Franz

On my way to my regular Walls of Jericho campsite on September 30, I ran across this touring cyclist standing on a street corner in South Pittsburg, TN, looking at his cell phone. I rode up to him to get his story, and, man, does he have a story.

His name is Franz, and he is from Hamm, Germany, which is a sister city to my hometown, Chattanooga.

He wanted to participate in the Seniors World Championship Table Tennis Tournament in Nevada, so he decided to make a bike tour out of the trip.

He did not want to fly with his bike in baggage compartment of an airplane, so he decided to take a cargo ship from Germany to San Francisco.  The trip to the US took about 4 months due to the ship stopping in numerous ports along the way.  When the ship stopped, it was usually for about 12 hours and he would get his bike out and ride it around the city.  The ship he was on went thru the Panama Canal to get to San Francisco.

He rode his bike from San Francisco to Las Vegas and participated in the table tennis tournament.  He is now enroute to Wilmington, NC, where he will catch another cargo ship for his return to Germany.  When I met him, he had already been away from home for 7 months on this trip.

The night before I met him, he stayed at a Warm Showers (touring cyclist lodging) host in Sewanee, TN.  The hosts were out of town, but told him to go ahead and stay at their home.  When he arrived at the home, he was met by a dog that seemed to want to protect the property, so he went and spoke to a neighbor.  The neighbor helped him safely get into the residence, and also invited him over for supper, which he accepted. This is the sort of human kindness that just about every touring cyclist experiences.