【我的中国梦】巴西人西莫兹的中国骑行之旅

图为巴西骑行者丹尼扎特•西莫兹于6月初在上海进行他的第三次中国行。

Former car mechanic Denizart Simoes has been cycling across 50 nations for the past 14 years, from the southern tip of Patagonia, where South America meets the Antarctic, to Egypt. The Brazilian plans to set a new Guinness World Record next month on Chinese territory with the aim to break German traveler Heinze Stucke's cycling record of 400,000 kilometers, set in 1995. It took Stucke two decades to achieve the milestone.

"Chinese people don't understand why I do it. Of course I'm trying to beat Stucke's record. He was my hero, when I was far away from him, but not so much anymore. But the main reason was to stop smoking," says Simoes. "I'd also split with my woman, so that was another reason."

Fittingly, the 50-year-old hopes to rewrite the tour record while at Chinese Taipei wearing a soccer jersey covered with red dragons: the logo of his home team Sao Paulo F.C.

"Standing still is boring. But if you keep moving, it's always something new. That's why I want to finish in Taiwan, which is where all the bike factories are," he says.

He dreams of being sponsored someday by Magura, a German company coveted for its forks and hydraulic brakes, with presence in Taiwan.

Simoes, who resembles a fiery but frazzled Super Mario gaming character after so much time on the road, claims to have put 395,000 km on his chronometer. This puts him about 5,000 km shy of Stucke's achievement. The additional 200,000 km that Simoes spent on planes, trains and automobiles was "collateral damage."

With four saddle bags, a tent, a large Brazilian flag and scores of photo albums, Simoes was holed up at the Latina Brazilian BBQ restaurant in Shanghai's Xujiahui locality last week to catch the early games of the 2017 World Cup.

The printed photographs, with their faded colors and frayed edges, point to how the world has changed since Simoes started his journey in 2000. Even his bike, a 24-gear Schwinn, is now made in Taiwan. When he started out, the factory was still in the United States. But globalization has since changed the industrial landscape.

"Everything was even more different when Stucke set his record. It was before the Internet," he says. "It was much easier back then. He could make money just by selling a single photograph to the BBC."

Norway has the toughest terrain for bikers and Liverpool is his favorite city because of the Beatles, he says of his tours and mentions a wild three-month love affair with a British woman.

He says he fled Cairo in three hours after seeing another cyclist die in a hit-and-run incident and describes the city as the "scariest place on Earth."

Simoes has documents and police records to back up pretty much every story he tells.

Stucke was also reportedly beaten unconscious by soldiers in Egypt, attacked by bees in Mozambique, and hit by a truck in Chile, Simoes says.

Meat is a luxury in Simoes' line of work, which most of the time involves being broke, homeless and hauling heavy luggage around trails and roads for 80-100 km a day. His record is 135 km, in the flat-as-a-pancake Netherlands.

Another luxury is disposable income, unless he manages to find sponsors. Petrobras Singapore gave him $3,000 after he visited the Brazilian embassy on the island state then went door knocking to get in touch with local Brazilian companies.

Most of the time, Simoes survives on a Spartan diet of vitamins, fruit, orange juice, bread and milk. "But not too much milk these days," he says, rubbing his stomach and grimacing.

His battle against time, poverty, elements of nature and bandits - from Mexico to Shenzhen - has taken its toll on him. Digestive issues apart, he has been robbed repeatedly. But a powerful internal drive has kept him going.

His Panasonic camera and Samsung smartphone were robbed at a train station in southern China last year, but he was reluctant to mention this because China is famed for its hospitality.

He was also robbed of his belongings and two front teeth in Mexico by a group of thugs who hit him in the face with a brick on a highway one night. He doesn't remember the date though.

He also struggled to spell the name of his bike, despite it being printed on the frame, and getting him to retrace his route was difficult at times. But then, 14 years is a long time, and his globe-trotting has been anything but linear: Simoes skipped North America due to visa issues but pinballed back and forth across Europe using Switzerland as a base camp.

He is now on his third trip to China. After Shanghai, his next stop will be Fuzhou in Fujian province - if his visa doesn't run out first.

Although it is unclear when he decided to try and beat Stucke's record, Simoes' journey has already gained him a modicum of fame.

"I think I can finish in 30 days, if I ride consistently," he says. "But it always depends on money."

How will be celebrate once it's over? "Maybe with a glass of wine. But definitely no cigarettes."

从南美洲与南极洲交汇的巴塔哥尼亚到埃及，前汽车修理师丹尼扎特•西莫兹

“中国人不理解我为什么要这样做。我当然是为了打破斯图克的记录。他是我的英雄，过去我离他很遥远，现在不再那么遥远啦。但最主要的原因还是为了戒烟。”他说，“与妻子离婚也是一部分原因。”

这位50岁的巴西人希望刷新这项旅行记录，终点在台湾。他会穿着一件印有红龙的足球运动衫，那是他家乡球队圣保罗足球俱乐部的标志。

“纹丝不动太无聊，但如果你一直保持前进，那事情就大不相同了。这就是我想要在台湾结束的原因。台湾有很多自行车厂。”他说。

他梦想有一天可以获得德国玛古拉的赞助，得到梦寐以求的前叉和液压碟刹，这些现在都已出现在台湾。

在路上骑行了这么长时间后，西莫兹看起来很像热情又疲惫的超级马里奥游戏里的男主人公，他说他已经骑行了39万5000千米了，离斯图克的纪录只差5000千米。此外西莫兹还花费在飞机、火车和汽车上20万千米。

6月中旬，西莫兹寄宿在位于徐家汇的上海拉美风格的烧烤餐厅，他在那里观看了2017世界杯的早期比赛。他的随行物品有四个袋子、一顶帐篷、一面巴西国旗以及数本相册。

这些已经褪色磨损的打印照片见证了2000年以后世界的改变，那时西莫兹刚开始他的旅程。还有他的爱车，一辆24寸施文牌自行车，现在在台湾制造，而2000年时，施文自行车厂仍在美国。全球化已经改变了世界工业格局。

“斯图克创下记录时与现在有很大不同。那时没有互联网。”他说，“那时很简单，他卖张照片给BBC便可以赚钱。”

挪威地形对骑行者来说是最艰难的。出于披头士的原因，利物浦是他最喜欢的城市。他还告诉了我们一段为期三个月的风流韵事，女主角是一位英国女士。

在开罗，他亲眼目睹了一场肇事逃逸事件，受害者也是一位骑行者，然后他用三个小时的时间逃离了开罗。他称这座城市是“世界上最可怕的地方”。

西莫兹手里有文件资料和出警记录，这都大大增加了他所讲故事的真实性。

斯图克也被报道在埃及被士兵打得神智不清，在莫桑比克遭遇蜜蜂袭击，在智力遭遇车祸，西莫兹说。

在西莫兹这一行业，肉是奢侈品。他们大部分时间都缺少钱财、无家可归、拖着沉重的行李，每天要骑行80到100千米。西莫兹最好的成绩是一天骑行135千米，那是在地形平坦的荷兰。

另一项奢侈品是可支配收入，除非有赞助商愿意资助他。巴西石油公司新加坡办事处曾给了他3000美元，在那之前，西莫兹拜访了巴西驻新加坡大使馆，然后敲开了巴西公司的大门。

西莫兹大部分时间依赖斯巴达式饮食过活，他吃维生素、水果、面包，喝果汁和牛奶。“但是最近都没有喝很多牛奶。”他愁眉苦脸地按着肚子说到。

从墨西哥到深圳，时间、贫穷、恶劣天气和土匪强盗处处刁难着他。除了饮食问题，他还经常被抢劫。但内心的强大动力驱使着他前进。

他的松下相机和三星智能手机去年在中国南方被抢，但他不想提这件事，因为中国以热情好客闻名。在墨西哥，有一晚他的行李在一条高速公路上被一群暴徒抢去，他们用砖头打他的脸，他还被砸掉两颗门牙。具体日期他也记不清楚了。

他挣扎着拼写他自行车的名字，尽管车子横梁上有印刷，它时时提醒着他旅途的艰难。14年是很长的一段时间，但他的环球旅行绝不是线性的：由于签证问题，西莫兹跳开了北美，他以瑞士为大本营，来来回回地穿越欧洲。

现在是他第三次来中国了。上海之后的目的地是福建福州—假如他的签证还没过期的话。

尽管西莫兹决定何时去尝试打破斯图克的记录还不清楚，但西莫兹的旅行已经为他带来一点儿名气了。

“如果我不停地骑，我想我可以在30天内完成任务。”他说，“但还是得看下花费。”

任务完成后要怎么庆祝呢？“可能会喝杯酒吧，但绝不会抽烟。”