canada, catch a ride on a ship to Europe,’ Weinreber said. ‘Then ride through Europe, the Middle East and Asia, then catch a ship to Alaska and back to the Pacific Coast.’ Weinreber says he doesn’t have any sponsors and is financing the trip himself. And if you ask him how he is doing this, he has a simple answer. ‘I saved up,’ he said with a grin. Weinreber keeps expenses down by packing his own housing, in the form of a tent, along with a high-tech sleeping bag, a cooking stove and everything else he needs for life on the road. ‘So it’s not very expensive really,’ he said. He says he amassed his savings over the years in a number of jobs, including federal law enforcement, the military, and piloting airplanes, among others. ‘It’s not what you make,’ Weinreber said. ‘It’s what you spend.’ And what on earth inspired him to take a bike ride around the world? ‘I don’t have a good answer for that,’ Weinreber said. ‘All I can say, as a joke, is it beats work, and there was nothing on TV. But I guess the real reason is I want to see the world, and there’s no better way than by bicycle. I’ve always loved bike touring. Obviously I’ve done quite a bit of bike touring, this is not my first ride. But it’s definitely the longest ride though.’ He’s covered around 8,000 miles so far, and Weinreber figures he will travel at least another 21,000 miles before arriving back at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Even though he loves nature, as far as his equipment, Weinreber has definitely gone high tech. ‘I designed and built it myself,’ he said. ‘It’s a custom-built titanium expedition touring bike, specifically built for ultra-long-distance riding. I designed the frame, but actually out-sourced the welding of the frame to China, because I didn’t have the equipment to weld titanium myself.’ Weinreber described some of the features of his super bike. ‘I have 28 gears,’ Weinreber said. ‘It’s a double chainring in the front and a 14-speed internally geared rear hub. They’re made in Germany and they’ve been on the market for about 10 years now, but you hardly ever see them in the U.S. because they’re so expensive,’ Weinreber said. ‘About $1,500.’ And there are a number of other high-tech features. ‘I have a 12-volt dynamo backup generator for my lighting system,’ Weinreber said. ‘I built my own solar array which produces about 80 watts. I have 12-volt DC and 115 AC available through my power system that I have. I use an LED lighting system with three headlights and six taillights. I’m brighter than you’d believe on the road at night. As I’ve said, the bike is titanium, I have disc brakes, so it’s not exactly a machine from the 19th century.’ But even though he carries a laptop with a wireless card for Internet on the road, he isn’t all high-tech. There’s not a GPS in sight. ‘I use a compass,’ Weinreber said with a laugh. ‘That works just fine.’ For those who are interested in following Weinreber’s trip online, he maintains a daily journal of his journey around the world. It can be found at www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/bikearthride.
