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Vancouver retirees put 45 countries and more than 40,000 kilometres under their treads

For some, the idea of retirement and an empty nest brings to mind quiet, serene thoughts of one's twilight years, the greatest challenges of life long past. But that's clearly not the case for everyone.

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For some, the idea of retirement and an empty nest brings to mind quiet, serene thoughts of one’s twilight years, the greatest challenges of life long past. But that’s clearly not the case for everyone.

Margo MacTaggart and Chris Oram of Vancouver, especially, defy that idea of retirement.

As of 2015, the CBC reports, the B.C. retiree couple has put 40,000 kilometres—at least—under their shared rubber, with over 45 countries around the world having hosted their own retirement-era undertaking: biking around the world. It started in 2006 when the pair found themselves with an empty nest, and within years, had taken them everywhere from Thailand to Afghanistan to the trails of their own country. On one leg of their trip, riding from Bangkok to Paris over the course of 11 months, the pair encountered a few rather harrowing moments in the saddle, they told reporters.

Near Afghanistan, MacTaggart described, they were stopped at an armed checkpoint. “The lads who are manning this checkpoint are Russian-looking,” she described, “and to us they can’t be more than 17 and they have AK-47s.” Afterward, their passports checked, Oram had difficulty doing up his jacket with the strain of the previous six-months weighing on his wrists. One of those soldiers ended up helping.

Since setting out nearly 10 years ago on their ambitious, globe-trotting haul, the couple have seen far-flung corners of Asia, Europe and North and South America from the intimate, up-close perspective of their saddles. They’ve maintained a blog along the way, capturing every moment—everything from heartwarming welcomes to rather unsettling, even disturbing cold shoulders at the hands of Chinese officials when they strayed too close to Tibet. Still, if there’s any problem they encountered most, Oram told CBC reporters, it was one that was barely problematic at all.

“Our basic problem is generosity,” he said. “Extreme generosity.”

An audio interview with the global bike adventurers can be found here, as well as a full account of their travels at candmwanderings.wordpress.com.