About

Hi, welcome to Bryan’s blog.  I’m a sort of retired computer guy who’s been dreaming for over a decade about a long bicycle trip.  I started this cycling trip in July 2011 from Berlin, Germany.  Much of that summer was spent following the Carpathian Mountains with Snežana:

Karpaty by bryandkeith on flickr

I kind of wanted to continue on to Croatia and Slovenia and call it the Tour Around Hungary.

We took a short break in Belgrade and ran to the warmer coastal areas where we spent the winter, arriving in Turkey Feb. 1, 2012. Snežana continued east, and I got stuck in Turkey.

Here’s the route from Berlin to Çeşme. There was a boat in there from Athens to Çeşme via Chios.

berlin_cesme by bryandkeith on flickr

And the riding I did February-June 2012:

west_turkey by bryandkeith on flickr

and June-October 2012:

east_turkey by bryandkeith on flickr

I did some riding in Mexico in January and February 2013 (my second bicycle tour in Mexico — what a great country!):

mexico_clipped by bryandkeith on flickr

And another stretch in Turkey, May-July 2013:

antalya_safranbolu by bryandkeith on flickr

Ferda and I cycled from Seoul to Miyazaki in the fall of 2019:

screenshot-www.gpsvisualizer.com-2019-11-19-07-16-18-564 by bryandkeith on flickr

How great that none of these maps have scales. Realize that I didn’t really go very far.

Although I still have a join me page, I’ve been more or less stuck in Antalya for about five years now. I even got married. So does that mean I can blame Ferda for not letting me leave? We do get out sometimes bicycling and traveling, and I’ve tried to keep the blog going. Also I’m still dumping my photos to flickr.

Here is a map of all the riding I’ve done in Turkey through the end of May 2023:

turkey_202305_130dpi_1 by bryandkeith on flickr

and another map that also includes my Europe bicycle tours through the end of May 2023 (in a Peters projection):

europe_202305_096dpi by bryandkeith on flickr

Some other bicycle touring I’ve done includes Nova Scotia (Canada), many US tours (CA, NV, AZ, NM, UT, CO, WY, MA, NY, and VT), a Chihuahua lollipop to las barrancas with Zane, Vila Velha (ES) to Ouro Preto (Brazil), Honshu (Japan), Bangkok to Vientiane, Sulawesi, Kerala and Tamil Nadu (India), İstanbul to Cairo, and a 10-country tour from Addis Ababa to Cape Town.

How to subscribe

It’s taken a while after requests from many people, but I finally have a subscribe-via-e-mail link. It’s even been tested and apparently works. Look for a link on the right side of the page under subscribe. Should be pretty self-explanatory.

November 2018 update: I know the RSS feed hasn’t been working for years, and I can’t figure out why. I’m guessing the subscribe-via-e-mail isn’t working either?

25 Responses to About

  1. bikesabroad says:

    found you through Zane’s blog.
    Glad to see it looks like a go.
    sharp photos. what are you using?

    • Bryan Keith says:

      I’m still using my first digital camera, a crappy old Nikon (Coolpics?) E4600 with a flaky on/off switch. I’m post-processing (with Shotwell), and I think that makes all the difference. By default the photos are washed out, but that’s easy to fix.

  2. Jacqui says:

    Bryan…you look so happy. That says it all.

  3. Barbara White says:

    Bryan, Sneki (yes), wishing you smooth roads, fabulous food and wine, and endless adventure! Barbara

  4. Bob says:

    How heartening to hear you made it to Berlin. Have been checking every day or so on your progress. So if the architecture is the second thing you noticed in South Beach, why only shots of buildings? Not much to report from the environs of Boulder except for squabbling everywhere about politics, the economy, Excel Energy. You picked a perfect time to travel, Bryan, and Jo and I miss you!
    Bob

  5. Robin says:

    Nice to meet you in Bratislava, best of luck with the trip! I made it to Prague eventually but thinking of heading home now, by bike or train, still not sure!

    • Bryan Keith says:

      Hi Robin,

      I looked for Mateo (I’m sure that’s not the right spelling) on couchsurfing but couldn’t find him. What’s his username?

      Bike, man, bike. 🙂

      Bryan

  6. Brent says:

    Bryan… I need a “MapMyRide” map of your route. Being a GIS nerd I need to see a map. Wishing you the best and smooth roads ahead.

    • Bryan Keith says:

      Snežana actually got a sponsor to give her a GPS, but I haven’t used it yet. With my camera, netbook, and cell phone, that’s enough electronics to deal with! I would like to have a route on Google maps (or something), but I’m not that organized. Plus, that sounds too much like work. I’m on vacation. 😉

  7. Barbara White says:

    Bryan! Hello from the mews. So happy for you (always).
    …with you in spirit as I sip a marg… Barbara

  8. Kyle Burris says:

    Hi Bryan: Would love to join you on your travels. When will you be in Turkey? Off to the cabin with Steve today (still working on the new outhouse) and then to watch the pro cycling challenge on Vail pass. Looked at your photos from BTC a few years back . Fun times. Cheers, K

    • Bryan Keith says:

      Hi Kyle, my best guess for Turkey is still the end of the year. Wow, Romania is great. I could see spending months here, but I know winter will be coming. That will be the thing that pushes us along, I think. When you have better ideas of what you’d like to do (and when), let me know, and we’ll see what we can work out. E-mail is better since I don’t need internet to read and respond to those. Hope the cabin’s ready for winter. It will probably start snowing up there soon. Say hello to Steve and Elizabeth of course. Bryan

  9. Paul Koenig says:

    I love getting your posts especially at work. Brightens my day and reminds me to get out more!

    Best wishes-

    Paul

  10. Ivan Puja says:

    I met Bryan in Serbia. I made my problem now I have to write on this blog. We have in common that no one is laughing our jokes! 🙂 Persistent in learning my language, last night I watch him closely monitoring what we are talking about when we sit with him and Snezana. I wrote and Snežinom site, so you and I will prevesti.Lepo to see your face, Snežino already known, and Brajanovo as new, your companion in this endeavor! What to say, that you have not already written, but I’m delighted with Brian, I had never imagined this way and that we have in common – no one is laughing our jokes, but he is cute and I laugh and our language is not an obstacle! The first impression when you see we are your people: tanned, radiant, happy! It is obvious that you are happy and pleased that you found and together live your dream! Just to look at photos of people and to understand what I mean. Your experiences, your stories are zaokupirale us and were subject of our conversation. I still can not understand how to write, and speak to you nothing is not an issue, as none of you did not specify a negative experience, to act as if you put all inclusive, as if you did not Padal rain, as if you have not slept in middle of the forest, full of bears and other wild animals! I hope that you and Brian succeed in everything you’ve imagined, conceived and planned! Best regards, Ivan Puja cyclomoth

  11. Cass says:

    Hi Byran, looks like you’re having a great ride! Great photos too.

    I’m going to take your advice and head for Death Valley in a couple of weeks…

    • Bryan Keith says:

      Cass,

      Nice. I look forward to reading your blog about Death Valley. I’m curious what your route will be. There are lots of choices. I just saw your Big Bend photos. I’ve been there as well. 🙂

  12. jeff anderson says:

    Hey Bryan,

    It looks like you are having a fabulous time. Great photos and narrative! Your shelves are doing fine, and we are taking good care of them. I was telling a cycling buddy of mine, Jim, about your website and thought I had better check it out and say hi.

    Best – Jeff

    • Bryan Keith says:

      Jeff,

      Great to hear from you! When you are coming to Turkey for a little cycle touring? Haha, the shelves!!?? I wonder how much of my stuff that I scattered over Boulder hasn’t been sold on ebay yet!

  13. Hi Bryan!

    I just met your sister Megan here in San Miguel de Allende. She told me about your trip.

    I’m also a computer guy who is travelling the world, mostly visiting UNESCO World Heritage sites and other stuff in between.

    I just began… been on the road for only 5 months now. I’m currently reading your posts about Mexico. My next stops are Querétaro, Morelia and Mexico City.

    My blog is: http://www.HoboDiary.com

    Hope to keep in touch and who knows maybe run into each other in various parts of the world someday. 🙂

  14. jean says:

    Hi Bryan,

    Looks like you have lots of fun. Are you still based in Antalya? My boyfriend and I would like to follow in your footsteps last spring (2013) and climb Tunc Dagi when we visit. We will be in Antalya from 1-3 May. Are you up for a climb, or can recommend someone who knows the area and the route? Do you know what conditions will be like in a month or so?

    Thanks!
    Jean

  15. Paul Koenig says:

    Bryan-
    The Koenigs and the Helmigs are coming to the Greece Island of Ikaria in June. Would love to meet up if you are in the area.

    Hope all is well.

  16. Hi Bryan!
    I met your folks and Megan at a conference over the past few days. Classic. Such amazing people! It was great hear about another cycle-touring person. what an awesome experience! I left South Africa in 1996 to kayak down the Yukon river system for a year, but detoured to the Rocky Mountains and ended up cycling the Rockies from South to North (in a weird zig-zag unplanned way) & then down the west coast (USA & Canada) for 9 months. I did some of Europe in ’94.
    For the past 11yrs I have only hiked after those damn elusive leopards, mountain lions and snow leopards in the mountains…
    great to “meet”.
    cheers
    Quinton
    (now in Sonoma, California)

  17. Hi Bryan!

    i have gone through your website and it´s wonderful a great work and many many congratulation.
    We are a new tour operator in Germany & just started our new company 6 months before and specialized for India, Oman, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka.
    We are very much interested for in your most amazing photographs.
    Please let me know if we can use it to promote the tourism in respective countries
    Waiting for your reply.
    Shreekesh Singh

    • Bryan Keith says:

      Hi Shreekesh,
      Sorry for the delayed reply. Yes, you can use my photos. They’re on flickr with a creative commons license (or something like that). I finally got around to looking at your website today. You have some beautiful photos there. Are there any of mine??!!
      Bryan

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