Reinvent Your Life
Japan’s First Long-Distance Bicycle Journey Recreated
Words: Tom Tyrrell and Alex Hendy
On October 25, high-wheel bicycle rider Eric Knight “dipped his wheels” in the port of Yokohama after completing a month-long ride from Nagasaki, successfully recreating the last leg of the round-the world journey made 137 years prior by the British-born American adventurer Thomas Stevens.
Eric, riding a replica of the high-wheel bicycle used by Stevens, was accompanied on the road by former YC&AC member Mark Kennedy (below, right), who served as translator and electric-bike-riding luggage-carrier on the pair’s 31-day, 1,500-km journey.
High-wheel bicycle rider Eric Knight and Mark Kennedy speak to the press at the end of their journey from Nagasaki to Yokohama, October 25
High-wheel bicycle enthusiast Knight, a resident of the United States, was inspired to embark on the Nagasaki-to-Yokohama ride after reading Stevens’ book, “Around the World on a Bicycle.” Kennedy, a friend of Knight’s from their college days, now lives in Kyushu and is the author of “Real Gaijin,” a website about all aspects of life in Japan.
Eric returns triumphant from the sea after “dipping the wheel,” a custom of those high-wheel bicycle riders who have followed in Thomas Stevens’ footsteps
The pair were interviewed by NHK and other media at the Zo no Hana breakwater and in Yamashita Park. A daily diary covering their ride can be found at https://countryroadsjapan.com/home
Eric and Mark enjoy a victory parade alongside present-day Yamashita Park, where round-the-world cyclist Thomas Stevens made his “last vault from the saddle” in December 1886