I’m passing on two articles from this week I thought we’re especially interesting and that at least indirectly related to bicycles.  The first is an article from the New York Times about the King Fu Nuns of Nepal.  It’s a fascinating and inspiring article with a mesmerizing video and photo gallery.  The bike hook though?  The nuns are green-conscious, and to promote awareness of climate change they’ve been bicycling annually for the last 20 years the 1,250 miles from Kathmandu to Ladakh, high in the Himalayas, to promote green transportation.

And then today in the Washington Post there’s this article about patents submitted by pioneering Black inventors.  The article drew me in immediately with its drawing of a 4 wheeled velocipede submitted in 1898.  The device has doubled up front and rear wheels, suited to rookie cyclists and “those apt to become timid,” inventor Wesley Johnson wrote in his patent application.  Does anyone know if a device like this was ever produced?

Thanks Scott. I found the Kungfu (& Cycling) Nuns story especially interesting because I was in Nepal a few months ago doing the Everest Base Camp trek.

On the trek, other than prayer wheels and few water wheels, I saw not a single wheel for almost three weeks. Not even a wheel barrow. Zero bicycles. All land transport freight I saw was on the backs of humans, horses or yaks. It’s only legs which can handle the countless steps and rubble strewn paths. 

The nuns’ trans-Himalayan ride from Kathmandu must be extraordinarily difficult. The few hours of bus travel we did to reach a regional airport to fly to Lukla was exceedingly mountainous. 

That said, the physical ability of Nepalese seems almost superhuman. Their cardiovascular systems must be one of the best on the planet. I saw porters much smaller than me, carrying weights of 80-90kg at elevations of 4500 metres. I could barely lift my own feet. 

Interesting background, Graham.  Thanks for adding it.  It didn’t occur to me to look at a map and contemplate just how challenging that bike ride would be.

Now I’m curious know if anyone here on CycleBlaze has cycle toured from Kathmandu to Ladakh. My guess is that a route would necessitate a descent  to the Nepali ‘low country, (The Terai), head west, and then reascend toward Ladakh via the Himachal Pradesh.  It would be an extraordinary journey.

The Nepalese have a delightful euphemism to describe their walking tracks. ‘Nepali Flat’. Loosely translated into an Australian context, Nepali Flat is route of a never ending series of major undulations, and when each rise and fall involves 100s of metres of elevation.   It’s flat in Nepal if one isn’t ascending or descending 1000s of metres in one day.

I like hearing about the Nepali Flats, and I’m sorry we never took them on when we might have had legs for it.  It’s analogous to the notorious Netherlands Alps that we’re holding out as a challenge for the future - sooner than later, I suspect.

I'm going to go out on a limb and state my opinion that the Netherlands Alps are over-rated.

Wayne my guess is that Wesley Johnson’s velocipede would be an ideal bike for touring the Netherlands Alps. And for the downhill sections of Nepali Flats. 

I must assume then that you’re unfamiliar with notorious Vaalserberg Hill.  At elevation 1,058’, it stands at the three corner point where Netherlands, Belgium and Germany come together.  It’s a regular feature on the Amsdel Gold Race.  I’m pretty sure when the time comes it will be plenty challenging enough for Team Anderson’s aging power trains.  We’ve been eyeing this monster for decades.

Graham, do you think Wesley Johnson's heirs can collect royalties from the manufacturer of the Rungyu Fat Bike and similar extreme terrain bikes?

Wayne it looks to me as if the heirs would have a reasonable case. At least the patent lawyers would have fun trying out the contested design.