The man who wanted to see it all

[godivatrailrider]

I’m sure it’s already been on here, bound to have been … if so, sorry and delete this …
On Netflix … the story of a man who’s spent 50 years travelling the world on a bike

[ton]

been trying to get old of a copy of his book. bit like rocking horse it seems.

what a fantastic life he had lead. and a brave one too.

[TheBrownDog]

Thanks for this. That's my evening viewing sorted.

Heinz Stucke. What a life. He's popped onto my radar now and then for 30 or so years. Remarkable. By my calculations he's 83 years old now. Hope he is still pedalling.

https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81506592

Tony you can get a used copy of his book on Amazon .... a mere bagatelle at £140+. You could buy it and rent it out on here

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Home-Elsewhere ... 099345240X

[HUX]

I tried to watch this but was a bit slow going. I can recommend Biking Borders though also on Netflix.

[godivatrailrider]

It is slow..... certainly pensive at times. He never really explains how he funded 50 years of travel, and when you see the sheer number of flights he must have taken across the oceans .... who was paying for them !
My partner was annoyed at his freeloading on folks.
I guess magazines paid him for his story , he seemed to be very keen on AGFA film so maybe sponsorship there for the 100,000 slides he seemed to have etc...

[JohnClimber]

I tried to watch it last night, I gave up after 30 minutes.

[Moder-dye]

Another one who gave up after a short while watching it.

I think a lot of people (most?) doing this kind of long term thing end up relying on the kindness of strangers to a large degree, and possibly pick up a few benefactors along the way. Obviously articles and photos will give him some sort of support; probably much easier nowadays as a 'digital nomad' or 'influencer'.

I've certainly met a fair few doing seemingly never ending journeys/challenges for 'charities' were it's basically just a life style choice supported by others. We used to get a lot coming to Shetland biking running, walking, sailing you name it. Shall we say some have been a bit disingenuous with the reality of what they're doing. Not suggesting he was.

What with the social media thing, doing 'whatever' challenge for charity, and get your holiday by doing 'x' for charity nowadays there seems to no end of people in the media, but they're not the long term life style thing like him and some that I've met.

[Verena]

Watched it a few weeks back, I enjoyed it

[jameso]

Good film.. what a life he's had. I thought it was a bit melancholy, he'd done so much but the return home seemed to be .. too late, or inevitable rather than a choice? Certainly made me think.

[Richpips]

I resisted commenting on this thread the other day, because I had nothing positive to say about the film.

There didn't seem to be a lot of joy in the program.

I do remember an article a few years back saying that he made most of his money from selling pictures to photo agencies.

[ton]

i watched it last night. didnt enjoy it at all.
i may be wrong but he seems like a fellow who cant talk about anything but himself.
and i may be alone in this, but i couldnt be arsed with all the photo's, catalogues, diaries and stuff.

[kvragu]

I still ned to watch it but your comments made me think of this predicament of self-centeredness in people that are bike touring (or, I guess, doing similar stuff like thru-hiking). Influencing is an obvious candidate for narcisistic behaviour, but I noticed a similar trait in some older folk too. I got my ear talked off by an old tourer or audaxer more than a few times.

On one occasion, at a local bike co-op, an old gent was talking about his touring in the Alps, somewhere halfway between bragging and reminiscing. I don't mind this too much, but it would have been nice to get to tell him I've done some of the same cols. Another time I was at a public talk by a group of (middle-aged) folk talking about their Iceland tour. They filled out a small theatre who all came to see a slideshow of their photos. All good, but then one of them went on to rant about how 'today's youth' is just not up to it as his generation was. He went on to list the stuff him and his friends did when they were younger, which sounded pretty similar to what me and my friends were doing at the time.

The influencer crowd seems to have a more covert thing going on where everyone is always humbled by their ardorous experiences, invoking some archetypal adventurous force that was with them since they were 2 years old.

Could be that people that do interesting stuff are still just people. I also met pretty lowkey, cool, and kind folk that like touring, and maybe that's the silent majority. Dunno.

[firestarter]

Had to turn it off after 15 mins

[Bearbonesnorm]

Bikepacking / touring / whatever is not a spectator sport.

[kvragu]

Bikepacking / touring / whatever is not a spectator sport.

Think you made this point in a blog post already and it still holds up as a very good summary of the predicament IMO.

[Dave Barter]

The influencer crowd seems to have a more covert thing going on where everyone is always humbled by their ardorous experiences, invoking some archetypal adventurous force that was with them since they were 2 years old.

This is a great observation.

[Moder-dye]

No, I think it definitely can be. I've watched loads of 'proper' documentaries and YouTube series of people's travels that have been ace. Both short trips and long ones. Also read a good number of books and articles of people trips that have been great. Unfortunately, for me this documentary was just not one of them.

[fatbikephil]

Bikepacking / touring / whatever is not a spectator sport.

It is if Reg, Frog and Eric are involved!

[Bearbonesnorm]

It is if Reg, Frog and Eric are involved!

Spose

[RIP]

I knew that was coming .

"Norm, am I wheezing?", "Well only from one end".

[jameso]

Bikepacking / touring / whatever is not a spectator sport.

It seems odd to film as you go as some of the experience is changed by that and it makes me wonder about the rider's motives, having said that I've enjoyed
MatthewNorway's youtube films recently. He seems to enjoy sharing what he does and the places he rides through.

[faustus]

Bloody influencers
https://bikepacking.com/news/bear-bones ... 023-recap/

[JackT]

A antidote / alternative to Heinz is Bill Houston. I'm sure this film has been posted here before, but I never tyre of watching it:

Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKfNKNxntY0

Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dahGaL6ehjc

[Bearbonesnorm]

No, I think it definitely can be. I've watched loads of 'proper' documentaries and YouTube series of people's travels that have been ace. Both short trips and long ones. Also read a good number of books and articles of people trips that have been great. Unfortunately, for me this documentary was just not one of them.

t seems odd to film as you go as some of the experience is changed by that and it makes me wonder about the rider's motives, having said that I've enjoyed
MatthewNorway's youtube films recently. He seems to enjoy sharing what he does and the places he rides through.

I generally tend to think that as a whole, other peoples memories are similar to other peoples mistakes and whilst they can be entertaining, they're absolutely no substitute for making your own

[redefined_cycles]

Bikepacking / touring / whatever is not a spectator sport.

It seems odd to film as you go as some of the experience is changed by that and it makes me wonder about the rider's motives, having said that I've enjoyed
MatthewNorway's youtube films recently. He seems to enjoy sharing what he does and the places he rides through.

Thanks for this James. Yes indeed, I've just started watching where he's going through the glacier region of Norways national park. Defo engaging