Heinz Stücke

Heinz Stücke

Heinz Stücke poses with his three-speed bicycle for a photo while selling his wares in Paris. (9 July 1999)
Born (1940-01-11) January 11, 1940
Hövelhof, North Rhine-Westphalia
Residence None
Nationality German
Other names The Bike Man
Citizenship Germany
Occupation Cyclist, photographer, writer
Known for Cycling for most of his life through nearly every country in the world.
Website heinzstucke.com

Heinz Stücke (born 11 January 1940) is a German traveller, vagabond, and long-distance touring cyclist from Hövelhof, North Rhine-Westphalia. In 1995, he set a world record for bicycle touring.[1] In a global journey spanning more than 50 years, he has travelled several hundred thousand kilometres by bicycle.[2]

Global bicycle tour

In November 1962, the 22-year-old Stücke quit his job as a tool and die maker, and rode out of his hometown on a three-speed bicycle, with a plan to see the world.[1][3] He has never since returned to Hövelhof; he says that his extraordinary desire to travel was partly motivated by his aversion to returning to factory work.[3]

In the early 1980s, after two decades on the road, Stücke decided to attempt to visit every country in the world. He believed he had accomplished his goal when he reached Seychelles in 1996,[3] but to him it felt anticlimactic. He had spent too little time in some countries, and there was still much to experience; so he continued on.[4] Between 1962 and 2010, he cycled more than 609,000 kilometres (378,000 mi) and visited 195 countries and 78 territories.[5] From 1995 through 1999, the Guinness Book of Records described him as having travelled more widely by bicycle than anyone in history.[1][6]

During his travels, he has encountered many hazards and suffered numerous injuries:

A profile of Heinz Stücke's black bicycle, laiden with baggage and a bedroll. Behind it, Stücke talks with two visitors.
Stücke's touring cycle loaded with luggage

Although he has ridden the same steel-framed bicycle on most of his journeys,[4] in 2002 he rode across Canada with a partner on a Hase Pino tandem recumbent bicycle, which Hase Spezialräder built and sponsored.[9]

Recording the journey

Heinz Stücke stands in front of an array of photos pinned to corkboard. He smiles slightly and leans against one of several glass-covered trays of trinkets on a table before him.
Stücke poses with some of his photographs and other memorabilia.

Since 1962, Stücke has taken more than 100,000 photographs. He funds his expeditions with licensing revenue from his photo catalogue; donations; and sales of his travel writing, postcards, and booklets that feature his photographs, writing, and illustrations.[3][9]

In 1995, around the time he set the world record for bicycle touring, Stücke self-published a memoir: Mit dem Fahrrad um die Welt ("Cycling Around the World").[10] In 2015, Dutch travel writer Eric van den Berg published a biography commemorating Stücke's career of international bicycle touring—a career which by then had continued for more than 50 years.[2] The book, Home Is Elsewhere: 50 Years Around the World by Bike, also features Stücke's photographs.[11]

Spanish filmmaker Albert Albacete's[12] documentary film The Man Who Wanted to See It All (not yet released as of February 2016) explores Stücke's life, motivations, philosophy, and legacy; there also are plans to build a museum devoted to Stücke in his hometown of Hövelhof.[13]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Cowell, Alan (10 May 2006). "After 335,000 Miles, a Robbery Splits Man and Bike". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-07-01.
  2. 1 2 Staff writer (8 December 2015). "'Home Is Elsewhere': Traveller's tales with Heinz Stücke". Sportive.com. Sports Gaming. Retrieved 2016-02-21.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Ratliff, Evan (1 June 2004). "Let Us Now Praise Crazy Mofos: Heinz Stücke: Pedaling the Planet". Outside. Santa Fe: Mariah Media Network. Retrieved 2016-02-28.
  4. 1 2 Stücke, Heinz. "Around the World by Bicycle". China Cycling Travelogues. Bike China Adventures, Inc. Retrieved 2011-07-01.
  5. ↑ "UN Masters". TheBestTravelled.com. Retrieved 2016-02-21.
  6. 1 2 Staff writer (9 May 2006). "World's most travelled bike found". BBC News Online. BBC News. Retrieved 2011-06-30.
  7. ↑ Stücke, Heinz (1 June 2010). "An unfortunate accident". heinzstucke.com. Retrieved 2013-11-29.
  8. 1 2 Seaton, Matt (21 May 2004). "Heinz Stucke rides through life". Taipei Times. Taipei: The Liberty Times Group. p. 18. Retrieved 2014-09-21.
  9. 1 2 Atkielski, Anthony (29 July 2009). "Heinz Stücke, World Traveller". Anthony's Home Page. Anthony Atkielski. Retrieved 2011-07-01.
  10. ↑ Stücke, Heinz (1995). Mit dem Fahrrad um die Welt [Cycling Around the World]. Hövelhof. OCLC 723710974.
  11. ↑ van den Berg, Eric (2015). Home Is Elsewhere: 50 Years Around the World by Bike. Brompton Bicycle. ISBN 9780993452406.
  12. ↑ cf. Artesanos (2011)
  13. ↑ Albacete, Albert (director) (December 2015). The Man Who Wanted to See It All. Vimeo (Motion-picture trailer) (in German and English). Albacete, Albert. Event occurs at 2:50. Retrieved 2016-02-21. A museum will be built here in Hövelhof in his honour. I really appreciate this and I support it.
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