Wanted: Videos of Hotkiss, Prince and Friends

Four friends, all with novel names, have lost digital recordings of their six-month biking trip from Hong Kong to Paris.

Disappointed adult outlets with DVDs of "Hotkiss, Prince and Friends" are asked to forward their unsold merchandise to the hapless yet happy twentysomethings from Hong Kong, who desperately wish to have a record of their adventures.


Reference

Four left feeling flat after ride of lives (The Standard)

Candy Chan

Monday, January 21, 2013

Four cyclists who rode for 16,000 kilometers from Hong Kong to Paris have been left with a gap in their lives after they lost photographs and videos covering six months on the road.

Thieves struck in Germany as the four neared the final leg of their 7-month trip. The pictorial record was to have formed the backbone of a book about their great ride.

It was a chilly morning near the end of November when they awoke in a tent near Germany's Black Forest and two of the cyclists discovered bags missing along with the pictures on an external hard drive.

"Heartbreaking," said Tim Yu Tin-yu, a 27-year-old quantity surveyor. "We lost all of the photos since our trip started."

Yu and construction supervisor Hotkiss Law Yip-man, 25, City University graduate of policy studies Taylor Chung Tai-loi, 24, and adventure coach Prince Wong Tze-kin, 22, were home yesterday after their "Bike for Another Choice" adventure.

They now face the prospect of a book on their journey that will have to appeal largely on their memories and words.

Still, said Law, "it's good to be home. I realize how much I love Hong Kong."

They reached Paris on December 15 and then took in more European sights as the usual tourists, meaning no bikes.

Law came up with the idea of the long ride after being inspired by a Taiwanese computer engineer, Deray Hsueh, who cycled from Beijing to Paris in 2007 for environmental protection.

It took seven months of route planning, hard training and readying gear before they set off on May 1 last year on the opening leg through Guangdong. Each of them outlaid more than HK$50,000, and between them there was HK$50,000 from sponsors.

Their route took them across the mainland and into Tibet then on to Nepal, India and Pakistan. Lacking visas for Iran they flew to Turkey and then into Europe.

The Sichuan-Tibet Highway was tough with mountain roads up to 5,000 meters. "So was India in August heat of 40 degrees Celsius on dusty roads," Wong said.

Yu's focus is now on the book, Chung plans more studies with the idea of teaching, and Law and Wong dream of opening a hostel on the Sichuan-Tibet Highway.