At 70, he runs alone around the world. As soon as I sit on the bike, I'm fine right now, says the traveler

Jiri Bina bought the bicycle for the fiftieth birthday and became a passionate cyclist. After five years of traveling to the Czech Republic, he decided to go on a bicycle to discover the world, and with independent expeditions lasting usually three months, he did not stop at seventy. He has recently returned from Africa, and he goes back to the world in the fall. "The paths are such a health therapy for me, people are always closed, they are sitting in a car and a metro in the morning and they go to work, where they are all day off, and on their travels I have the opportunity to be outdoors and do not mind the rain," he says in an interview for Aktuálně.cz.

Cycling has fallen in fifty years. What was that impulse?

I bought a bicycle for my fiftieth birthday and I spent five years traveling on hiking trails in the Czech Republic. Then I bought a Lonely Planet guide called Cycling New Zealand at CZK 829 at a book store in Wenceslas Square. And because I'm basically frightening, I've decided that the money can not come out of the way. I bought a tent, a sleeping bag, carriers and bags and set off for Zealand.

You know, I wanted to travel all my life. For the Bolsheviks, it was not possible, but I went to Hungary for fifteen years or later to stop several times in Bulgaria. In the 1960s, it was even possible to go to the West, but then it did not work again, and it seemed that it would never go. If someone told me that I would look at San Francisco once, it would be the same as telling me to fly to the moon. Simply impossible. When the regime was over, I had to make money first to secure a family, and then I just said I'd go. The book Lonely Planet was an impulse.

You have no experience with long-distance cycling. What was the first trip?

Well, I landed in Zealand, and of course the wheel did not arrive. So I waited for him, and then he struggled for the first fourteen days, because I had a lot of unnecessary with him. As soon as I took them out and threw them away, I was relieved and the journey began to entertain me. Overall, it took me six weeks to cross the North and South Island.

What turned out to be total wastefulness, and what is it that you can not do on the road now?

I had a lot of laundry, brush and shaving cream, locks, heavy knives, unnecessary dishes, and so on. The balance is essential to the bike, it is mainly known to the hills. The only thing I can not do without is a bike (laughs). After years, I've got it, and I've got everything hidden on the ground in one box. I always pull out and pack it. I gradually change my cameras, a small computer on which I write my blog, and so on. Unfortunately, last year, I left the shirt I wore on all my roads, so I had to throw it away.

I still ride on the same, twenty-year-old bike. The frame is a bit rusty, the bags are already sinking ... Everything is thrown to the thief. But functional items such as derailleurs, converters, wheels and so on are being exchanged and are in top quality.

The last trip to Africa from which you returned in December is already the fourteenth cycling trip abroad. Where did you look everywhere?

In addition to Zealand, I was twice in Australia, where I drove east coast and then a few years north of Darwin to Perth, from where I flew to Adelaide and reached Melbourne. I drove the west coast of the USA from Seattle down to San Diego. I went to Alaska, from Anchorage to Fairbanks and then across Valdez back to Anchorage. On this trip, I was also looking at the tomb of our native Welzl in Dawson City, Canada. The information center gave me such a Czech pamphlet dealing with the place and Welzl. Yukon then went to Whitehorse and down to Prince Rupert Harbor and boat to Port Hardy on Vancouver Island. I crossed the island to Victoria and finished the trip in Seattle.

Then I drove all four major islands of Japan, Mexico from Tijuana to Cancun, which was probably the best trip. I also went from Bolivia to Ushuaia, I climbed up to five thousand meters at Altiplane. From Santiago de Chile, I jumped to Easter Island, where I also traveled.

I returned to South America after a couple of years and passed through Paraguay, Uruguay, a bit of Brazil, Argentina and Chile. I ran south Korea, from Korea to Okinawa, then to Taiwan. I went to Indochina - from Hanoi to Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia to Singapore. And from Québec to Newfoundland and across the east coast of the USA to Florida, this trip lasted for four months. And that's all.

How did Mexico feel so much about you?

I enjoyed living there a mixture of very different cultures - the Aztecs, the Mayans, the Olmecs, the Toltéts and the influence of the European Catholic Baroque. You walk around the pyramid, then you go back to the cathedral like in Europe. People are impeccable and going to a Mexican pub is simply an experience. Always someone is playing guitar, and when no one comes, someone is sending him a tequila. Of course he wants a bit of Spanish I taught before the trip.

In Mexico, you can still experience what Kerouac was experiencing on the road he wrote about. Beer there is one US dollar, the food is good and cheap. Although I prefer it to local women who cook in Mexico in a garage or in a rented room. You can usually choose from three honest meals without any improvement. I never had a bad meal out of the street. I only had stomach problems once, but it was after visiting a better Mexican fish restaurant where I gave my shells.

I tried roasted grasshoppers in Mexico and I had frogs or snakes during other trips. But I think I have often eaten other things, and I did not know about it, because it was a chicken. As long as it's not human meat ...

Besides Mexico, which destination do you still remember?

I love all the trips because the main goal is traveling alone. As soon as I sit on the wheel and go on, I'm fine right away. And if there is an interesting countryside or animals, the better.

After a hearty breakfast, it takes me two hours for the body to work, but then I get to the stage when I just look around and down something. I do not take the bike as a sporting exercise, but a means of transport. Moreover, it is a kind of meditation for me, just a pedal, but I do not really know it. Satisfaction about me probably radiates because a lot of people waves me and health me.

Do you travel alone, do you never feel sad?

On the contrary. It's best to be alone for a while. When will you have the opportunity to do what you just want? If I were to go with someone, we would argue, so there is no one to blame me for choosing the wrong route. Life makes it simple because I care to eat, sleep, wash occasionally, and I do not have any other need. I prefer to read, I bring Kindle and I read before sleeping in the tent. Sometimes I look at the internet, but the longer I'm gone, the more distance I get from politics and everyday media, and in the end it stops me interested.

And did not your kids or grandchildren ever want to go with you?

Grandchildren yes. But I would not take them away because I do not want to take their safety to the trunk. For me it would be a nightmare. I'm such a shooter, a lot over the thing, I do not care what I'm going to, and I do not know anything about it in the first place. I do not plan to travel, I know where I want to look, and for how long I should get to the destination airport to get back home. I resolve the rest of the way ad hoc when I like it somewhere, I'll stay there. Often I will decide the next direction to some crossroads.

So you do not even buy a guide like your first trip?

Yeah, I always have a guide with Kindle with me, so I will not miss some of the sights. But I do not have to be everywhere, because some places are so embarrassed when they are upset. Chichén Itza, for example, is a terrible fair, while the sights are great. But there are crowds of people, dealers like on the pilgrimage ... I've got some small Mayan monuments in the jungle, where I met three people in half a day and enjoyed it.

You are about two thousand miles a month. How do you train for a trip?

When I can, I ride a bike every morning. I live in Stodůlky in Prague so I go to Prokopák and then around Vltava and back. Usually usually 25 kilometers. And when the weather is not right, I have one old bike on the cellars in the cellar and I drive it daily. I read or listened to the radio.

Last year, you went through the South-East of Africa, which you also wrote a blog on Aktuálně.cz . Judging by the contributions, it was miles away from everyday life in the Czech Republic. How do you get back to day-to-day worries?

The worst after returning is my wife's list of things I have to do in our house (laughs). But of course I will meet her and I am happy with my family. But overall, there is a lot of communication with people, because suddenly all of them tell me what I have and do not do. The paths are such a health therapy for me, the stay in the fresh air has obviously positive health consequences.

Most of the trips take place in autumn. You already have a plan to go this year?

I do not know yet. The choice of destination always makes me forget. I prefer driving in the autumn, so I have time until the end of May to get a chance to get cheaper airfares.