One thing I enjoy doing is catching up with other cyclists along the route. Back in 2001, when I cycled around Australia there was what we called the “bush telegraph”. There was mostly one road that was traveled by both cyclists and caravans as well. As we met each other, we would trade accounts about other cyclists on the road. “Did you see to cyclists pulling trailers?”, I would ask. “You mean the ones with the big hats, yes we saw them around Kununarra”. With conversations like these the bush telegraph allowed us to informally keep tabs on other cyclist friends and occasionally meet up as we went along.

While the internet was certainly around and I blogged my 2001 trip, the availability of wifi and cell internet connections has now only increased. As a result, one can now augment the bush telegraph by checking up on respective web sites as well.

So far I’ve read quite a few journals of folks who did similar trips and added those to the links page. As I meet others in real time, I’ll try adding there as well. One that I’ve been following recently is Dr Scott Acton JWST World Bicycle Tour. Scott is from Niwot, Colorado so there is a connection there since I graduated from Niwot High School. He has a multi-part trip whose first segment started in Colorado and is heading towards Deadhorse or Fairbanks. As a result, the last part of his trip, from Watson Lake onwards, is giving some early hints of road conditions I might expect on my ride. Not sure if we’ll intersect (his original plan was to get to Deadhorse around time I depart), but at least fun to see his journal and photos.