METAL COWBOY says: What does the Galfromdownunder Do on a Friday?

Metal Cowboy here. Thanks for coming to my shows and following my tire tracks all over the planet. I meet a lot of two-wheeled adventurers, some who can spin a mighty fine tale, but one really caught my reading lamp recently:

Lynette Chiang, aka The Galfromdownunder. She's an Aussie, she lived and traveled the world for 7 years on a Bike Friday and I like her new book The Handsomest Man in Cuba so much, I'm even promoting it on my site. Now a book has to be that good or my ego has to be that small for a scribbler to do that. (No comments, please!). I have also joined the fold like her, and I bought one of those little wheel machines, joining a ton of hardcore bicycle travelers who are sick of dealing with a big cardboard box.

For now, I just wanted to introduce Lynette, so you know you are getting this email from a growing collective of adventure writers on little wheels which even includes the World's Most Traveled Man By Bicycle, Heinz Stucke! Boy, am I in good company or what? Over to the Galfromdownunder ...

Joe Kurmaskie, aka The Metal Cowboy"

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PASS THE OXYGEN PLEASE: 16,000 Feet On a Friday

The Galfromdownunder, in an out-of-body moment, signed up for the inaugural PACTOUR Assault on the highest paved road Peru trip. The first two days were 'a Baptism of fire' as tour leader and ultracycling champ Lon Haldeman put it, but after that I was doing 75 miles in jungle heat with relative ease. I consider this tour an excellent combination of great scenery, fascinating Peruvian culture, weird things to eat including guinea pig (cuy) and other small furry animals, excellent cameraderie and support, and challenging but do-able riding that will stretch you to the next level. And what an opportunity to ride with a legendary cycling authority and world champion, Lon Haldeman. Of course, it's even better if you do it on a Friday, like the Galfromdownunder's Bike Friday

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TUESDAY OCTOBER 27, 2004: TODAY WAS THE DAY OF RECKONING: I would be one of a handful of questionably sane people who had paid money to launch an 'assault' on the highest paved road in the world at 16,000 feet: The Ticlio Pass, smack in the middle of the Peruvian Andes. A famous railroad operates in fits and starts over this pass, but few attempt this ascent on bicycles, and I'd be one of the first to do it on a Bike Friday.

At 15,000+ feet, 2.5 km to go and it feels like 250 km ...
Our leader: Lon Haldeman (46) , twice RAAM champ, tandem coast-to-coast record holder, 5 times PBP veteran (including this year on a single speed road bike, riding in daylight only 'just for fun'), in short, Marathon Man meets Terminator on two skinny wheels. This time, however, he was on two smaller skinny wheels - his Air Friday. His subjects in descending order of seniority: Charlie Feaux (69) from Alabama, Jerry Segal (66) from Indiana(Air Friday), Glen Martin (49) from Virginia, and the Galfromdownunder (42), fresh as a wilted daisy from my Handsomest Man in Cuba book tour, on my Pocket Crusoe.

We'd landed in Lima a couple of days earlier and had already pedaled to 10,000 feet the day before, flanked by the endless spectacular and sheer cliff faces of the Peruvian Andes mountains. I was not feeling too maxed out at this stage, even though my shampoo bottle was starting to look pregnant.

Our ascent in earnest began at a misty, mud-side hotel called Chez Victor, in San Mateo (which brings to mind a restaurant downunder called Chez Bruce), at the aforementioned 10,000 feet.

All's well that begins well. Lon, superlatively organized, solemnly brought out the cylinder of oxygen and instructed the four of us as to its use, which we listened to as one does the safety drill on airlines - not at all, until the moment of truth. Our laminated route map indicated we'd take 5 hours to do the 23.5 mile, 6,000 foot climb to the summit, whoop it up with photos and congratulatory handshakes, then drop dramatically over the other side for a thrilling 25-mile, 2 hour descent back down to 12,000 feet ...

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