The Road From Karakol
July 4, 2013 4:45 PM Subscribe
In 2011, American alpinist (twice the winner of the prestigious Piolets d'Or award) and coffee shop owner Kyle Dempster, went on a two-month solo biking and climbing odyssey in Kyrgyzstan. He took a video camera with him and the video he shot from his two months was edited to form The Road to Karakol.
Wild, there will be a screening Port Townsend WA (the Olympic Peninsula) across the water from here. I should totally try to go.
posted by KokuRyu at 4:52 PM on July 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by KokuRyu at 4:52 PM on July 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
Saw this a week or two ago. Quite the adventure, however the idea of moving all that weight over non-roads—on a bicycle—doesn't appeal to me much. And I love bike touring.
posted by flippant at 5:40 PM on July 4, 2013
posted by flippant at 5:40 PM on July 4, 2013
He mentions food caches at one point. Did he have an advance team that went ahead in a 4X4 dropping off food and toilet paper?
Just curious.
posted by KokuRyu at 6:02 PM on July 4, 2013
Just curious.
posted by KokuRyu at 6:02 PM on July 4, 2013
It's a stunningly beautiful country. It's also the last place in the world I'd want to try and cycle across. Might be a different story if it was just around Issyk Kul though...
posted by the duck by the oboe at 7:36 PM on July 4, 2013
posted by the duck by the oboe at 7:36 PM on July 4, 2013
flippant, it obviously didn't appeal to him much, either -- although he enjoyed the landscapes and people he met, his palpable enthusiasm at finally having a mountain to climb was clear.
KokoRyu, the film was sponsored by gear outfitter Outdoor Research -- apparently [OR blog] he was wearing a lot of kit from them but the actual genesis of the film was after the trip. I assume that meant he had just as much support as he felt he needed (e.g. I wondered about a few pick-up type shots, such as him slow-pedaling up the mountain highway), though he definitely seemed completely on his own during the off-road/off-map experience part.
posted by dhartung at 10:57 PM on July 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
KokoRyu, the film was sponsored by gear outfitter Outdoor Research -- apparently [OR blog] he was wearing a lot of kit from them but the actual genesis of the film was after the trip. I assume that meant he had just as much support as he felt he needed (e.g. I wondered about a few pick-up type shots, such as him slow-pedaling up the mountain highway), though he definitely seemed completely on his own during the off-road/off-map experience part.
posted by dhartung at 10:57 PM on July 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
There are few times when I wish I were a man. Watching Kyle bicycle solo in a country such as Kyrgyzstan is one of those occasions.
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 5:14 AM on July 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 5:14 AM on July 5, 2013 [1 favorite]
I dunno, in my foreign travels I've noticed that Western woman sometimes become "honorary men" to the locals. Besides, even as a man, I'm not sure I would have survived the military checkpoint.
posted by KokuRyu at 8:24 AM on July 5, 2013
posted by KokuRyu at 8:24 AM on July 5, 2013
« Older Cor, a slap up feed of comics links! | Citizen McDuck Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by gen at 4:46 PM on July 4, 2013 [1 favorite]