Bulgarians biking from Alaska to Argentina visit Brevard
It’s not an insignificant feat for someone to bike 38 miles. After all, that’s a little more than the distance between Mims and Suntree, and to bike that far would be a pretty impressive trek, regardless of how long it took.
Now multiply that trip by an order of a thousand. Any takers?
Two people, 41-year-old Yacheslav Stoyanov and 26-year-old Yana Melamed, both of Sofia, Bulgaria, are currently in the process of biking from the northern coast of Alaska to the southern tip of Argentina.
Their trip began on May 26 near Prudehoe Bay, Alaska. They’ve seen Canada, the upper Midwest, and much of the eastern seaboard of the U.S. as part of a journey that’s already seen them bike more than 7,000 miles in 200-plus days.
What’s more is that they’re not even close to finished, as they plan on exploring much of Mexico, Central America and South America before arriving in Argentina sometime in 2017.
Recently, they passed through Brevard County as they explored the Space Coast. In the midst of doing so, the two spoke to FLORIDA TODAY and answered the immediate burning question: What possessed them to do such a thing?
The idea was the brainchild of Stoyanov’s, who decided he wanted to explore.
“I’d never been here in America. I’d never been before. I’d just decided to do that, because I want to explore. I want to see the continents. I want to see and meet the people,” said Stoyanov. “I want to know about America, not from internet or movies or media.”
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But as he did that, he extended the offer to Melamed, who was all too happy to join him on the trip that she says took five months to plan.
“For me, he gave me the idea, because he wanted to do it anyway. For me, when he said why don’t you join, I said 'OK, yeah, why not?' Sounds like a great way to travel.”
It took just a few minutes talking to the pair to realize what they’ve already been through. The easy-going, likable duo proudly showed off their display of license plates from a host of different states they found, along with buttons from across the U.S. and Canada.
The endurance they have is staggering, with Melamed estimating that “usually we bike 40 or 50 miles” a day, though they’ve biked as far as 90 miles when they’ve had a tailwind.
They’re also doing all of this on about $20 a week. They rely on donations, such as one that came from Jerry Daniels of Port St. John, who brought food for the bicyclists.
“When I’d seen the license plate saying 'Alaska' on it, I thought there’s nobody in his right mind who would ride a bike from Alaska,” said Daniels. “…I just think the whole thing’s incredible. It’s nuts.”
Indeed, in order to survive, they’re forced to “rough it” quite a bit. They stay in tents in parks rather than in hotels and they make their own food.
“We are carrying five pounds of baking flour, and we are making bread. We are making our own pasta. We are making our pizza calzones,” said Melamed.
“Cooking is the best part of our journey, because we’re always hungry,” said Stoyanov.
The two are also riding for a cause, as they are hoping to raise environmental awareness as part of what they call a "cycle4recycle" program, and they say they’d like to spread their message to various groups.
“We are making presentations, and also we are trying to contact schools to make presentations for children and we are talking about the nice moments we have in nature and that we have to respect nature. We have to remember that we are partners with nature,” said Melamed.
“When you cycle, you’re going much slower than the car. You can see much more of the problems of littering,” said Stoyanov.
Those interested in more information about their journey or donating to their cause can check out the cycle4recycle page on Facebook.
Contact Bonanno at 321-242-3662, cbonanno@floridatoday.com or follow Chris on Twitter @FTChrisBonanno.