Bigley, a visual artist and art instructor at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, is tracing a route of roughly 3,500 miles that approximates the size and shape of Afghanistan. His ride began at ground zero in New York City on May 12 and will end there around July 20. He?s pedaling approximately 75 miles per day, sometimes on pavement and at other times on gravel, riding solo and unsupported. Because the borders of Afghanistan are irregular and jagged, so is his route ? he sometimes makes as many as 120 turns in a day. Aboard a Trek bicycle, Bigley is pulling a hand-built trailer that he says serves as a "symbol of sovereignty.? He?s also giving presentations along the way at contemporary art and social science venues.
Bigley's performance-art project, as outlined at his website, is a symbolic act designed to "gauge public opinion of the conflict in Afghanistan as well as to point at the curious nature of the idea of national political boundaries.?
At this page you can see Bigley?s approximate route ? and the outline of Afghanistan ? superimposed on a map of the eastern United States.
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BIKING WITHOUT BORDERS is posted every Monday by Michael McCoy, Adventure Cycling?s field editor, and highlights a little bit of this or a little bit of that ? just about anything, as long as it?s related to traveling by bicycle. Mac also compiles the organization's twice-monthly e-newsletter Bike Bits, which goes free-of-charge to more than 40,000 readers worldwide.
Source: http://blog.adventurecycling.org/2011/06/bicycling-borders-of-afghanistan-in.html
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