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'GREETINGS FORM NIUE' reads Heinz Stucke’s latest postcard.
“Yesterday I rode a hundred km around the island. The Bike Friday works beautifully.”
Heinz, a 64-year-old native of Hövelhof, Germany, has been touring on a bicycle since 1962, an endeavor that’s earned him the Guinness World Record for “The Most Traveled Person by Bicycle.” Heinz purchased a Bike Friday Pocket Llama this summer to help him achieve an even loftier Guinness title, that of “The Most Traveled Man.”
“I need a bike that can fit on the small planes and boats that will take me to remote territories,” he said. This need, and a bit of encouragement from fellow traveler Richard Gregg, worldcycle.org led him to Bike Friday. His custom touring Friday will enable Stucke to visit the few remaining locations – mostly islands – he has not traversed during his 42 years on the road. His goal is to be the first person to cycle all 193 universally recognized countries and 48 territories.
Stücke's adventures have led to being shot in the toe by a Zambian freedom fighter, swarmed by bees in Mozambique, and sent for a week to a Cameroon slammer for “slandering the state.”
“I refused to show a security guard my visa,” he says, his German accent intensifying as he recalls the indignity. “I said, ‘Why are you checking me? My country colonized yours!’ ”
After picking up his Pocket Llama in June, Heinz spent a couple of weeks pedaling the beautiful Oregon and northern California coast. He visited Oregon’s Crater Lake, the famous California redwoods, and more on the way to the San Francisco airport. From there, Heinz departed for Hawaii, then several small islands near Australia: Niue Island, the Samoas, Norfolk, Wallis & Futuna, Indonesia’s Diverse Island, and Australia’s Cape York, shown in the map, left. Last we heard, he was planning to cycle up to Cape York in Australia, then to some Indonesian islands.
And since you've been waiting to ask ...
Niue, according to Google, 'is a beautiful South Seas island renowned for its friendly people, wonderful climate, unique reef pools, caves, diving and fishing.'
Commonly known as the 'Rock of Polynesia', Niue is located 2,400 Kilometers north-east of New Zealand in a triangle between Tonga, Samoa and the Cook Islands. At 260 square kilometers, the island one of the largest raised coral atolls in the world. Niue's opulation is around 1,800, makig it the smallest self-governing state in the world. And yes, the people are New Zealand citizens!
Galfromdownunder tries Heinz' bike for size - it almost fits!
For more information, follow this link http://www.bikefriday.com/bf/heinzstucke.