In summary...
A journey by bike, crossing Europe from North to South… From Norway to Portugal From trondheim To Vilamoura
A sporting adventure, human, a personal quest with myself … and my near sixties …
The journey: almost a year of preparation for the unknown, of discovering countries that I have only seen on postcards, on magazines, in reports. The preparation of my stages, the tracks taken, the weather "we have to deal with ...", between -15° to a little over 40°, the measurement of the detail, the equipment and choice of material, where I link the map at the sport adventure, where I calculate the km according to my physical and mental abilities, where I create a motivation.
During this trip, the view that we can have on the world, on what is done elsewhere, for good or for less. Often our elected officials should travel for inspiration ... cycling infrastructure abroad being much better thought out than in France.
The human adventure: During these 41 days, I met people, i got looks and questions. Traveling by bike (with panniers - bikepacking) arouses curiosity, when you get to on usual places, people come to you... it creates an oportunity for discussion, exchange and sharing... whether one is for or against social networking, it remains a valuable tool for sharing my adventure. It is in fact a tool to a tool to arouse desire, so that each personn who follows me, coud wonder why not me, I can create my own adventure, however small it may be... for those who would not have the possibility to do it ... sharing my experience gives me additional motivation, thank for your feedback.
The personal quest : Every day, around ten hours in the saddle, around ten hours pedaling, around ten 'hours to think about …
Time to reflect on my life, on my lives, I already have several, personal, professional and sporting accumulations... for good numbers, I always make sure to go to the end of things...
During these days, everything is mixed up, scattered thoughts, between childhood, adolescence, adulthood, the age of reason... buried memories, friends or people met, out of sight of or gone… only the ones that matter to me…
Everything comes back to life... this look at my past, at my choices, at what I've done well, what I've done less well, sorting it out and looking ahead... keeping only the essentials, which allows me to move forward and refocus on myself … evlauate my options and appreciate the luck i have of living such an adventure, so many cannot …
During my adventure, my favorite moment: I would say none or rather all of them… I savoured every moment…
During my adventure, my worst moment: Arriving in Munster in Germany, after more than 10 hours in the saddle, struggling against the rain and the wind, with Georges who joined me on a few German stages, we got rinsed. A few hours earlier, I booked a hotel, beast on the photos i saw on its website, bicycle wheels and a bicycle hung on the wall of the reception, and of its living room... I said to myself, "this is what what we need”. On arrival, the receptionist refused to keep our bikes at …the hotel, so we had to find an alternative for the night.
In conclusion, 41 days - 4952 km - 42939 m D+ - 8 countries crossed … I lived an extraordinary and enriching adventure on so many ways, emotional, personal, human and sporting accomplishment … luckely, no glitch no mishap …
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