Latest News

December 4, 2004 A new story is posted, titled Why I rode for asthma: a reflection

November 21, 2004 The Ebers' interview with NPR's Northwest Passage will be broadcast by KLCC (Eugene OR) on Monday Nov. 22 at 4:00 p.m. To hear the web stream version go to www.klcc.org.

November 10, 2004 After pedaling 15,000 kilometers for 16 months over mountains, deserts, dirt tracks, and potholed roads the two Duet tandems donated by Burley Design Cooperative are returning to visit their home in Eugene OR. To celebrate their arrival, Burley is holding an International Potluck while the Eber family presents a slide show at 12:00 noon on Friday Nov. 12 at the Burley factory (4020 Stewart Rd. Eugene OR). For more information contact Jessie Wiley at: 800-423-8445 Or Jonathan

November 4, 2004 the final newsletter is posted to the Newsletters Page.

Oct 5, 2004 Cycling the World for Asthma: a Slide Show and Dessert Buffet will be held on Friday October 22 at 7:00 p.m. at the Island Center Hall, Bainbridge Island, WA. Donations for asthma appreciated at the door For more info call: 206-855-2907

August 28, 2004 We made it!!!
On Saturday August 28 (on schedule!!!) we rode our bikes to the steps of the nation's Capitol. After 16 months and 9301 miles (14882 km) of cycling we have traveled an unbroken, continuous line around the entire planet.

We are healthy, happy and proud.
Wow, we actually did it!

Thank you so much for all your support,help and encouragement in this huge effort. This truly was a GROUP project. Thanks to all the wonderful people that helped us in small and big ways to do the job.
To all. This was a job well done!
Good show! We could not have done this without you. Thank you all!!!!!
We should all be proud!
The Ebers

July 27, 2004 Teen magazine has named 14 year-old Anya Eber and her 12 year-old sister, Yvonne, of Bainbridge to its short list of "Top Teens Making a Difference". Click here to read full text.

August 22, 2004 New photos from the US portion of the trip! See the photo gallery.

Aslo, in addtion to the information below about the ride's end, here is some additional data for those who are able to join the Ebers:
WASHINGTON DC EVENT FOR EBERS, Sat. Aug. 28th

• 10:30 a.m.: Finish the world ride with the Ebers
  The Ebers will be arriving in DC from the North by the C&O Canal. People who wish to bike the final 8 miles with them are invited to meet them at 10:30 at Carderock picnic area (mile 10 along the C&O Canal, approximately 10 miles north of Georgetown). The Ebers will be carrying a large sign that says World Bike for Breath. Bike with them the last 8 miles to Fletcher’s Boat House/Abner Cloud House (approximately mile 3 along the C&O Canal, approximately 3 miles north of Georgetown). This is a flat, family-friendly ride along the C&O Canal towpath. Park in the parking lot at Carderock.
• 12:00 noon: Official End-of-Ride Event at Fletcher’s Boat House/Abner Cloud House
  Location: the lawn in front of the Abner Cloud House.
  Program: Welcome and introductions by AAFA and League of American Bicyclists Welcome and presentation to Eber family by DC Mayor Tony Williams or his designate Dr. Floyd Malveaux, Director, Howard School of Medicine, will speak on the effects of asthma Slide show and talk by Ebers about their trip around the world Presentation of Citizen Award by AAFA to Eber family

  Abner Cloud House and Fletcher’s Boat House are adjoining areas, separated by a tunnel that goes under the canal. There are ample parking lots at both areas. Visitors can walk from one to the other.

August 14, 2004 The Ebers are almost there! Here's the schedule for the final days of the ride:

• Sat. Aug 28: Finale Ride into DC. Public invited to join us
  • Start: Caderock Parking Lot: C and O trail, MD 10:00 a.m.
  • End and finale event. Co sponsored by AAFA. Public welcome. at Fletcher's Boathouse, C and O trail, Washington D.Cm 12:00 p.m.
  • Ebers will then cycle on to finish their world ride in front of the Capitol at around 3:00 p.m.
• Sun. Aug 29: Ebers in DC.
• Mon. Aug 30: Ebers drive!!! to New York City
• Tues. Aug 31: New York City
• Weds. Sept 1: 10 a.m. Fly from NYC to Seattle. Arrive 2:24 p.m.
• Saturday, September 4, 2004, 12:00 noon - Sponsors’ Bike Ride
  Myrtle Edwards Park, Seattle (near the entrance, just past the parking lot on Western)
  Bike with us from Myrtle Edwards Park to Children’s Hospital where we will deliver balloons and cheer to children with asthma. This is a 13 mile, mostly flat, mostly off-road ride suitable for families. Those who want to do part of the ride, can turn around or arrange to have a car at the Chittendon Locks (mile 5) or Gasworks Park (mile 9). Map available at: www.ci.seattle.wa.us/transportation/bikemaps/northbikemap.pdf

August 11, 2004 >Subject: Best of luck
Date: Thu, 5 Aug 2004 02:00:47 EDT

Dear Eber Family,
It was certainly a pleasure to meet and talk with you on August 4, 2004 in our little town of Lakeview, Michigan ! It was wonderful to see such a daunting task being undertook in such a relatively short period of time. The McDonald's McFamily wishes you reach each and every goal along the way to fight asthma and find the research funds to help eliminate this disease. You will always be welcomed at at restaurants- now Worldwide (67 countries) and hope you will find a extra Hospitality Helping Hand at our Restaurants. I certainly appreciate your family stopping here and I know you will finish your journey successfully in Washington D.C. Maybe even get your picture taken with President Bush-- wouldn't that be a memorable moment !!! Your family is very unique and so genuine and they have inspired me to view Life as so precious and live each day to its Fullest !! Thanks again...

Manager at Lakeview McDonald's
Craig

July 24, 2004 Hi dear friends and sponsors
Well I know some of you are wondering if we dropped off the face of the earth (we were wondering the same thing in Eastern Montana!). We have been pedaling very hard through some unbelievably empty spaces in the US. But we are finally back to civilization (and email contact again), at Saint Croix Falls on the border of Wisconsin just north of Minneapolis.

It is hard to believe that after 15 months and 24 countries we are only a thousand miles or so away from Washington D.C.

As we head into the home stretch we are planning some exciting finale events. So mark your calendars for the following dates. We can't wait to ride in and celebrate with you:

• Saturday Aug. 28 Cycle into D.C. with the Ebers and join us for a great end of ride party
• Saturday Sept. 4 Join the Ebers in their finale ride into Seattle. Followed by a great party for sponsors only

July 23, 2004 Any and Yvonne in Teen Mag -- Doesn't get much kewler than this! Click here to see the PDF file (2 MB).

July 16, 2004 The Ebers were interviewed yesterday on TV in Fargo, ND.

June 18, 2004 Paul Adkins from Adventure Cycling put together a great video about the Ebers! Click here to download. It's a 20MB file, and requires Windows Media Player Version 9.

June 11, 2004 We were on NBC TV in Missoula and our scheduled slide show here in town was mentioned. It will be on Friday, June 11; 7:00pm at the Adventure Cycling Association, 150 Pine Street, Missoula, Montana

June 1, 2004 Today the Ebers are in Lewiston Idaho and turned 10,000km (6,250 mi) and went over Alpowa pass (2785 ft). Also, another new article about them on the Articles page. Also, check out the latest photos in the Photo Gallery and the Ebers' progress on the map by clicking here.

May 28, 2004 Lorenz emailed today to say that they are in Walla Walla, WA today and that they expect to be in Lewiston, Idaho within a few days.

May 8, 2004 Check out our new maps on the Route page.

April 26, 2004 The Ebers did a Radio Disney interview, which will air on Sunday May 2, 7:30 pm (AM 1250 in the Seattle area -- check your local listings elsewhere.)

April 21, 2004 World Bike for Breath welcomes the Eber family back from their World Cycling Tour for Asthma
We invite our sponsors to the following events:

• Friday April 30, 7:00 p.m. Bainbridge Island Center Hall - Dinner Buffet and Slide Show.
  Great food, Slides and Stories of the Eber family’s cycling tour for asthma from Greece to England to Russia , Mongolia, China, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand & Tonga Tickets $20. Child $10. Family $50. (50% of the ticket is tax deductible)
• Saturday May 1, 12:30 p.m. B.I. City Hall. Welcome home reception for the Eber family.
  Food, music and stories with Paula, Lorenz, Anya and Yvonne Free to the community.
• Monday May 3, 7:00 p.m. - Seattle REI. Slide Show and talk.
  Slides & stories about cycling 9000 km with children through 24 Countries in Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia, and the South Pacific Donations welcome.
• World Asthma Day. Saturday May 8, 10:00 a.m. - 5k Family fun bicycle ride. Join the Ebers in cycling the first 5k of their finale ride across the U.S. to raise $5,000,000 for asthma. Send them off at the ferry. Start at B.I. Waterfront Park. Registration $15. Family $25.

If you live out of town and would like to reserve tickets, please call Brett Thackray at 206-780-3561

April 19, 2004 The Ebers are in Orange County, busy conducting interviews with the media.

April 15, 2004 Paula emailed to confirm they are on US soil.

April 12, 2004 They'll be back in the US tomorrow!

April 2, 2004 Thanks to all of you for your messages of support and concern regarding Yvonne's foot. She is doing much better even though, naturally, her foot continues to ache (and probably will for a few more weeks). Interestingly, it hurts more for her to walk and bend her foot(the injury was on the side of her foot) than to cycle, since the foot is locked into a straight position on the pedals. After seven days of laying over, we began cycling again--very short days--and slowly worked our way from Picton to Christchurch along the coast. We are now done with our New Zealand ride and will be flying to Tonga on April 4, where Yvonne can have a bit of a rest and put her feet up.

March 25, 2004 Radio Disney plans to re-broadcast an interview with the Ebers in April. If we are able to find out specifics in advance of the show, we'll post them here.

March 20, 2004 Hello dear friends and sponsors
Throughout our world ride we have been most thankful to have avoided any serious injury or illness. Indeed during our ride through eastern Europe and Asia we would threaten Anya and Yvonne daily with horrendous stories of the possible medical care we would receive if anyone became ill or injured in Mongolia or Poland or Thailand. So I guess it is only natural that now we are back in an English speaking country with reasonable medical care, our children have decided to be normal children and do wild and crazy things like running and climbing and fooling around again.

So what do you expect? Seven days ago, Yvonne and Anya were racing to their motel room (if we had been camping this never would have happened...) and Yvonne, in a last moment effort to reach the door first, slammed her feet into the concrete stoop. Well after three days of visiting the local doctor (there was one in town, halleluja) and taking buses 80 miles roundtrip to the nearest radiologist (no such thing in town we were in--Turangi, New Zealand), then going back to the local doctor, we have determined that Yvonne has fractured one of the bones on the side of her foot. It appears, however, that there is nothing you can do about foot bones except stay off them and wait for them to heal. Yvonne is rapidly doing better (children are amazing) and we no longer have to carry her everywhere; she even hobbled to the store and back today! But we have all been forced to cool our heels and sit still for a week--a most agonizing experience for all of us since we are accustomed to six hours of cycling a day.

Consequently we have committed-- what Anya and Yvonne consider--- the greatest sin of our world ride: we have cheated and taken a bus from Turangi to Wellington, instead of spending the week cycling. Given the circumstances and that this is the only instance of such terrible treachery after 8500 kilometers of cycling (with the exception, of course, of the trans-Siberian railway), we have tried to convince them that we don't need to go back later and pedal those 200 miles. In the meantime, we have now taken a boat to Picton on the South Island (even the kids agree that we can take boats over water) and are sitting around with plenty of time finally to write emails!!

Well I suppose this is just one of those adventures that people who don't cycle with children never get to experience :)! We'll let you know how Yvonne is doing in the next days.

Paula

March 13, 2004 Another newsletter posted, and a copy of a Taiwanese article on the articles page.

February 18, 2004 A new newsletter posted for September, 2003. OK, OK, it's one we missed at the time. See the newsletters section. But the big news is that the Ebers will be back in the US on April 13th, arriving in LA from Tonga. Of course, they will press on across the continent a short time later...

February 10, 2004 Check out the latest photos in the Photo Gallery.

February 2, 2004 There are two new essays on the Teachers Page by Anya and Yvonne.

February 1, 2004 The Ebers report that they are in Seaspray, Australia a tiny town on the 90 mile beach. They found a little cabin to celebrate Anya's and Paula's birthday (29!:) and to do some regrouping for the fundraising onslaught. Australia is a great place!

January 23, 2004 There are some new photos of Taiwan in the Photo Gallery.

January 22, 2004 The Ebers report via Blackberry that they are midway between Melbourne and Sydney

January 11, 2004 The Ebers advise via Blackberry (Thank You T-Mobile!) that they are in Thailand. Also, be certain to check out some new photos in the photo gallery. We back-filled Turkey, Austira, and more of Asia.

December 29, 2003 Check out the Eber's latest newsletter in the Newsletters Section.

December 27, 2003 The Media Page has been updated to include some hi-resolution versions of the photo gallery. Also, more photos from China posted to the photo gallery. (Note that the placeholder for Japan is still empty -- Christmas rush bottlenecked the photo lab.)

December 26, 2003 The Ebers called from Hong Kong on Christmas Eve. They are doing well, and have a tale to tell about a 6+ earthquake in Taiwan. Happened while waiting for dinner in a restaurant. They ran outside, watched the building go trapezoidal, then went back in to eat. (Hungry, apparently...)

December 11, 2003 Two new articles by Anya and Yvonne Eber on the Teachers' Page.

December 8, 2003 New newsletter on the newsletters page. Also added a link to an Adventure Cycling Association article by Paula. See the articles page.

December 5, 2003 Recieved an email from the Ebers via Blackberry; they are in Taiwan, and back in the land of GSM phone service. We expect to hear more from them soon.

November 29, 2003 The Photo Gallery has a few new photos from Mongolia. We expect to post quite a few more from various places once mail catches up.

November 22, 2003 We are in Japan until Dec. 6. No email, no phone, rare internet cafes. So don't worry if you don't hear from us. We will hopefully be fully on line in Taiwan.

So far we have discovered that they do sell yams here. So currently our Thanksgiving meal looks like it will be noodles, fish, stir fry vegs, persimmons and yams. But we are very thankful to be well, happy and together in Japan, which is a wonderful friendly country.

November 17, 2003 From Paula: I am writing this newsletter to you by candlelight from a Mongolian ger in the Gobi Desert. For the past ten days we have been traveling along almost non-existent dirt tracks over the vast brown, red and ochre Mongolian steppe. Briefly trading in our tandems for a ride on camels, horses and a bumpy dusty Russian off-road van, we have shared our days with herds of camels, horses, yaks, sheep and goats led by proud purple cloaked Mongolian horsemen pounding down the rolling hills. Each night we share their simple yet beautifully decorated round felt tent homes, cooking our meals on their dung stoves. I am amazed and inspired by a people who live their days fighting the fierce wind and sun and their nights battling the ice and snow in the tiny gers -- the light from their stoves flickering like tiny stars across the wilderness. [Read More]

November 7, 2003 New photos from Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia in the photo gallery.

November 3, 2003 The latest newsletter is available in the newsletter section. Great read about many adventures!

November 2, 2003 The Ebers are safe an sound in Beijing. We expect a more complete update in a few days, however the short story is that they reached China after an adventure in Mongolia that included living with local families in their tent, and an expedition into the Gobi desert. Also, new photos added for Holland, France, and Sweden (webmaster forgot to add them last month).

October 11, 2003 The Ebers called today from the Moscow train station, where they were boarding the trans-Siberian express, headed for Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, and ultimately Mongolia. They are all well, though a bit frustrated with constant demand for bribes in Russia and the general sad state of infrastructure. They biked thru Lithuania as far as Tallinn, on the Baltic Sea. From there they took the train to St. Petersburg, followed by Moscow. (There were never any plans to bike thru large sections of Russia, due to road conditions.)

September 29, 2003 We've made it to Estonia! Over 3000 miles and just about to turn 5000 kilometers. After all the scare stories from people in Germany, Sweden and Poland we were very anxious about cycling in the Baltic states. But the stories are just like all the other scare stories--media hype from too many people watching TV and reading the newspapers. So far on this ride we have only met good kind nice people who don't hate Americans at all (now their feelings about Bush may not always be positive, but fortunately they are able to recognize the difference between a government and its citizens....)

Lithuania is immensely poor but the people are kind and hard working and honest. And Latvia and Estonia are doing great--better than Poland. So far we have felt extremely safe; far safer than in many American towns and cities. Even the border guards just smile and laugh as we pedal on through to each country. Our only complaint has been the food. Chocolate tastes like wax, bread is hard and tasteless and we just can't get enough calories no matter how we try. Now that's a new problem which most Americans don't seem to identify with (: We'll be in St. Petersburg on Oct. 4.
Paula

September 13, 2003 Updated Teachers' Page, although the Ebers have gone dark as they vanished into the Baltic States. The Iron Curtain lives on...

September 13, 2003 Today we saw the "Wolfsschanze" which was Hitlers operations center in World war II. Deffinitely a spooky and evil place. It was very strange to stand in Hitlers and Goerings personal bunkers and think that all the evil of WWII was conceived here. We also stood in the barrack where Claus von Staufenberg ignited the bomb that was supposed to kill Hitler, but failed. Talk about touch and feel history! Last night where we stayed in a hotel in a castle, which was a nice change from the usual communist concrete architecture we usually have stayed in so far. Poland is a country of contrasts! Looks like blackberry is up again till we leave Poland in two days. After that there will most likely be no communication (not even phone) till Oct 2 when we arrive in St Petersburg ( unless we include Finland, which we are thinking of as an option).

September 12, 2003 Hi dear friends and sponsors,
We are currently in Poland and heading into Lithuania in the next two days (we have had to cycle around the Baltic Sea "island" of Russia since our visa is not valid yet). Since we do not have great hopes for reliable Internet communication from now until Australia (January or February), this will be our last regular email communication. After this we will write all of our newsletters and updates by hand, and mail them by post to Brett Thackray. He is the President of World Bike for Breath and has offered to type up our letters. If any of you Bainbridge Island sponsors have a little spare time, I am sure Brett would be delighted to have help in typing and emailing our letters as they arrive in the U.S. You can email him at bikeforbreath@hotmail.com. In any case, your newsletters and emails may have a two or three week time lag for a while. But we'll still be keeping you posted, just with a time warp!

From Oxford England:

• We headed south along the ancient Stone Age Salt Road to Avebury, Stonehenge and Salisbury (where we visited the cathedral and viewed England's famous prelude to the Bill of Rights: the magna carta).
• South to Bornemouth, through the Isle of Wight to Portsmouth, England
• Round trip boat to the ancient pirate Corsair city of Saint Malo in Brittany, France
• Biked to St. Brieuc along the beautiful, rocky coast and back
• Returned by boat to Portsmouth, and since we had already biked this route, train back to Harwich, England with a stop in London
• Boat from Harwich to Cuxhaven, Germany
• Stayed with Lorenz's parents near Hamburg, Germany and spent five hectic days tuning up our bikes, replacing worn out equipment and clothing and preparing for our journey through Eastern Europe and Russia
• Biked to Ratzeburg and along the former border between east and west Germany where we saw remnants of east German watchtowers, and discovered that old borders still run deep--riding on bumpy cobblestone roads. More symbolically, as soon as we left former west Germany we found that Internet communication on our Blackberry palm top (donated by T-Mobile) was over
• North to Dassow and east to Rostock, Germany
• Boat from Rostock to Trelleburg, Sweden
• One week of some of the most spectacular cycling of our trip along the southern coast of Sweden through idyllic colorful fishing towns filled with the cries of cormorants and seagulls, past ancient Viking sites, and visiting gorgeous unspoiled sandy beaches
• Boat from Karlskrona, Sweden to Gdynia, Poland
• Cycling east and north to Fromborg, where we visited the famous observatory and cathedral of Copernicus, and then eastwards to the Gothic brick castles of Lidzbark Warminski and Reszel.
• Now heading east and north to Lithuania via the Masuri Lakes of Poland

September 8, 2003 The August newsletter is posted.

September 3, 2003 We added a guest book, and welcome your email comments. Also, Adventure Cycling will run an article about the Ebers very soon. Stay tuned...

August 31, 2003 The Ebers called today on their T-Mobile phone (thanks T-Mobile!!) to say that they were onboard a ferry from Sweden to Poland. Plans are to spend a few days in Poland, then ride east towards St. Petersburg, Russia and ultimately Moscow in order to board the Trans-Siberian express. They are not certain about riding from St. Petersburg to Moscow, because others report narrow roads with big trucks. We'll see... Also, reports will slow up as phone service withers. Postal mail is the plan for a few months.

August 22, 2003 The Teachers' Page is updated with an article by Paula. Also, we ant to make certain you are aware of the Trek Tri-Island Ride, sponsored by the Washington State chapter of the American Lusng Association.

August 16, 2003 The Ebers are back in Germany, after riding across France from England. More details soon...

August 15, 2003 Anya wrote an essay for the Washington State History competition. You can read it on the Teachers' Page.

July 29, 2003 The Ebers sent their latest newsletter, more photos, and updated the Cycling Equipment page.

July 12, 2003 The Ebers found a great vacation apartment in Bacharach on the Rein river and will lay over for a couple of days to kick back (they have been making a lot of miles lately) and catch up on paperwork (Paula needs to write an article for Adventure cycling etc.). Also, the Camping Page has a few updates about equipment.

July 8, 2003 We received a copy of the newspaper article about the Ebers. You can view it by clicking here. Also, Yvonne sent a new essay that is posted on the Teachers' Page.

July 6, 2003 The Ebers made the front page of the Fraenkischer Anzeiger newspaper in Germany!
ROTHENBURG – Eine Familie geht auf Weltreise – im Zeitalter der Düsenjets nichts Besonderes. Sehr wohl aber, wenn man sich mit Kind und Kegel aufs Fahrrad-Tandem setzt und damit rund 25000 Kilome ter rund um den Globus aus reiner Pedalkraft zurücklegt. Familie Eber aus den USA hat dafür zwei Gründe: sie will etwas für die Asthma-Krankenhilfe tun und außerdem ist sie abenteuerlustig und hat Spaß daran. Weiterlesen

July 2, 2003 You can tell the Ebers are in Germany where Everything Just Works. All of the sudden messages are arriving from the Blackberry again! Today there are new photos (Italy), and a new newsletter. Lorenz emailed today, saying "We are today in Harburg and stayed overnight in the completely intact medieval castle. Today heading to Dinkelsbuel."

June 19, 2003 Currently 30 miles south of Brenner Pass (4300 feet) in Alps. Due to 100 degree cycling weather in Southern Europe we have turned north to Austria. Will climb last 2000 feet tomorrow and enter Austria on Sunday. We Seattleites find cycling up mountain passes less painful than boiling to death!

June 15, 2003 All is well. Currently we are biking north on the eastside of lago di garda and are heading into the Alps. For the last 5 weeks southern europe was having a heatwave that boasts above 100 F days. Following in Hanibals footsteps we decided to cross the Alps from Italy into Austria. It is already markedly cooler today as we are biking up the lake. Like rainstorms, 100 F weather is actually very bad biking weather.

June 7, 2003 See the Newsletters page for the latest from the Ebers. News is still a bit delayed, due to technical issues. Also be certain to check out the photo gallery for the latest pics...

June 1, 2003 The Ebers called last night, using T-Mobile's cellular phone that was so graciously donated, to say that they are taking a two-day ferry from Patras, Greece to Venice, Italy. Plans in Italy are to ride across the northern half, and possibly a side trip to Tunisia. All is going well, although Turkey turned into a day trip: it seems that thanks to the war Turkey now charges $100 per person for visas if you stay overnight. That kind of fee is at odds with raising money for asthma.

May 30, 2003 Latest essay from Yvonne was received yesterday. See the teacher's page. Also, click on the Photo Gallery link (horizontal menu at the top of this page) for recent photos. We will continue to add more photos over the coming days.

May 29, 2003 Paula emailed progress to date, as follows:
Miles for Asthma so far: 468.5. Click here to see where these locations are.

• On May 6 the Ebers arrived Athens
• Boat to Rhodes Island in Dodecanese and bike Rhodes, visit ancient medieval crusader city of Knights of Saint John
• Boat to Kos Island in Dodecanese and bike Kos
• Boat to Samos Island in Dodecanese and bike Samos
• Boat to Kusudasi Turkey and trip to ancient Graeco Roman ruins of Ephesus
• Boat back to Piraeaus
• Cycle to ancient Greek city of Corinth and see Corinthian canal
• Cycle across top of Peloppenesus to Egio and boat to Northern Greece
• Cycle up 1800 foot climb to ancient Greek temple complex of Delphi

Also, the teacher's page now contains the first essay from Yvonne; we missed posting it on May 14th.

May 26, 2003 Following is a brief article from the Ebers that arrived via a circuitous route. It's actual date is closer to May 14.

"Twelve Euros," the Greek taxi driver at Syntagma Square in Athens yelled. The two heavy metal suitcases, which just that morning had held our bicycle frames (and now contained all of our emergency spare parts for Russia--tires, wrenches, mosquito repellant, and of course Anya's resupply of English books) stood challengingly between us.

"Ohi [No]!" I shouted back sweating in the hot sun. Grabbing the suitcases which I had just transported into the square by taxi for 1 Euro an hour earlier, I marched off past the closed post office where I had hoped to ship the suitcases to Saint Petersburg. We would repeat this scene in various forms--shouting overpriced taxi drivers, failed attempts at shipping our suitcases, dragging too many heavy bags around Athens--until finally we took the first of several subsequent efforts to downsize and simplify what had already seemed a very minimal packing list for a one and a half year world cycling tour. The suitcases were the first to go, followed by our rainpants, long underwear, my art kit, Anya's facial scrub and wipes, Yvonne's scattered clippings and mementos and Lorenz's redundant tools--all shipped back to the U.S., forward to Lorenz's parents in Germany or to St. Petersburg, or just left in the hotel room, expedition litter which could be more useful to the locals than that left on Mount Everest.

Our panniers are now pounds lighter and cubic inches thinner. We have been following suit. One week of the heat, the grime, the Third World noise, the potholed roads and questionable water and fruit and vegetables (including one exploding can of pickled vegetables that sprayed botulistic liquid all over us) has had obvious effects on our appetites and figures.

And yet despite the sensory overload of starting our ride in a city that seemed more like Third World Tunisia than First World Europe, we find Greece fabulous: Ancient Greek ruins scattered among bourganvillia and jasmine scented alleyways, perfectly preserved Crusader castles peering over the harbors of Rhodes and Kos, Greek music and song wafting up to the balconies and rooftops of our hotels as we lunch on feta cheese and pita sandwiches, evening tavernas that begin serving dinner at nine o'clock with guests whose laughter lingers until two in the morning, and tiny cobblestoned alleyways filled with open walled shops selling hand crafted leather, copies of Byzantine icons and Greek vases, colorful summery dresses and cafes serving iced coffee and ouzo, and of course, swimming in the crystal blue waters of the Mediterranean and building sand castles on real sand beaches. No Greece--grime, music and history--has seeped into our pores and will take years to scrub out.

May 14, 3003 The Ebers are in Rodos, Greece, after a short visit to Athens. Lorenz is able to send daily updates, thanks to the generosity of T-Mobile who so generously donated a phone and a Blackberry. Only SMS messages work in Greece however (no GPRS service), so updates are a bit terse... They did visit an Internet Cafe, where Anya was able to email her first essay (click on the Teachers menu link to read it.

May 3, 2003 Two local newspapers -- the Seattle Times, and the Seattle PI -- ran stories today on the trip. You can view these stories at seattlepi.nwsource.com/lifestyle/120306_biketrip03.html

May 2, 2003 The Ebers held their send-off party at REI in Seattle, with actual departure only five days away! There are photos posted in the Photo Gallery. This was a great turnout, with plenty of food and lots of recognition for all the volunteers.

Thanks to our sponsors!