Oh, right, this blog is about the Road to Moscow. I think I am very ready and very much in the mood! Here's why.
Last week I rode my bike from Belgium's most southern town (Virton) to the Mediterranean Sea (Agde/Beziers). La France me manquait! I was hoping to ride to the sun, but I simply rode in the sun all way long. Six days, almost 1100 km of roads, spring was all around in the air. As an epilogue, I also cycled 150 km km of the way back north. Thank you Ruben (again) and Tim for taking me home for the other part.
La France... Something would have gone wrong with the country, it would be no longer the proud leading country it used to be. People are desperately pessimistic about the future in our globalised world. I shouldn't go into detail, you all read it in the media, don't you?
Never mind the sense of urgency of all the doomsday stories... For me - a cyclist longing for long and winding roads - France still has it all and has it to the most boundless extent, exuberant, exaggerate!
How many ways there are to say it was an all out exciting ride? Riding about 180 km a day, for me it's not about pushing to my physical limits, it's not about proving to be heroic whatsoever. Among other things it's indeed more about the joy which brings the utterly simple act of riding a bike and see the world passing by at both sides of the road. I am far away from social and physical discontent. My mind is finally free. I might be away from the world but I never feel so much part of the world.
I might ride alone during the day, once again, something which made this ride very special were my Warmshowers hosts. Seriously, they were all one of a kind with very particular stories. All humans are unique but some are more unique than others. I can only try to be such a genuinely kind host as they were to me. Thank you very much Oryanne, Guillaume and Marie, Patricia and Sylvain! Our meetings might have been short, but that's not the point. They were truly a pleasure!
And now... back to another reality for at least some weeks!
Here is the road i took:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1EYW2JScF2DcP_YW2pRPvSYNepsw&usp=sharing
Last week I rode my bike from Belgium's most southern town (Virton) to the Mediterranean Sea (Agde/Beziers). La France me manquait! I was hoping to ride to the sun, but I simply rode in the sun all way long. Six days, almost 1100 km of roads, spring was all around in the air. As an epilogue, I also cycled 150 km km of the way back north. Thank you Ruben (again) and Tim for taking me home for the other part.
La France... Something would have gone wrong with the country, it would be no longer the proud leading country it used to be. People are desperately pessimistic about the future in our globalised world. I shouldn't go into detail, you all read it in the media, don't you?
Never mind the sense of urgency of all the doomsday stories... For me - a cyclist longing for long and winding roads - France still has it all and has it to the most boundless extent, exuberant, exaggerate!
How many ways there are to say it was an all out exciting ride? Riding about 180 km a day, for me it's not about pushing to my physical limits, it's not about proving to be heroic whatsoever. Among other things it's indeed more about the joy which brings the utterly simple act of riding a bike and see the world passing by at both sides of the road. I am far away from social and physical discontent. My mind is finally free. I might be away from the world but I never feel so much part of the world.
I might ride alone during the day, once again, something which made this ride very special were my Warmshowers hosts. Seriously, they were all one of a kind with very particular stories. All humans are unique but some are more unique than others. I can only try to be such a genuinely kind host as they were to me. Thank you very much Oryanne, Guillaume and Marie, Patricia and Sylvain! Our meetings might have been short, but that's not the point. They were truly a pleasure!
And now... back to another reality for at least some weeks!
Here is the road i took:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1EYW2JScF2DcP_YW2pRPvSYNepsw&usp=sharing