Rohloff in troubel

[il padrone]

An Aussie on a tour of a lifetime (the Silk Road) with his Rohloff-equipped bike, has been tangled up in a Tajik rebellion and fighting.

A Perth cyclist trapped for three days in a hotel during a military uprising in Tajikistan has described his fear as bullets ricocheted past on the street outside.
Brian Thompson was two months and 6500km into a cycling tour along the ancient Silk Road when he and his fellow travellers found themselves in Khorog, not far from the Afghanistan border, as government troops tried last week to seize control of the town.
Mr Thompson, 56, of Cottesloe, told The West Australian how he and his touring companions found themselves holed up in a hotel as fighting broke out on the street below.
“We were about 200m from a bridge where the fighting was fiercest … they were fighting for the bridge and it sounded like they were shooting over the top of us,” he said.
“A couple of times we heard ricochets (of bullets) outside on the street.”
Mr Thompson said the group’s local contact had appeared at the hotel during the three-day ordeal with “his eyes as wide as saucers” saying there were dead people outside on the street.
Mr Thompson, a retired small-business owner, and his touring companions desperately tried to make contact with their embassies in the intermittent times when communications were working.
He feared at one point he would not see his wife and two sons again.
“I’m disappointed to be coming home in some respects,” he said. “But I live in the best city in the world, I have a great family and here I am riding my bike in this s… place and you think, what am I doing.”
Mr Thompson and three other Australians were evacuated on Friday by a Tajik Government helicopter, organised by the Australian Embassy in Moscow, and were taken to the relative safety of the Tajik capital, Dushanbe.
He said the other Australians were safe and planned to continue their tour, which was originally intended to finish in Istanbul.
Mr Thompson said he was due to arrive home on Thursday to an expected emotional reunion with wife Janette and his sons.

Mentioned here in The Age as well. Good to hear that he's safe and on his way out. His family probably won't let him go touring anywhere now

[wheezy]

There you are, you see.

Wouldn't have happened if he'd been using a derailleur.

[Andre Jute]

Wheezy, you're a card!

[Danneaux]

His family probably won't let him go touring anywhere now

At least, he can count on "increased resistance".

I co-opted mine (father, sister), making them part of the "team". Leave them with maps, itinerary, contact info and a complete packet to pass off to SAR by phone, in person, and via email in the event things go Sour. Call home with GPS coordinates when possible, and leave a 3-day window of no-response before things get more Involved in escalating stages.

None of which would help a whit in this situation.

Mr Thompson and three other Australians were evacuated on Friday by a Tajik Government helicopter...

B-bu-but what about the bikes?!? Did they get evacuated, too?

It's all about priorities, Man!

Best,

Dan. (never leave a [bike] behind!)