Daily Archives: March 22, 2016

Man to Go on Reminiscent Bicycle Tour Across State

Kozhikode  :

Twenty-five years after Jose Michael, a native of Nadakavu in Kozhikode, who travelled along with his friend from Kozhikode to Europe on a bicycle in the late 80’s, the 51-year-old will pedal from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasargod to reminisce about his bicycle days in Europe.

Setting out on a voyage to Europe in 1987, at the age of 26, he covered Greece, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Netherlands within a period of three years. “Though such trips are mostly planned, we had no planning at all. We had only one goal– to reach Europe. Initially, we really doubted if we could complete the mission. Memories from the trip are still fresh”, Jose recalls.

BookKERALA22ndmar2016Joseph penned the  duo’s experience during their  fun-filled voyage to the western world in his book titled, ‘Simple Sense’, which was published recently by Blue Berry publications.

In the travelogue, he has detailed the adventurous trip he took with his friend, Alex James, who was also from Kozhikode. “The book happened only because of my friend’s encouragement,” he said.

JoseMichaelKERALA22mar2016

In his twenties, Jose had a strong desire to settle in the western world. Although he knocked the doors of many embassies, he couldn’t achieve his goal.

Finally the idea struck him to get a bicycle and go on a world tour. The next challenge on his way was to find a sponsor and a companion for the voyage.

Rotary club of Calicut Midtown sponsored the mission titled ‘The Rotary friendship mission to Europe’.

During the trip, they had to encounter many physical and mental hardships. However, they fought the odds to reach the destination.  Jose also went on an all India tour on his bicycle in 1995.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Kerala / by Express News Service / March 22nd, 2016