EDITORIAL
TRAVERSE :
Discover The Truth
A recent week riding in the Otways of southern Victoria , Australia threw up a surprising comment , “ why would you want to ride Russia ?”. It wasn ’ t a rhetorical question , it was genuine , from someone who has never really travelled . My response , why not ?
Why not , indeed ! Russia is the world ' s largest country , as diverse as anything on Earth , and yet the question bothered me , it had been driven by a complete lack of understanding , a fear that had been percolating from the oftenhysterical commercial media . My friend ’ s reasoning was that Russia is a country where you will be detained for any reason at all , a country where you will disappear , and no one will care . It was a comment that had me reconsidered my friends .
Thankfully , another friend chipped in with comments about how she had ridden a pushbike through Iran and found the
people to be the most welcoming , humble , and sharing she had ever encountered . She offered that what we are repeatedly told about other nations is nothing more than ‘ commercial propaganda ’ for who knows what reasoning .
I rode home from that week trying to get my head around why people choose to believe without even discovering the truth . Trying to see both sides of the coin I failed to see the reasoning of the opposing side , a decision I was happy with and further cemented when rereading the articles in this issue of Traverse ; Michael Scheller ’ s tales of Iran and Pakistan showing it was “ Well Worth The Effort ”, or even Sam Manicom riding The Balkans .
Enjoy the discoveries in this issue and hopefully find something a little closer to the truth …
Leigh
TRAVERSE 5