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Aventures Bicyclétales ... |
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people, respect the Earth !!
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Are super-powerful calves and steel-made buttocks necessary for such a trip ? Does the bicycle need to have some special characteristics ? Since it is unlikely there will be hotels every evening, where to sleep ? How to find the right way ? How to find directions ? Is it dangerous to cycle ? Is it difficult to get all the different visas ? Are super-powerful calves and steel-made buttocks necessary for such a trip ?
No
! Even though that certainly would help a little. But what is really
necessary, is to be fit and in good shape (running and/or riding at
least twice a week) and start the trip progressively, with
reasonable stages during the first two weeks (maximum of 60 to 70 km on
mostly flat roads) ; then, the body gets used to its new working
condition, the physical efforts and its new rhythm with a stunning
ease, stamina increases naturally, and from there riding stages can be
progressively lengthened, exactly at the same time your buttocks
finally successfully shaped your leather saddle to their image, making it as comfortable as your sofa !
This "getting started" period does not exceed a month, and is a very good indicator of your motivation !! Do not under estimate it. Does the bicycle need to have some special characteristics ? Yes, quite
a few indeed. Such a bicycle is intended to travel on very long
distances with lots of load on it, so it needs to be oversized and
equipped with very reliable parts :
Since it is unlikely there will be hotels every evening, where to sleep ? There are several alternatives to hotel stay ; starting with camping in the wild (a tent and a minimum of equipment will be useful here !!), spontaneous hospitality (usual in Thailand, Laos and in Muslim countries … but much less usual in developed countries) or "planned hospitality" through some hospitality associations (such as CCI, hospitality club, warm showers, etc …). Fortunately, accommodation is really not a problem with a minimum of flexibility and organization. How to find the right way ? How to find directions ? First of all, and since the sun rises from the East in Asia as well, I hereby have at my disposal an excellent orientation tool, for free and at any given time ... of the day. Because I will mostly head West in the direction of Europe (besides the two detours in Vietnam and Bhutan), I only have to make sure the sun rises in my back every morning and faces me by the end of the day, which is quite a guarantee of a nice collection of sunset pictures by the time I reach France !! To fine tune this rudimentary orientation technique, I will take along an analog compass (with a needle), an electronic solar compass and of course a set of maps of the area. I really balked at learning stars-orientation, but I never considered taking a GPS with me : using far too many batteries, so quite polluting, and moreover I was concerned a GPS would break the spell of the trip … just imagine me for a second, out there in the wild, but all wrapped around the little finger of some small black box, be it connected with three satellites does not change much to the story ... that would be a total disgrace !! So no GPS in my panniers, but I will certainly use from time to time, if not often, the expertise of the local people ; those moments are somehow always puzzling, it's a mix of mutual incomprehension, hope, disappointment, amusement as well, and sometimes, sometimes only, a person finally points a finger, steady, certain and confident, in a direction he just chose randomly ! The mystery of random encounters and random choices made by strangers, this is also what an adventure is made of ! Is it dangerous to cycle ? No, not at all. Cycling is not dangerous and a bicycle has never posed any threat to anybody, this is the other vehicles on the road that are extremely dangerous, but certainly not bicycles. I cannot ever recall having heard that a drunk cyclist killed an entire family on the road. So no, really no, cycling is not dangerous !! Falling asleep at the wheel, this is very dangerous. Falling asleep on a bicycle, this is very rare. Philippe Geluck. Is it difficult to get all the different visas ? Yes and No, it requires your attention several months before departure. You will have to check, for each country, the validity period of the visa (how long is it valid before arriving in the country ?), the duration of the visa, how long it takes to get it ? the special requirements if any, the necessary documents to provide, the size and quantity of ID photos and the extension possibilities once in the country. Finally, you may check as well in which country the embassy of a specific country provides the best visa conditions (Pakistan embassy in Thailand provides a 2 months visa only while its embassy in France gives a 6 months visa). Once this tedious work is done, you just have to plan the best possible sequence of visa requests in order to get the maximum of them before you hit the road.
* : sole visa not obtained yet as of 15.06.2008 and to be requested by October 2008. |
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