I was in the second grade, seated cross-legged on a hard, itchy floor when I had my first glimpse of a big life goal. Two presenters stood on our school stage and shared photos of their bikepacking adventures. They’d cycled the Earth’s circumference and had the most amazing images to share—images into which I projected myself. I was there in the lush jungle market feeding the monkeys, buying fruits, getting soaked by rain with a heavy camera around my neck, and muddied tires at my feet. I wanted to be that. But, how?
Fast forward a couple decades. While I almost forgot my dream, Ryan Van Duzer had pretty much achieved it. The television and YouTube host, cyclist and travel expert has biked from Honduras home to Colorado after serving two-years in the Peace Corps; pedaled from Vancouver to Cabo San Lucas; and coasted from Maine to Key West. He’s also crossed the country thrice. This month, he embarks on a month-long, 1,700-mile cycling tour down Mexico’s Baja Divide Trail—his first ever off-road excursion. True to form, he’ll be documenting the whole thing.
When I discovered Van Duzer’s YouTube content, it re-awakened me to my second-grade dream and had me second guessing my dependence on my Honda Element as a necessary adventure tool. That’s no small feat considering that when I purchased my “adventuremobile” just a year ago, I’d hoped to build a platform and vanlife in it. So, when my car suddenly died in October and my first thought was that it was time to become a cyclist, I listened. No more car.
As a new corporate professional working in bike-hostile Los Angeles, I’ve been feeling a bit shaky. Thirteen miles into my first attempt at the 25-mile commute, I got a flat I didn’t know how to fix; The second was a sweaty success which left my coworkers howling with laughter as I plucked salt-dried bugs off the back of my neck before retreating to rinse off. I wondered if this was something I could actually pull off.
I reached out to Van Duzer. If there were anyone who knew how to do it right, it’d probably be the super motivational guy who in his 38 years has never owned a car, and once biked through a hurricane to get home from a two-year work week. We connected over FaceTime to chat about his personal journey to becoming a cyclist and why he is convinced everyone, regardless of age or circumstance, should do the same.
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Van Duzer was in elementary school when he decided he would never own a car. He remembers the moment: he was seated on his Boulder, Colorado couch at home, “completely enthralled” by a PBS Earth Day special.
“I wanted to be, like, an eco warrior and do everything I could to save mama nature and the planet,” Van Duzer said. “Not driving a car was one of the things.”
Speaking with him, all memories of his decision to become a cyclist seem to stem back to childhood: The PBS special, the BMX bike beneath the Christmas tree, and those first gleeful moments of pedaling—the newfound freedom to explore.
Van Duzer’s enthusiasm for the self-powered wind in his hair, in even the most uncomfortable conditions, is evident in the Cheshire Cat-like grin that dominates his online content. Whether riding for days soaking wet during his first big trek from Honduras to Colorado, or running a 100-mile ultramarathon in the heat of the Arizona desert, smiles accompany confessions of misery. But that’s getting ahead.
Until college, adventure was a concept attached mostly to local streets and trails. Van Duzer wasn’t born into a bicycling hippie household, nor was he raised on jet planes traversing the planet. He hails from a humble family that seldom traveled. It was ultimately a series of small decisions made on a repetitive basis which shaped Van Duzer into the cyclist he is today: biking to school daily while friends learned to drive; applying for a rotary exchange scholarship to study in Sweden for a year between high school and college; picking up an inspiring book.
While the exchange scholarship to study for a year in bike-loving Sweden opened his eyes for the first time to the beauty of other countries and their cultures, it wasn’t until Van Duzer was in his sophomore year in college, that he picked up the book that really got his wheels turning: Ultimate High: My Everest Odyssey by Swedish explorer Goran Kropp documented his cycling path from Sweden to Mount Everest (which he then proceeded to climb), and back again. For Van Duzer, the seed had been planted.
A couple years later, the newly graduated broadcast journalist headed to Honduras for two years of service in the Peace Corps. He knew from the start how he would be getting home.
“I started traveling and seeing how amazing the world is, and how fun it is to make friends and learn new languages and all that,” Van Duzer said. “Then I was like, ‘Wow! I could—it would be fun to travel with a bicycle and go even slower!’”
To say it was all downhill from there wouldn’t be fitting. Van Duzer seems to revel in the ascent toward that personal peak.
For two years, the lifelong cyclist planned his return trip, evaluating roads to determine the best of an extensive array of homeward-bound routes. He accumulated the necessary gear and hit the road, indomitable.
Family and friends were apprehensive. Media representations of Mexico and Latin America, he said, contributed to fears of robberies and being run off the road.
“If you listen to the media and what they say about Mexico and Central America, you would think it’s some crazy war-torn country. It is not at all. It is not dangerous,” Van Duzer said.
While he did not face anything his loved ones had feared, he did run into a hurricane and a couple of parasitic botflies that made a bed and breakfast of his shoulder. Still, there’s nary a negative he shares. Instead, ask Van Duzer five questions about his travels and at least two of them will bring him back to the “magical” encounters with people who were nothing but helpful—yes, even in the “world’s most dangerous,” Honduras.
If human connection serves as the motivational fuel that keeps Van Duzer thirsty to push the pedal to the pavement, sharing his adventures and encounters is his daily bread. People take center stage:
The West Virginia man who invited Van Duzer to his home for macaroni and cheese and crystal light on the porch, paired with unrivaled deer-viewing; the Baja Peninsula semi-truck driver who pulled over to give him a gallon of water along a barren 70-mile stretch of service-free road. The destination is just a backdrop for the stories and his bike is the string that pulls the curtain open for the show.
“You don’t see a lot of the good stuff [in the media] and when I do these rides, I see the best of humanity come out,” Van Duzer said.
So, he takes to schools, public speaking, social media, YouTube, the radio, television and print to profess his love for biking and the sense of community it can bring. All in hopes that he can inspire just one person to “get off the couch,” and live “life at 15 miles per hour” as two of his catch phrases go.
Still, Van Duzer is aware that fear of human and natural mishaps is the number one reason many people do not pursue bicycle commuting–nonetheless cross-country cycling–despite the joy recreational cycling may bring them. Even he gets cold feet.
About to trek the Baja Trail backroads zig-zagging the entire length of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula, Van Duzer faces the same unease he’s encountered time and time again while preparing for the long haul: dealbreakers like sustaining serious damage to his bike, or a torn ACL are always on the back of his mind.
It’s not far off from the new commuter cyclist’s fear of flattening a tire on the way to work when uncertain of how to change it, or wiping out while Insta-filming.
The self-professed softy is quick to acknowledge that it can seem overwhelming to ride a bike to work daily, or ditch the car completely. But, don’t get him wrong. As much as he is for slow-rolling gander at the Earth, Van Duzer firmly believes that doing hard things and embracing discomfort will only yield positive results. Cycling is no different.
“If you want to become a better person, or not get into a monotonous, boring life, you’re going to have to find micro-goals to go after,” Van Duzer said. “Anyone at any age can become a bike loving goofball! It’s all about feeling comfortable and having fun. The more fun you have, the more you’ll ride.”
Van Duzer recommends starting small and in the summer months when temperatures are more likely to lend to comfort. If the cold, dry winter air has you really itching to give it a shot, he’s got a video for that. The point, at any time of year, is to safely push through the fear and discomfort a little each day and enjoy the process.
“It may be uncomfortable in the moment, but you’re going learn about yourself, become a better problem solver, and be more compassionate toward other people,” Van Duzer said of the beauty of the lifestyle. “Cycling brings you down to ground level, and you see things that you’d be sheltered from in a vehicle.”
I couldn’t help but think it is the loss of our cars’ metal armor that perturbs us when thinking of ditching them for a day or a lifetime—the lack of our wheeled shields leaves us exposed. In our vehicles we cannot be touched, we can more easily ignore the homeless person, the rubbish lining the streets, or how many sprinklers waste resources to water more pavement than grass.
Asked in a number of indirect ways what it is about cycling that has him so hooked, and why others should follow in his path, Van Duzer’s individual thoughts skipped around like a well-executed pool shot bouncing with intention from one point, across to the next: concepts of freedom, joy, connectivity, adventure, mama nature, preservation and love—lots of loves.
“Essentially, bikes allow you to connect with the people of society that may be forgotten,” Van Duzer said. “That means pushing your limits, for the better of yourself and your community—for everybody,”
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To join Van Duzer’s adventures along the Baja Divide Trail and beyond, follow him on YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter.
the RAMBLE 