After 11,000 miles on a bike, a new impression of Americans - Local News Updates - The Boston Globe

After 11,000 miles on a bike, a new impression of Americans - Local News Updates - The Boston Globe
A good little Austin shout-out in here too.

After 11,000 miles on a bike, a new impression of Americans

(Handout photo)

By Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

Chris Aandewiel is a Dutch man with a well-worn mountain bike who slept this past weekend at the YMCA on Huntington Avenue. He has pedaled some 11,000 miles in the last year searching for the truth about Americans.

Growing up in Rotterdam, Aandewiel had an impression of this country shared by many in the Netherlands, an image formed by Hollywood movies and the media.

"We really think of Americans as how we perceive the United States government, and that's a little arrogant and stubborn," Aandewiel said by telephone.

Or at least that was the impression the 29-year-old consumer researcher had before he embarked on a yearlong bicycle tour around the perimeter of the United States. Since September, he has passed through 35 states, spent the night in the homes of 72 strangers, and met hundreds of people in gas stations and on highways who have nudged him along on his trip.

There was the couple in the motor home who overheard that his wallet was stolen in Fort Morgan, Ala., and gave him money until he could get a wire transfer from the Netherlands. Or the family in Minneapolis that paid for him to stay overnight at a Hampton Inn. And the two guys in Austin, Texas, who let him sleep on their couch while he waited for new credit cards to be shipped from home.

Aandewiel landed on Sept. 14, 2006, at Kennedy International Airport in New York City, put his bicycle together near the baggage claim, and started pedaling. He went south down the Atlantic Seabord, cut across the Florida panhandle, and on to California. Aandewiel saw snow in the desert in Texas and New Mexico, survived a flood, and came within 20 miles of a tornado, he said. Along the way, he saw coyotes, bald eagles, blue whales, black bears, a condor, and a moose.

Now, reflecting on his trip from the YMCA, he says he has some 300 miles left to go. He plans to pedal to New York City and fly home on Sept. 11. He remembered the lunches and dinners and hot showers.

"After being here, I really think that [Americans] aren't that different than the Dutch," Aandewiel said. "In fact, I really think they are friendlier -- and really more helpful than Dutch people."

Posted by the Boston Globe City & Region Desk at 10:39 AM