About The Trip

On February 20th I will begin a 23,000km cycling expedition from Singapore to London, England. My chosen route will take me from the urban jungle of Singapore to the remote hill tribes of Northern Thailand, the high plateau of Tibet and the endless desert that is Pakistan and Iran. The trip is in support of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, CNIB.

Summer 2003

Some fellow English teachers in Taiwan had an idea for a big bike trip in Asia. Other than "big bike trip in Asia" no plans where made. I agreed to join in, kind of doubting that it would ever happen.

Fall 2003

I began cycling heavily due to the fact that I didn't have any other means of transport and then the idea of "a big bike trip in Asia" really started to appeal to me more and more each day.

March 2004

Began to start saving money for "bbtiA".

June 2004

It becomes blantly obvious that the original members of the trip aren't going to be accompanying me. Fine by me, I've never taken too well to traveling with others for extended periods of time.

July 2004

Begin to plan out a route. My girlfriend at the time agreed to come with me but would later back out. Starting to notice a trend...Do I have really bad breath or something? Why is everyone backing out of this?

August 2004

I have my route planned out from countless hours scouring over travel logs and maps. Singapore to England - that I know for sure, I'm just not sure if I'll head through the middle east or Russia.

Begin writing sponsorship letters and trying to find a worthy charity that fits my views.

September 2004

Sent out heaps of emails and letters trying to find equipment sponsors to help offset the costs of this dream trip. Feeling very frustrated at times, because it felt like I was getting nowhere, and other times I was on top of the world because of favorable responses from potential sponsors.

October 2004

Maybe the end of the year isn't the best time to be looking for sponsorship. I recieved alot of positive responses from companies about how they would love to help out but their sponsorship budget was maxed out for the year. BOB Trailers is on board and they will give me a pro deal. It's not free but it helps alot. Cateye also wants to be apart of the trip, and I found that out on my birthday so that was a really good day.

November 2004

Create a very amateurish website for my trip. I've gotta get something better. I'm sending loads of letters each day looking for potential sponsors. This is a tough game. I don't have any media coverage so it makes it a bit harder, plus I've never done anything this large before so companies would feel like they are taking a big chance on me. Feeling frustrated but I know that it's just minor. This trip is gonna happen no matter what!

December 2004

I recieved quite a few denial of sponsorship letters this month. They all go something like this "Dear Mr. Baydak, we are in recipt of your request for sponsorship regarding your cycling expediton. We regret to inform you that we are unable to sponsor you due to budget constraints." At least they are reading my letters and usually wishing me good luck. I was really suprised at how many companies actually sent me a letter to Taiwan. Rudy Project of Singapore agrees to supply me with sunglasses! Yeah maybe I am getting somewhere after all.

Janurary 2005

Time for a new bike and to begin the task of figuring out what gear I will need. All my friends think it's crazy that I am taking more socks than underwear... 4 pairs of socks and 2 pairs of underwear in case you were wondering. A friend agrees to make this website for me. Thanks Ben, you da man!

I did a 4 day bike trip around Okinawa island in Japan. Set my hammock up in the dark and later found out that I didn't have the rain fly properly attached. End result - soaked to the bone along with all my belongings, passport included (some visa stamps from the Phillipines are almost completely washed away). My bike seat has got to go. I spent more time standing than sitting on the last day.

February 2005

Finished up with my job! Saying goodbye to friends and tieing up all the loose ends of my life on this crazy little island called Taiwan.

I got a new bike seat. It's a Specialized BG Comfort Plus and I highly reccomend it. With this one I will actually be able to produce kids someday (not that I want to).

About Tyler

Name: Tyler Jay Baydak

Birthday: October 29th, 1982

Birthplace: Brandon, Manitoba (Canada) but lived in St. Andrews, Manitoba almost half my life.