17 Comments
User's avatar
Pam Baran's avatar

This adventure is an amazing accomplishment about bringing history to life!

Pam Baran's avatar

What a splendid article, Mark! You are a great writer, and the adventure was one in a million to have and to read about! Just wonderful!

Mark Kennedy's avatar

Thanks for your positive feedback.

Tirion's avatar

Many thanks for the update, Mark. Congratulations to you both on successfully finishing the project - a wonderful adventure, memories of which I am sure you will never forget! Just a word of slight caution: after sitting in the EMF radiation from your E-bike eight hours a day for a month, you might want to check it has had no deleterious effects on your fertility!

Mark Kennedy's avatar

Thanks for reading and for following along on our journey. Now you've got me worried! Thanks for the advice.

Tirion's avatar

Thank you for sharing your adventure with us. The EMF hazard is probably not serious, but definitely worth bearing in mind and checking ;)

Richard Harrison's avatar

This is a truly remarkable adventure and always excellently written. As soon as I saw the picture I said to myself Pennyfarthing!

Mark Kennedy's avatar

Thanks! A Brit to the core!

Richard Harrison's avatar

Absolutely old chap! 😉

Bill Adler's avatar

What an amazing adventure!

Gretchen Dawson's avatar

What a fabulous journey! Congratulations to both of you. My husband and I are good friends of Pam and Ed and we are so glad they shared your postings with us! We are very happy that your journey was safe and successful. A once in a lifetime experience. Loved your final post Mark...it brought your adventure full circle. What next???

Mark Kennedy's avatar

First of all, thank you for the positive feedback and for joining us on our journey. It was quite an adventure. While I may attempt to circumnavigate the southern island of Kyushu at some point, for now I will stick to cycling near my home for a while. Eric may decide to attempt the first leg of Stevens' epic journey from San Francisco to Boston. Since 1971, about 30 people have completed this portion of Stevens' world tour on a high-wheel bicycle. However, Eric has not yet made any such plans.

Gretchen Dawson's avatar

So glad you are taking a "serious" biking break--you deserve it!!! We both have electric bikes and bike three times a week. Florida has many interesting bike trails (many very long). You might want to look into these when you come visit Pam and Ed. In the meantime, thanks again for sharing your most interesting adventure with all of us! Safe and happy bike trails to you!!!

Mark Kennedy's avatar

Thanks for the suggestion. Other than the bridge near PH, I can imagine that the bike trails in Florida have minimal vertical elevation.

Eric Knight's avatar

A great article Mark!! As I have said before, thank you for joining me in this adventure. It takes a strong person to stand in the shadow of attention the high wheeler brings and you managed that as well as all the other vital support with excellence.

Mark Kennedy's avatar

Many thanks, Eric! Good luck dealing with U.S. Customs.

Mark Kennedy's avatar

The Japan Times just published an article in English about Project Dharma. Please check it out here: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2023/12/04/our-lives/cycling-nagasaki-yokohama/