“Young Henri had told me that a black bear had come to his tent at the ‘Baumgartner’ campground, He’d hung his food up in a tree, but the bear must have smelled something and had pumped a fist through his tent. Henri then chased it away. He stored his food in the toilet building. It is actually safer to camp away from the regular campgrounds because bears know that that’s where the food and the rubbish lives.”

The Western Wildlands Route

Geert’s most recent long bikepacking journey was in 2019, when riding the Western Wildlands Route from the Mexican border to the Canadian border over dirt roads, single track, and forest trails. The Western Wildlands route had only been originated and released a few months before Geert started riding it and as a result he was the first rider to complete the journey Northbound.

The total ride included an ‘approach’ from Albuquerque in New Mexico to the border and the Southern terminal of the WWR under Sierra Vista. With plenty of time on his hands, Geert also included the ‘Idaho Hotsprings Mountainbike Route’, and after reaching the Canadian border, a short detour into the USA and Glacier National Park followed. In Canada he followed the trails to a hut of the Canadian Alpine Club at Elk Lake, high up in the spectacular and cold Canadian Rocky Mountains.

Geert ended his ride at Calgary International Airport.

This book contains164 pages and holds over 125 sketches, all drawn on location, and it contains eleven illustrated maps. The anecdotes of encountering wildlife, meeting of many people, and the descriptions of incredibly beautiful landscapes are following a diary which Geert updated on a daily basis.

Book size: 10×8 in, 25×20 cm

Preview and availability at: Blurb.com

https://au.blurb.com/b/10637938-dirt-dust-and-granny-gears-sketches-and-stories