Tom’s Bike Trip[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/57023486[/vimeo]
The funny thing about this, the third in the series of deleted scenes (#1 and #2), is that it encapsulates better than anything else the day-to-day camaraderie that occurs between bicycle travellers and the people with whom they come into contact. Demonstrating this today is the inimitable Andy and a group of Georgian fishermen selling their wares on the roadside.
Entirely unbeknownst to me, a friend of a friend snapped this fantastic image in early 2008.
To me, it represents a fascinating collision between the concerns of a wandering cycle-traveller, consulting a street-map to find the right road out of the city, and a grim moment in a nation’s history — the aftermath of an anti-government demonstration gone sour.
If for no other reason than to laugh at our ridiculous beards and mops, have a look at the short interview that Andy and I did for the Armenian TV network H2 back in 2008, after we’d pedalled through the wintry Caucasus on our way to Iran. I’m afraid there are no subtitles, which means you’ll be as baffled as we were…
[vimeo width=“720” height=“576”]http://vimeo.com/25136492[/vimeo]
A super-short blast through my time away from the UK, from bolshy beginnings in 2007 to humble homecomings a few weeks ago.
[vimeo]http://www.vimeo.com/18113861[/vimeo]
Look out for more video coming very soon. Merry Christmas!
Tehran has been little like the dusty, smelly pile of whitewashed hovels that my fevered imagination had conjured up. It turns out that Iran as a whole is a developed, stable country, with all the virtues and vices of any other modern state.