World traveler stops in Chester
<span>The Chester Welcome Center has become a favorite stopping point for a variety of walks of life.</span>
<span>Even those on two wheels.</span>
<span>Italian cyclist Armando Basile, who now lives in Germany, is on his fifth trip cycling around the world. A retired bricklayer, the 69-year-old has been pedaling since 1983, cycling through every European country, as well as visiting the United States, Africa and Asia.</span>
<span>Basile stopped briefly in Chester on April 19, with a deadline of April 28 to meet a flight in Washington D.C. for the next leg of his ongoing journey.</span>
<span>"I started in September," Basile said. "For the fifth time around the world. From Germany, I crossed Switzerland, Italy, Greece, Dubai, India, Nepal, Thailand, Malaysia, Bali, Australia and then the flight to San Francisco.</span>
<span>"Now, I come from San Francisco and I have a flight on the 28th in Washington, D.C."</span>
<span>Basile said his odyssey originally began as a hobby to stay fit. </span>
<span>"I say I am an old cowboy," he said. "I have no phone, no computer and I keep a photocopy and give a photocopy to the police when I take a break."</span>
<span>Basile leaves photocopies of an article about him from The Wimmera Mail-Times in Horsham - located in the Wimmera region of Victoria, Australia - with everyone he meets on his journeys.</span>
<span>Written on the article is the email address for Basile's son, Dirk, who tracks his father's progress through the correspondence from strangers.</span>
<span>"It is better when I give people (the) photocopy, because people can say Armando was here today or yesterday, or last week," Basile said, explaining that if something were to happen to him, his son could track his last reported whereabouts.</span>
<span>With more than 1.15 million kilometers under his belt in 33 years of cycling, Basile was asked his favorite scenery on his journeys.</span>
<span>"I like the nature," he said. "I sing on the road and I am happy. When you are happy, no problem, morale is OK."</span>
<span>This is Basile's eighth coast-to-coast trip across North America. His first started in New York in 2010 and went through Canada to Alaska.</span>
<span>"From Alaska, to Vancouver and back to New York," he said. "Twelve thousand kilometers (in) 80 days."</span>
<span>Basile told the Herald Tribune he travels 40,000 kilometers (24,854 miles) a year.</span>
<span>"This is my first time here (in Chester), but in 2014, from Washington D.C. to Dallas (Texas), L.A. and in 1995 with my wife from New York, Chicago, L.A."</span>
<span>Basile rode 480,000 kilometers with his wife, Gisela, before she was killed in a cycling accident in 2005. He has traveled solo ever since.</span>
<span>"Twenty years, I drive with my wife and my son," he said. "Every day working and back home training every weekend."</span>