World's Most Travelled Man

May 12, 2006 7:58 AM

Heinz Stücke has travelled 335,000 miles by bicycle since 1960. And he's done it all on one bicycle, a 3-speed that weighs 56 lbs. That journey was threatened a few days ago when a thief stole his bike (it was later found by police). He's been shot at, robbed, arrested, and celebrated, embraced and admired in every corner of the planet. Though Charles Veley has the domain name and the top google hit, Stücke is the MAN. "Would I do it all over again? No! I never liked to cover the same terrain I've already conquered. IT'S THE UNKNOWN AROUND THE CORNER THAT TURNS MY WHEEL…"
posted by mcstayinskool (12 comments total)

Amazing.
posted by uncle harold at 8:20 AM on May 12, 2006

-wow, sounds like a good Hertzog topic for a documentary!
-wonder what if it is all just exploration, or prehaps escape??
posted by OU812 at 8:20 AM on May 12, 2006

Great story. This has been making the rounds on the bike sites I visit daily, but thanks for posting it here.
posted by fixedgear at 8:22 AM on May 12, 2006

I love my bike and the hazardous travel I have taken with it. This is so, so much more. Thank you mcstayinskool.
posted by tellurian at 8:24 AM on May 12, 2006

It sounds cheesy, but that's hella inspiring.

Riding a 25kg bike PLUS >45kg of supplies thousands of kilometers through through mud, snow and desert... pretty much just for the heck of it? Dude's got nards.
posted by Drexen at 8:56 AM on May 12, 2006

Great post. This will help inspire me on my Virginia-to-Oregon tour, which I'm scheduled to start 19 days from now (what have I gotten myself into?!)
posted by JeffL at 8:57 AM on May 12, 2006

The bike wasn't found by police. A newspaper (The Sun) offered a reward worth several times the value of the bike, and it was returned.
posted by w0mbat at 9:04 AM on May 12, 2006

I feel both proud and ashamed that he'd barely been in the UK 5 seconds before his bike was nicked...

I thought the bike was found dumped in a park?
posted by greycap at 9:38 AM on May 12, 2006

He reminds me of Freddie Hoffman.
posted by caddis at 10:16 AM on May 12, 2006

Or mabye Forrest Gump.

Regardless of the method of how the bike was returned, I learned from reading his remarkable story (first link on FPP) that it was at least the fifth time the bike has been stolen. There's some amazing pictures on that link too...
posted by mcstayinskool at 10:40 AM on May 12, 2006

anyone got a bigger picture of that route map? (the MAN link)

that would be great. this dude is on a mission like no other.
posted by Mach5 at 11:17 AM on May 12, 2006

I like the factoid that he's filled 15 passports. That's a lot of stamping.
posted by Rhomboid at 8:11 PM on May 12, 2006