Jeanette Watkins, publicist for Rune Monstad, sent me the following update this weekend on Rune's progress:

"Rune is now in Winnipeg and he has many reporters after him for stories. The Norwegian Club is doing a brunch for him today and the Scandanavian Club is doing a huge event for him this Sunday. He is also going to be in the annual Ice Bike Ride this Sunday, riding just a few km for pleasure only! He battled very high side winds coming into Winnipeg last night, so he is very tired!"

Rune is certainly becoming a sensation in Canada but then again, how often does a Viking ride solo across Canada in winter?

Stay safe, Rune.

Larry

Labels: canada, Rune Monstad, solo bike tour, touring cyclist, Viking Biker, Winnipeg, world tour

This weekend, RideTHISbike.com reader Jeanette Watkins introduced me to a film titled "You Never Bike Alone," an 80 minute documentary about Critical Mass. A cycling phenomenon and social movement that started in San Francisco in the 1990's, Critical Mass bicycle riding events have been spreading to other cities across North America (there was one here in New Orleans on January 26th).

Based on the teaser footage, the movie is an interesting and fun look at a variety of Critical Mass events that have taken place over a decade in Vancouver, Canada including the World Naked Bike Ride and municipal events like bike lane openings.



You Never Bike Alone - Trailer

My thanks go to Jeanette who has also been helping me stay in touch with that hardy Viking Biker, Rune Monstad, as he makes his way East across the frigid Canadian landscape.

Larry

Labels: bicycle advocacy, canada, Critical Mass, Rune Monstad, Vancouver, Viking Biker

Rune Monstad, that intrepid Viking bicycling around the world, is on his way from Calgary, Canada to Medicine Hat (182 miles to the East). It's the dead of winter and the weather's a cool 8°F in Calgary. At least the winds are calm and it's not snowing at the moment (and I was complaining to my wife yesterday about being tired after riding 40 miles on the Aerlite-B folding bike in sunny, 70°F weather).

To date, Rune's bicycled over 6000 miles and had 105 flats. Quite the individualist, Rune's biking without a sag wagon, cell phone, gps or even an avalanche transmitter/receiver beacon so he can be found in an emergency. If something bad happened, it wouldn't be pretty.

182 miles may not sound like much but it is on a bicycle. If Rune does anything over 60 miles, it would be extraordinary but I can think of no better word that describes this cyclist. Frankly, someone should be doing a documentary of this trip because it's so unbelieveable.

Other than the small town of Gleichen, there are few communities where Rune's traveling along the Trans Canada Highway. Most likely, he'll be spending the night in his tent on the roadside, enduring -20°F temperatures. So if you're on the Trans Canada and see a pannier toting cyclist, offer him shelter for a night and let me know how he's doing. It's got to be Rune.

Like most long distance cyclists, Rune's attempting to pare down the weight of his gear. He's looking to replace his tent with something lighter like a solo climber's tent. I'd also like to see him travel with safety gear like a cellphone and beacon to transmit his location. If you can help with items like these, send me an email as I'm attempting to coordinate things for him (he only has sporadic access to the Internet and is pretty wiped out at the end of the day).

Ride on, Rune!

Rune's Blog

My Initial Post About Rune

Labels: Rune Monstad, solo bike tour, touring cyclist, Viking Biker, world tour