Vintage_Cyclist

4 killed, 3 injured. American, Dutch and Swiss riders run over and set-upon with knives. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-...paign=sharebar

mev

Sadness and shock for the victims.

Also distressing on several parts including:
- Reads like a rather brutal and intentional attack
- Looking at UK and US government travel advice, looks like Tajikistan had some cautions, but nothing to suggest this type of attack, so unexpected
- Looks like they were on a route that would have finished the Pamir Highway and now be on the way to Dushanbe.
The Pamir Highway has been on my bucket list for a while, though an attack like this certainly gives pause.

indyfabz

"'We are looking into all versions - accident, robbery ... including a terrorist act,' said Interior Minister Ramazon Rakhimzoda."

alan s 

mtb_addict

I cannot help but wonder if it is not unwise to not display your nationality in this day and age of global disorder.

dh024

Attack has been claimed by ISIS: https://abcnews.go.com/International...ry?id=56911753

spinnaker

Probably not a good idea to go out and advertise but still nearly impossible to cover entirely unless you are lucky enough to have regional features..

Even in a place like Italy, I was picked out as either being German or American because I am tall, light hair, light eyes. I can't imagine how I might stick out in Tajikistan.

Maybe wear a scarf while riding? I had a wamshowers host that rode while wearing a scarf. Mainly did it to protect his face from the sun and dust. But actually a pretty good disguise to try and shield you from folks that might want to do you harm because of the way you look.

DIY masochist

What a shame. I was surprised when I heard that people were touring Central Asia now for this reason, but everything I read made it seem like a pretty peaceful place.

I assume it's hard to hide the fact that you're a foreigner when you're rolling around in weird clothes on a weird bike with tons of gear strapped to it.

vol

Nice pictures and interesting stuffs about their world cycling tour on the website maintained by the American couple that were killed:
Simply Cycling

mev

https://www.npr.org/2018/07/31/634373403/d-c-couple-killed-in-tajikistan-attack-were-biking-around-the-world-together

Article that captures some of the essence of the trip for two of the deceased.

jefnvk

The Pamir Highway has been on my to-do list before I even got into bike touring. Until now, everything I have read about the place is that it was a sea of peace in an otherwise turbulent region.

DeadGrandpa

Evil is everywhere. You don't have to go to those "foreign" countries for it to find you, though westerners can't help being obviously westerners in some of those countries.

Was it only a few months ago that someone drove a rental truck up a MUP in NYC and killed 8 or 9 innocent people? Wasn't that for largely similar reasons?

vol

Ironically, in that case, most of the victims happened to be Argentine tourists, not the intended American target by the attacker.

mev

Links to three different blogs kept by the victims:
Lauren & Jay - Simply Cycling
Markus & Marie-Claire - https://www.2initinere.com/
Rene & Kim - https://kimenrenefietsen.wordpress.com/

djb

another crappy story to read about.

yet, as has been mentioned, this year some crazy jackass drove a van into people on the sidewalk in Toronto, and more recently, some another crazy jackass took a gun and shot a bunch of people in restaurants in Toronto--so it comes back to the whole topic of "does one not travel because of isolated incidents"??

calculating risks and looking at and balancing the rewards of an adventure will always vary from person to person, and what you've been brought up with of things to do in your life, or your personality, or your dreams and interests.....

to me it still comes back to being realistic about risks, assessing and managing and reacting to them.

still a crappy story to read though, but no diff than reading of the poor people on that bridge in London who were going about their everyday lives and not doing anything remotely dangerous.

djb

oh, and thanks Mev for putting up the links to these adventurous, interesting people.

DIY masochist

From that NPR article, an excerpt from their journal:

Very wise, and totally true. Nothing in my life has showed me the goodness in people more than bike touring. It's not always easy or safe, but it never felt like it wasn't worth it.

seeker333

A Dream Ended on a Mountain Road: The Cyclists and the ISIS Militants

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/07/w...ke-attack.html

djb

young men, religion and those who have an agenda in beating the flames of intolerance.
Never a good mix, whether its some Irish guy who thinks its fine to bomb a pub of other Irish guys, or some white dude brought up to think lynching is fine, or some Tutsi guy listening to radio rants about his Hutu cockroach neighbours, or some Ayran feller, or some Cambodian feller......well, you get the picture.

Us humans are complete dickheads sometimes.

but throughout all that, people can be so kind and generous, especially towards travellers on these here two wheeled things that take a lot of work to pedal along.

BikeLite

djb, there seems to be an epidemic of crazy jackasses these days.

TheLibrarian

At least as many got shot and killed riding their bikes in Chicago last weekend so there's that.

donnylama

I know this is an unfortunate incident and shouldn't happen to anyone, but in reality, every day cyclists are killed all over the world by reckless drivers over taking them or causing them serious injuries. While it would be wise to avoid certain areas which are prone to violence, the rest just comes to luck, wrong place at the wrong time. any other day or even a couple of hours before or after, this may not have happened at all.

willibrord

Some interesting takes in the media. I admire people with the adventurous spirit to do such trips, but at some point you have to look at the risk factors.

death by entitlement

avole

Truly a heavily biased, outrageous article. If politics isn't allowed in this section, then your post, and in particular your link, should be removed.

TMonk

closing this down for a minute