Around The World On A Bike: Eve’s Story

American cyclist Eve Holland has participated in 9 TDA Global Cycling tours beginning in 2016 on the Trans-Oceania. In 2026, she will add the Tea Route Cycling Tour to that impressive list.

On the 2024 Pub Ride

I think I was born to travel. In 1947, my mother boarded an airplane and flew to West Point so I could be born where she and my Dad had been married the previous year. My father was in the Army for the next 20 years and during that time we moved almost every one or two years. We had the good fortune to spend 3 years moving around Germany and, even at 10, I was aware of how fortunate I was to be experiencing that country on a day-to-day basis. We went to Brussels for the 1958 World’s Fair, and had an amazing road trip through Italy to Rome. In those days, there were still oxcarts on the road!

When I got married at 20, my husband went into the Air Force for 2 years and we moved each year. When he was done, we moved to Columbus, Ohio to establish his dental practice. I gave up my Military ID and was shocked to realize I would no longer be identified as an Army brat or an Air Force wife! Babies, work, and all the trials and tribulations of life impacted my travel, except for short vacations to the beach or elsewhere.

Eventually I met my wonderful husband Greg, who also has a travel bug. I’d only known him for 6 weeks when I found out I had to take a business trip to Nice, France, so I called him up and asked if he had a passport. His answer? “Where are we going?” I knew right then he was the man for me! Together we discovered the joys of traveling by bicycle, first on our tandem, then on singles. We were still working so could only do short trips. We took a week-long ride in Ohio every June and cycled from Pittsburgh to Washington, DC, on the GAP and C&O Canal trails.

On the Dempster Highway

Our first longer cycle trip was from Vancouver to Inuvik, with Cycle Canada. We bought our singles for this trip, not sure if our relationship would survive the Dempster Highway on a tandem! Plus, being the captain on 450 miles of dirt road would have been pretty stressful for Greg. On that trip, we met some TDA alumni who had just returned from the Tour d’Afrique Cycling Expedition. That was our introduction to TDA. We’ve been hooked ever since.

A street scene in India on the Hippie Trail. You’d never be able to get this close if you were in a car.

We will be riding the Tea Route (our 10th TDA trip) in January, 2026 and while filling out the visa application, we had to list all the countries we’ve visited in the last 10 years. Turns out that number is 41! And the vast majority of this travel has been on a bicycle with TDA. Although we haven’t loved every minute of every ride, we have really loved every ride. There is just nothing else like seeing and experiencing a new place on a bicycle.

This summer we made the decision that the Tea Route would be our last ride with TDA and we would start doing easier travel. Recently I was looking at our flights to and from this trip and realized we would encircle the globe. We leave from Phoenix and travel east to NYC and on to India, then on the return we travel from Sri Lanka to Seattle to Phoenix. What a fitting way to end all the fabulous travel we have been so fortunate to experience!

Of course, TDA keeps coming up with new rides. The Plum Ride looks really nice. Island Hopping Japan would let us ride on that really cool cycle path between islands, although there would be an awful lot of climbing. What about the Amber Route – that could be fun . . .

RELATED
TOUR

Tea Route

Tea. It wasn’t until the British arrived that this wild plant was turned into a commercial crop both in India and in Sri Lanka, creating those...