So, today I met (just imagine "Wheel! Of! Fortune!*" but "So today on Today! I! Met!") this brilliant Belgian guy named Xander (the closest I'm sure I'll get to spelling his name). Xander was really cool for a lot of reasons but the primary reason I'm writing about him is he is biking from Buenos Aires to Patagonia. And by biking, I don't mean a "motorbike", a motorcycle, a scooter, or a Vespa. I mean a bicycle. As in, self-powered. As in using his own 2 legs. And in this case, a recumbent bicycle (see below for photo).
Buenos Aires to I don't remember if I forgot or just didn't ask (how rude of me!) what his final destination was (no movie pun intended...this time). But I believe he said his total distance would be 3000 km. Or about 40 km for those of you on the metric system. Seriously. 3000 km. There and back. 6000 km on his legs. Yeesh. Good luck to you, Xander.
Xander told us (various folks at the hostel were discussing his trip, desire to do the trip, etc, with him at various times) that he wanted to do the trip, because, well why not. He told his mom "Hey mom! I'm gonna go bike through Argentina!" and his mom replied "Ok, but don't be late for supper! You don't want to eat cold bean stew, do you??" She didn't get it. I never know what she's doing in there. And off he went. He actually brought his bike from Belgium.
I was really quite impressed with how well Xander had planned his trip. Definitely had thought of things I hadn't, but then again I've never planned a trip like this so cut me some freakin slack. If you know anything about Argentina, and I don't blame you if you don't, when travelling south and across the country, the towns are quite spread out. He estimated that he would travel 100 km per day, a fair estimate I'm sure. He, too, estimated that, at a stretch, he wouldn't see a town for up to 3 days. Of course he was bringing food with him, and would restock along the way, but that means at times he would need enough food for 3 days (!!) with him. And would have to spend the night outside. So what else did he have? A tent, naturally. Oh, and for (from Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels**) "dispensing with the pleasantries of nature", he has to bring toilet paper. He had cleverly placed in a plastic bag so it wouldn't get soaked in case it rained. Nothing worse than already-wet TP, if you ask me.
But Xander also had to plan for bike failure. What happens if gets a flat tire? Busted rim? Broken chain? Can't just call up AAA. Do they have AAA for bikes? Anyway, so he was taking extra whole wheels with him, stuff to fix the chain, etc.
Now stop and think about this for a minute. Surely he had a bag, I'm not sure of the size, within it some extra clothes/blankets/whatnot since it gets cold in the south of Argentina (hey, it is the bottom of the world), his tent, extra tires, stuff to fix his bike, and enough food for up to 3 days ALL ON HIS RECUMBENT BICYCLE. Betcha getting up them hills sucks.
This is why I'm writing about Xander, because he is 1) biking 2) 6000 km across a country 3) he doesn't know 4) by himself 5) on a recumbent bicycle 6) loaded with everything he'll need to make the trip. It's a truly impressive feat, to be sure. It's not quite as good as biking from Canada to Patagonia***, but still, what have you done lately? I think it's interesting, writing these stories about these people. Kind of the point of the series in the blog, dont'cha think?
Oh, and I have to tell one more story about Xander because it was great. It's the definition of a "you had to be there moment" but I'm telling it anyway. So stop reading now if you don't want to be bored. Too late? Yeah, I thought so. Just hang in with me for a couple more paragraphs.
So we, of course, as Xander is Belgian, got on the topic of beer. I naturally spilled my guts about how much I love Belgian beer. Xander told us the tradition of Belgian beer, why it is so popular in Belgium, and why it has been made for long in Belgium. (Naturally, with all that practice, it's no wonder that it's so good.) So apparently, in lots of Belgian towns, back in the day, the wells (the water supplies/sources) were, unfortunately, and somehow often, placed near cemeteries. The rotting corpses infected the groundwater. So people in Belgium began making "table beer" from it. Like really weak, 3% I think Xander said. You could give it to a kid. And you had to do this because in the process of making the beer, you boiled the water and killed the bacteria. I guess you could have just boiled the water straight up, let it cool, and drank it, but where's the drunk in that?
So, after telling this story, one time a few of were standing around, shooting the shit, and we got on the subject of coffee in Argentina, and how bad it is. Then we talked about the coffee at the hostel, and how bad IT was, just the sludge that it is. So Xander goes, in his Belgian accent, "We should make beer out of it." And the crowd goes wild. Told you, you had to be there.
Anyway, I'll probably come back around and clean this up a bit later, cuz this post has literally no point. Less of a point than any other post I've written. Who wants to read about people I've met?
Love you all,
B
*Not sure if I hated, but I never really liked, The Price is Right and I like(d) Wheel of Fortune even less. More random thoughts of tv show at a later date.
**I do remember something from senior year lit, Ms. Halli! Look! And balancing on eyebeams and a piet! Or was that freshman year. Damn I can't remember. Whatever. What's on tv?
***There is a story/legend about two people biking, sort of together, from Canada to Patagonia. I haven't met them so I probably won't write about them. But damn.
Buenos Aires to I don't remember if I forgot or just didn't ask (how rude of me!) what his final destination was (no movie pun intended...this time). But I believe he said his total distance would be 3000 km. Or about 40 km for those of you on the metric system. Seriously. 3000 km. There and back. 6000 km on his legs. Yeesh. Good luck to you, Xander.
Xander told us (various folks at the hostel were discussing his trip, desire to do the trip, etc, with him at various times) that he wanted to do the trip, because, well why not. He told his mom "Hey mom! I'm gonna go bike through Argentina!" and his mom replied "Ok, but don't be late for supper! You don't want to eat cold bean stew, do you??" She didn't get it. I never know what she's doing in there. And off he went. He actually brought his bike from Belgium.
I was really quite impressed with how well Xander had planned his trip. Definitely had thought of things I hadn't, but then again I've never planned a trip like this so cut me some freakin slack. If you know anything about Argentina, and I don't blame you if you don't, when travelling south and across the country, the towns are quite spread out. He estimated that he would travel 100 km per day, a fair estimate I'm sure. He, too, estimated that, at a stretch, he wouldn't see a town for up to 3 days. Of course he was bringing food with him, and would restock along the way, but that means at times he would need enough food for 3 days (!!) with him. And would have to spend the night outside. So what else did he have? A tent, naturally. Oh, and for (from Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels**) "dispensing with the pleasantries of nature", he has to bring toilet paper. He had cleverly placed in a plastic bag so it wouldn't get soaked in case it rained. Nothing worse than already-wet TP, if you ask me.
But Xander also had to plan for bike failure. What happens if gets a flat tire? Busted rim? Broken chain? Can't just call up AAA. Do they have AAA for bikes? Anyway, so he was taking extra whole wheels with him, stuff to fix the chain, etc.
Now stop and think about this for a minute. Surely he had a bag, I'm not sure of the size, within it some extra clothes/blankets/whatnot since it gets cold in the south of Argentina (hey, it is the bottom of the world), his tent, extra tires, stuff to fix his bike, and enough food for up to 3 days ALL ON HIS RECUMBENT BICYCLE. Betcha getting up them hills sucks.
This is why I'm writing about Xander, because he is 1) biking 2) 6000 km across a country 3) he doesn't know 4) by himself 5) on a recumbent bicycle 6) loaded with everything he'll need to make the trip. It's a truly impressive feat, to be sure. It's not quite as good as biking from Canada to Patagonia***, but still, what have you done lately? I think it's interesting, writing these stories about these people. Kind of the point of the series in the blog, dont'cha think?
Oh, and I have to tell one more story about Xander because it was great. It's the definition of a "you had to be there moment" but I'm telling it anyway. So stop reading now if you don't want to be bored. Too late? Yeah, I thought so. Just hang in with me for a couple more paragraphs.
So we, of course, as Xander is Belgian, got on the topic of beer. I naturally spilled my guts about how much I love Belgian beer. Xander told us the tradition of Belgian beer, why it is so popular in Belgium, and why it has been made for long in Belgium. (Naturally, with all that practice, it's no wonder that it's so good.) So apparently, in lots of Belgian towns, back in the day, the wells (the water supplies/sources) were, unfortunately, and somehow often, placed near cemeteries. The rotting corpses infected the groundwater. So people in Belgium began making "table beer" from it. Like really weak, 3% I think Xander said. You could give it to a kid. And you had to do this because in the process of making the beer, you boiled the water and killed the bacteria. I guess you could have just boiled the water straight up, let it cool, and drank it, but where's the drunk in that?
So, after telling this story, one time a few of were standing around, shooting the shit, and we got on the subject of coffee in Argentina, and how bad it is. Then we talked about the coffee at the hostel, and how bad IT was, just the sludge that it is. So Xander goes, in his Belgian accent, "We should make beer out of it." And the crowd goes wild. Told you, you had to be there.
Anyway, I'll probably come back around and clean this up a bit later, cuz this post has literally no point. Less of a point than any other post I've written. Who wants to read about people I've met?
Love you all,
B
*Not sure if I hated, but I never really liked, The Price is Right and I like(d) Wheel of Fortune even less. More random thoughts of tv show at a later date.
**I do remember something from senior year lit, Ms. Halli! Look! And balancing on eyebeams and a piet! Or was that freshman year. Damn I can't remember. Whatever. What's on tv?
***There is a story/legend about two people biking, sort of together, from Canada to Patagonia. I haven't met them so I probably won't write about them. But damn.
Update 1 (2013-10-26):
God I'm a horrific writer
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