Month: July 2016

[EN] 4 days to go…

Today I finally finished prepping my bike for the road/trail/whatever awaits. It’s a beautiful Lapierre mountain bike. Great for mountains, imagenot so much for long distance. Anyways, I won’t get into technicalities (unless requested). So with my bike all set, I took it for a spin. Any other rational person would have probably planned a 2-3 day trip to test out the gear and everything before the 4 month journey. Not me.

imageI learned two lessons from my 1 hour outing today.

  1. When you’ve never worn rigid cycling shoes before (these are the ones that cling to the pedals of the bike), you should take it easy and practice in a safe spot until you’re confident putting them on and off while sitting on the bike. Not what I did. I just took the road, and at the first stop I reached, I tried to set my foot on the floor but, to my surprise, it did not want to come off the pedal and so… I fell flat on my face, and the bike behind me.
  2. Don’t attempt to pitch a tent on dried out soil. I know this is quite straightforward, but I guess I just didn’t think it through. After countless strikes to stick the stakes into the ground, I broke the back of my knife-hammer in half. Ups! Had to use a cement block to keep the tent upright (really? hahaha). Anyways, that’s what my house for the next few months looks like. Wish me good luck…

image

[EN] What is this?

Rabbits are green, it’s just that you never looked close enough… (Random Statement 1)

So yeah. Welcome, oh dear reader, to my somewhat lazy, slightly weird yet hopefully inspiring attempt at writing a traveller’s blog that will take you through a journey to the depths of my brain. In order to do so, I will write relentlessly (-not) about my thoughts on life, love (yuck!), our planet, (un)sustainability, the places I visit, the people I meet and the disasters that are bound to happen to me as I bike my way from Spain to God knows where (within Europe) for the next 4-5 months.

Why should you be interested?

For the following reasons:

  1. Because your brain is probably as messed up as mine, in one way or another, and this personal journey I will be writing about is one of self repair, from which you can probably also benefit from. Besides, it’s always cool to know there are others as mentally dysfunctional as you are – how selfish is that!
  2. Because I am a disaster as a human being (I leave stuff on top of my car and drive away, I ALWAYS get lost, I miss trains, buses, appointments, the pan when I flip a pancake…), and you will most likely have some good laughs reading about the ongoing list of calamities I will put myself through as days go by.
  3. Because you might be interested in starting a bike trip of your own, and all the info I will upload regarding my gear and my day-by-day experience should be of value to you. Since this is the first time I ever do something of this sort, my writings will probably also help you understand precisely what you SHOULDN’T do in order to get out of a long-distance bike trip in one piece.
  4. Because (jokes aside) I will discuss some of the most concerning topics our species has ever had to deal with (hunger, climate change, unsustainable developmental models, loss of biodiversity, etc.), and you’re DEFINITELY interested in them.
  5. Because you care for my integrity and well being, know that this might be my only channel of communication, and want to make sure I don’t end up licking leaves for water and lost naked in the middle of the mountains somewhere.

Okay, so hopefully I gave you at least one acceptable reason for you to tune in to this blog every now and then. Please feel free to comment on any or all of my posts, and mail me a sandwich if I don’t write in more than a week, please. Ah, and if you want to know more about me, don’t forget to check out the About Me tab on the main menu. Until my next post then!