After meeting in Singapore during a professional internship in 2019, they decided to go back but this time… by bike! Singapore, the beginning and the continuation of a beautiful story for the two members of The SunRiders and the Damian and Matthieu. It was also an opportunity for us to send for the first time a Gravel cuissard Leader… in Nepal! Back on a one-year bike trip.
It all starts from there, from this desire for adventure, a sporting feat and to return to where it all began. At 25 and to celebrate the end of their studies, Damian and Matthieu decided to cross Eurasia, from Nice to Singapore. All without much experience of cycling! The perfect opportunity to get out of your comfort zone and go through difficult and varied environments while opening up to new cultures. But also in an educational setting by sponsoring the children of the Lenval pediatric hospital in Nice, hospitalized during the trip. Thanks to a weekly contact, through videos, zoom calls, presentations on travel themes, quizzes… They tell:
“We started with the idea that the memories we were going to keep from the trip were going to be the landscapes. Finally, it was the meetings that marked us the most and that animated us on a daily basis. The benevolence and the welcome exceeded all our expectations throughout the trip. We may have had a good sympathy capital on our bikes! It allowed us to deconstruct adrioris on countries like Iran which could be intimdering. It is in this country that we have formed our biggest friends. We are always in contact regularly. »
For cycling novices and great two-wheeled adventures, the number of daily kilometers gradually changed from 70 to 100 over the weeks! With a morning start at 7 a.m., sleep, despite the overnight stays in tents, was not asked: "We slept 90% of the time in the tent, the rest of the time we were invited to people or to hotels to rest better and take a good shower" . The advantage of meeting new people was also that of breaking the language barrier and the clash of cultures:
"After Europe, it was obviously much more difficult to communicate. In each country we have crossed we have learned the basic vocabulary to be able to communicate. It was also a big advantage in creating links with people who respected a lot the fact that we took the trouble to learn their language. Otherwise Google translation was effective and was very useful to us! Resorting, with gestures and imitation, was part of our daily lives, especially when we did not have a network. We can say that today we can say almost everything with our improvised sign language…”
Among the many countries crossed, the landscapes to take the breath away, or the memories created throughout the adventure and the encounters, Damian and Matthew were particularly marked by the kindness of the nepalese and the beauty of Kyrgyzstan:
"The country in which we have the best memories is Nepal for the kindness of the people, their good humor, for the diversity of landscapes that are crazy. A real peaceful atmosphere reigns in this country. Kyrgyzstan also took our breath away! The mountains are beautiful coupled with the nomads who live in their Yurts at high altitude. They live cut off from the world, raise their sheep and horses in complete autonomy. Without hesitation the craziest landscapes of the trip in front of which could be marveled for hours. On the other hand, traveling by bicycle in India is very complicated because we were directly in contact with the hardness of their daily life. People's oppression, misery, smell, dirt were very hard psychologically. »
"We fell in love with the bike trip for the sympathy capital it provides. It is also for us the way to be “where we are not expected”, to go to the small country villages, far from tourist places but where finally we really learn to discover the country, the culture, the people and their daily life. We realized that what animates us is to meet people, share friendly moments, exchange... The bicycle for us remains today a means of transport which allows us to meet people. Ride to ride is still not our thing. Also this trip made it possible to build a beautiful friendship. Every night we went to bed, telling ourselves that we were happy to be two. Being able to share what we are going through (good and bad) with our friend is essential for us. »
And now? It is on the side of French roads that cycling adventures should continue for The SunRiders in order to highlight the beauty and richness of our cultural heritage. And more precisely, meet at the end of August in the Ecrins!
Thanks to Damian and Matthieu for the magnificent postcards. To support them in their future projects, pre-order the jersey Leader of File x The SunRiders , A jersey that has proven itself throughout the miles of modern design and premium quality.
The adventure in figures:
130 000 Positive elevation drop meters
19 618 Kilometers traveled
10 000 Photos taken
1 150 Hours spent on the saute (the cuissards were effective)
365 Travel days
285 Rolled days
21 Crossed countries
17 Average kilometers/hour
10 Punctures (5 each (it's not much))
6 Broken rays for Matthew
3 Replaced wheels
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