Hitching a ride across the Atlantic

[Guest]

Best of luck Steve, sorry I can't help. Please ignore some of the other witterings in reply to your post - some people just passing the time of day by spouting without engaging brains first! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Sammo]

Re: Quitting work - world tour

As I am an environcologist I don`t want your money.

I`ll take gold (if it`s been panned for) or land, or cows or sheep (not welsh).
You see us amateur round the worlders can’t do it unless we can get someone to take up our cause, and give us lots of money.
Looks like I’ve been rumbled so I`m off.
Think I’ll give erm a try on plantatree.com
……….

 

[tcm]

brilliant post simon - untrue, offensive, useless AND dull.

 

[Guest]

[ QUOTE ]
brilliant post simon - untrue, offensive, useless AND dull.

[/ QUOTE ]

It wasn't intended to be brilliant, just commonly polite - towards Steve at least, as an excess of unhelpfulness seems to have been shown towards him.

IMHO the responses to his genuine query were tedious, disingenuous, self-conscious attempts to be witty.

I don't mind that - if one were to respond to every post one didn't find funny it would be a full time job, but I didn't like the lack of manners towards someone coming to ask for suggestions. If that is offensive, useless and dull of me, I don't care. Can't say any of the other responses he got were very useful, some were certainly offensive, and as for their brilliance...

oh, whatever... yawn

 

[tcm]

You're a dullard, i'm afraid to say Simoncr - you read the lot and even now can't think of something worth saying! In these situations the best is to keep quiet.

The original post was extremely hopeful - but at least it was kept in view with a fun exchange.

Pity that praps you couldn't have had clear run at it eh - an excting thread would develop without a doubt - "oh, whatever, yawn" - brilliant stuff.

This is all disposable fun, entertainment, the sector being a part of the leisure industry. It *might* also be useful information, but not always. But your post was neither entertaining nor useful nor polite. Slagging all other posts doesn't make you look clever. Quite the reverse.

 

[Sammo]

Re: sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind

Don’t preach to us Simon we`re doing the lad a favor by not taking him seriously.
The dream he has can easily become an obsession and destroy him.
You on the other hand are typical of many he will meet on the sponsorship trail, you will smile and give him hope where there is none. But it`s ok because you will do it politely.

...........

 

[Guest]

[ QUOTE ]
You're a dullard, i'm afraid to say Simoncr - you read the lot and even now can't think of something worth saying!

This is all disposable fun, entertainment, the sector being a part of the leisure industry... Slagging all other posts doesn't make you look clever. Quite the reverse.

[/ QUOTE ]

Mmmm, bunfight /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

We're on two different wavelengths, thank heavens. Your are worried about whether you or I look clever. My consideration is that the original poster should think that we are all trying to look like unhelpful smartarses.

Neither of us have been particularly helpful towards him.

 

[Guest]

Re: sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind

Thanks for the rather more considered response! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif Actually I disagree, I think it's a sensibe thing for him to do.

BTW, if TCM wishes to avoid being bored, I suggest he reads no further.

Apart from the cause that he's cycling for, depending on the guys character, I think it could be a great thing for him personally, depending on what he does with the experience.

For example: the very act of raising the sponsorship is an entrepreneurial act requiring organisation and showing initiative.

The ride itself is quite possible, though it's a hell of a long way. I did a much shorter ride several years ago, 4000 odd miles ending up in Moscow, at a time when Russia was much more of an unknown than it is now. It was a great trip, and the temptation to carry on was great.

There are all sorts of things that he may do with the trip - if the guy's starting out on a career, depending on how he uses the opportunity, it could be a jump start in journalism, charity work, the travel industry etc.

And as for whether it benefits the cause that he's promoting, all these arguments about using up too much bicycle oil and rubber on the tyres are not put forward seriously - at least in TCM's case I believe that it is intended merely as 'entertainment'. If by any chance they are intended seriously, then the only constructive thing to save the world that we can do is to hang ourselves to reduce our consumption of water and food etc. etc. Sometimes it's necessary to use a little bike oil to save the world, or to put it another way, you can't make an omlette without breaking eggs.

 

[Sammo]

Re: sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind

OK now we are being reasonable.
Have you read his website?
It reads like a begging letter with quite a few spelling mistakes and bad grammar.
The trip is scheduled to last 7 years. And his main reason is so he can brag about it at cocktail parties. And of course he needs lots of money as all his equipment has to be the best quality. Ect. Ect.

Anyway I don`t know why we`re bothering as I`m sure as soon as he hits the UK some chav will pinch his bike


……….

 

[Guest]

Re: sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind

[ QUOTE ]
OK now we are being reasonable.
Have you read his website?
It reads like a begging letter with quite a few spelling mistakes and bad grammar.
The trip is scheduled to last 7 years. And his main reason is so he can brag about it at cocktail parties. And of course he needs lots of money as all his equipment has to be the best quality. Ect. Ect.

[/ QUOTE ]

Didn't notice me being unreasonable! No can't find anything about 7 years on his website. He does mention 7 continents - I always thought there were about 5, but maybe he's counting Australia and errr... separately.

As for speling [oops] mistakes and bad grammar, he's an American [oops, Canadian] for Heaven's sake! Didn't seem so bad considering that.

The only loony bit I noticed was cycling to the South Pole. OK, agreed that's a pretty majorly loony notion. Also, personally I wouldn't take a tent (except perhaps the South Pole) as its heavy and makes the spokes break regularly. A bivvy bag does the trick.

As for wanting decent quality kit, wouldn't you?

 

[BrendanS]

Re: sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind

The lass who was on the forums some months back doing a charity ride to Asia or somewhere with her sister, didn't get such a pasting.

 

[Sammo]

Re: sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind

Are you alright ?

..........

 

[Guest]

Re: sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind

I didn't see those postings unfortunately. I wonder if someone contemplating sailing round the world on a yacht would have such a rude reception on a cycling forum?

At least on a bike you can travel at a steady 14 knots (or so) and get decent sleep at night!

 

[Guest]

Re: sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind

Great, thanks! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif Hope you're feeling well too?

 

[tcm]

Re: sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind

On his own with a bike on a world trip - he'll get MUCH worse than light mockery on a website, won't he. If we've put him off- it wasn't a real plan, was it? If someone can help they'll chime in.

 

[CodStewart]

Re: sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind

Steve sounds like a bit of a bore, if you ask me. Especially when he begins with "For anyone who doesn't know" - like as if those who don't know are in the minority.
By the way, is tcm the forum's resident git?
.

 

[Ships_Cat]

Re: sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind

Just keep in mind Simon that it took you 3 days to find the thread and respond to Steve. If it wasn't for our twitterings the thread would have disappeared well before and you would never have had the opportunity of giving him the valuable advice that you could not help /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif.

John

 

[RealAle]

Re: sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind

Just found this thread and laughed till I cried. Thanks, Steve for kicking this one off. I did read your web site, but it didn't inspire me, it was rather dull. But most importantly it didn't spell out how you were going to raise massive publicity to raise awareness, or to make it worthwhile for sponsors to send you wads of cash. After all, you are in serious competion with thousands of others seeking sponsorship for thousands of worthwhile causes so you've got to do rather better at selling yourself. Apparently it has been done before but I have never heard of it, it doesn't make headline news, does it? Also considering the great amount of your time and effort this exercise will take, for such dubious benefit to mankind, have you considered doing something else that will make more of a difference?

 

[tcm]

resident git

I am but *one* of the forum's resident gits. There many other residents gits, dozens of part-time gits, plus hundreds of non-practising gits. Press the "user list" button for a full listing of all posters and unless their bio specifically says that they *aren't* a git - they're a git.

edit: i just went to my bio to add the fact that i'm a git, but it's already on there!

 

[Guest]

Re: sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind

I shouldn't think that sponsorship at a certain level should be too hard to come by. You are thinking in terms of big budget sponsorship by large international companies. But there must be loads of local companies in his part of Canada that would be interested in giving a bit of help at the level of donating a bit of equipment or whatever to a local boy thinking of pedalling round the world. It'd have local news interest at least. People raise quite substantial sums just by pedalling from London to Brighton or wherever

Still he wasn't asking for valuable advice about sponsorship, more about whether it's possible to get a ride on a yacht.

By the way, you haven't filled in your Bio.

Steve, about the hitching a ride on a yacht: first you're unlikely to get a ride from South America to Ireland as most transatlantic yachts take certain routes that make best use of trade winds. There's a book floating around by Jimmy Cornell ([--word removed--], what's the name of it - World Cruising Routes? I forget) that will give you an idea of these.

Second, most boats tend to have 2 or 3 people on board and it's not so much a question of being given tasks to do as being involved in half of everything. That means having a good idea of what you're doing ie. you have to learn to sail and preferable get some offshore experience.

Another route to check out is being a member of a delivery crew of a yacht that the owner is paid for having it moved from A to B. In that case you can get away with being much less experienced. Maybe someone else knows if there's a website where delivery skippers look for crew? The only thing is, you're not going to be able to organise it in advance.

Other approach is to go to a port which is a known launching spot for transatlantics, get a temporary job there and wait until you hear of someone who's about to cross who is short of a crew and present yourself to them.