At least, the North Cape

Dear readers,

A week ago, on Thursday July 10th at 2.00 PM I reached the North Cape. But before I need to go back into time at least I last wrote to you. If you remember I was on the edge of the North Cape Island and I was to cross the tunnel with my new friend José on the next day.
After a good night of sleep in Olderfjord, we woke up pretty early to be able to cycle the whole day up to Honningsvag 100 km further. The first part of the trip was pretty easy as we where skirting the shore providing a flat relief. The originality of that day was the fact that we had to go under four tunnels ranging from 400 meters to 7 kilometres. The closer we got from the longest one and the harder it became. Fortunately I met some people on the way and we were thus 5 cyclists waiting at the entrance of the tunnel and getting our gear ready such as putting warm clothes and switching our lamps. This tunnel has been a legend for us all as we have heard a lot of stories about it. Most cyclists say it is very hard as half of it is getting 10% down and the other half 10% up. For most cyclist it is already quite hard and a lot of them end the tunnel pushing their bikes but for me with my arms it should be even more difficult and I can’t just stand on my legs and push my bike.
So here we are, all 5 of us ready to be swallowed by the mountain. Fortunately it starts with the downhill part and I reach an amazing speed of 50 km/h. At this speed everything goes really fast and I am quickly going slightly up. It begins slightly but it is increasing and at some point I can feel my muscles burning, my forearms getting electrical shocks every time I ask them too much and my lungs asking for more air. José stays with me but the others are far ahead and I have no chance to catch up with them. On the side of the road we can see how many kilometres are remaining and I am looking forward to see the end. Now it gets flatter, however, I have forcing so hard before that I have just enough power to reach the finish line and here it is as we can see the daylight again. After that tunnel we need to cycle 20 more kilometres and it will be hard and I have been almost on the edge of fainting, missing some sugar.
The next day we need to drive 30 kilometres from Honningsvag to North Cape. It is far from being the easiest day as we are on see level and need to up to 300 meters. We started the day with a 3km 9% uphill facing the wind. It was just terrible but fortunately I had José and a newly met Austrian friend: Daniel to cheer me up. After the wind stopped we had a slight rain and thick fog. Mentally the road was very challenging as every time, we thought we were close to arrive, there was a last challenge such as uphills. When we finally got to the northern point of Europe, I felt all the pressure suddenly releasing while all the physical effort just made me exhausted.
After 2200 kilometres and more than a month, I reached one of my goals and this has no price. The emotions I felt were pretty strong and the main one was relief…
Now the way back but before a couple of days of rest doing some sightseeing!

Getting close to the North Cap

Dear readers,

I have now reached the 2000 km, I am still doing good and I am getting closer to the North Cap.
Since I last wrote you I went fishing with Mats (Nina’s boyfriend). It was a very nice experience as his cottage was lost in the woods and I needed a quad to get there. He cooked some reindeer food for me and it was delicious. The negative aspect of this evening is that we did not get to catch any fishes. The river was too high and the stream too strong…
After this very pleasant evening he led me to the place I was going to spend the night. It was at first glance a very cosy cottage. Quickly I found out it was full of mosquitoes. When I could not protect myself under my sleeping bag because of the sun heating me up, I left for the day. It was 5 in the morning. This day the weather was cloudy and very heavy, I was harassed by hordes of mosquitoes.
Withhin the next two days I crossed the border from Sweden to Finland and then from Finland to Norway. Back in Norway, I noticed why I decided to avoid this country.  It definitely offers marvellous landscape but the relief is terrible. Getting to Alta offered me the best of Norway with a river going through the mountains and still downhill. The noise of the waterfalls echoed in the gorge and contrasted with the silence of the surroundings. The road was 8% down but I was lucky to ride it downhill but I could not speed up as I had to stop every 5 minutes to shoot a picture.
In Alta, I spent 3 days, first to rest. Secondly to get back on schedule as I am more than a week ahead. These last days I have been driving much more than expected despite all the pauses that I take. Alta is on the cost and for the first time I can see the sea and mountains climbing steep up above the water. The clouds covering the sky give a magical feeling that I can feel in my guts. The different landscapes are just impressive and leave me speechless. Even if we are in July, a lot of snow is topping the different mountains tops. There is snow and the temperature has also severely decreased and I am wearing my hat almost every day.
In the camping from Alta I met several people. Two Norwegians Brigitte and her daughter spent the whole week end in Alta and they kindly offered me a lift to the North Cap. Unfortunately enough, I could not accept but this would have been great. I also met a Belgian, José, who is biking, as well, to the North Cap. We agreed to bike together up there. I found at last some company and I will be able to share my experiences with somebody else than myself.
We are now just 100 km away from North Cap and we will be going tomorrow to the island were the famous Northern point in Europe stands.
Even though it has not been raining during those last few days, we very rarely have sun and the weather is thus mostly cloudy.

A summary of my last weeks...

Dear readers,

Since I wrote to you, last, many things have happened. I am 1000 km further, totalling 1600 km. I am not in the mountains anymore but more in the hills. Hills are pretty nasty around here because it does not allow you to find your own pace… It is a succession of small uphill and small downhill and you are on relatively flat roads the winds takes it over.
Back in the mountains I have two bad memories. One in Vemdalen when I had to fight my way up an uphill road under the rain, and the second one occurred 10 km after. The latest one was fortunately not under the rain but it took me a while to arrive on top.
Up to today, my worst enemy has been the climbing but the weather. Indeed, it has been pouring almost everyday. I did not expect it will affect as much your moral. It easily gets on your nerves. Nothing is worst than being soaked, shaking because of the cold and not being sure where I am going to spend the night. Typically, this situation to me two days ago. I had been biking for 30 km under the rain to arrive at Korpilombolo. My whole body was soar from the rain, I could not move, my movements were uncontrolled and nobody was answering at the hotel where I was supposed to stay. I had to go to the neighbour to ask for some assistance. They finally manage to reach the hotel owner and I could fortunately sleep in a dry and warm place.
Since Friday I have been staying in Pajala, waiting for my second package and waiting for 3 of my Finnish friends travelling in the area.
Since yesterday, the weather became better and I can enjoy the heat of the sun again. The positive impact of the sun on your mood is impressive. While I was on the edge of a nervous breakdown two days ago, I am now totally fit and ready to go further.
Several meetings with other bikers (Marcel, Houde, Hakan, Johnny, Richards) and with camping owners (Bert, Marguerite, Nina…) have helped me to keep a positive mindset…Meeting new people, even though it is for a short time period to think about something else and to share your experience. Sharing my experience either with people I meet or on my blog is a nice cure to “depression”. I impressed by the outcome of it… Yesterday night, my three Finnish friends were visiting and seeing three known faces cheers you up as well.
Another positive influence on your mood are the objectives that you set to yourself. Those objectives have grown bigger since the beginning. My originally planned 60 km/ day have become 100 km/ day. Cycling 100 km/ day is putting me ahead of my schedule which allows me some liberties such as rest days and accepting invitations of people I meet. In Asele, Bert and Marguerite, owners of the camping, invited me to take one rest day in their camping which allowed me to go a bit sightseeing with them. In Pajala, I have been offered by Nina’s fiancé to go fishing as well as to go sight seeing. As a bonus he will also drive me 70 km further on my itinerary because of heavy road works.
Other objectives were the 1000 km edge, which I fulfilled last week. This week, I have reached the Polar Circle and hopefully, next week end I will be able to reach the North Cape.
Today, I am in Pajala and should leave soon with Nina’s fiancé for a new place…

Waiting for a package in Funasdalen

Dear Readers,

I am currently in Funasdalen in Sweden, still waiting for a package that was supposed to arrive on Tuesday in Os in Norway. Yesterday I biked from Roros in Norway to Funasdalen because it was the new destination of my package and I hoped to catch it there. But my expectations were filled with desillusion and I am still desperatly waiting.
Roros and Funasdalen are seperated by 77 km, some mountains and a lot of snow. This makes it a difficult trip especially if it rains. At some point it even rained ice! Roros and Funasdalen are in two different scandinavian countries, therefore I had to cross the boarder.
Crossing it was particular because the custom is posted on the top of the mountains in the middle of no-where with just a few houses, one guy from the custom and a bus full of norvegian stopping for a little snack at the same time as I did. 40 km later I arrived in Funasdalen a big ski resort with a big lake, a few houses, two to three restaurants and my hostel. Very few restaurants remain open after 20h00 so I had to rush under the shower and go in one of the restaurant to have some diner. Quickly, I met a norvegian man who happened to stay in the same hostel as I did. We chated for a while and were joined by one german and one american who were doing field work in the area. It was my first social evening and it was really nice meeting total strangers and talk about our different perceptions about the scandinavian culture. We came to a common agreement saunas are very good, food is different, Danemark, Sweden and Norway are three totally different countries with their own culture and swedish women chewing tobacco is definitely not sexy.

Let the trip begin...

Dear readers,

I am now gone for my trip since a week. I drove to Copenhagen by car, took the ferry to Oslo and started the big adventure last wednesday. Fortunately, a friend of mine decided to come with me for the first days and I was thus not alone. After we arrived in Oslo we arranged a couple of stuff for her to get back to Oslo later on. Getting out from Oslo was no fun as the hills were pretty steep. After 40 kilometers we stopped in a place under the trees, to sleep, which happened to be infested by mosquitos. That night I thought I would quit right away. Unlike France, the weather up there was beautiful and we were thus pedaling the whole day under the heating sun. We immediately imposed ourselves a heavy rythmn and after two days we did 80 kilometers which was breath taking. Once out of Oslo the nature is just overwhelming full of trees, hills and animals, so many places that you can see untouched by human beings.

Now my friend is gone and I am going through the day on my own. It is definitely not easy and yesterday's 93 kilometers were a hassle. For the last 40 kilometers, I was exhausted, it was raining and the road was seriously climbing. But at the end of the day, eventhough I was tired, you could see on the map the jump and psychologically it is a good feeling. So today I wanted to go easy and just to ride a few kilometers to pick up the package I sent to myself with food and medication. But what a desillusion when I heard that this package did not arrive yet... I still need to find a solution...

At last, an update...

Dear readers,

It has been a long time ago. The departure closing in everything has gone so fast that it has been hard for me to keep up... But i want to take the opportunity of having some spare time to keep you up to date with the last happenings...

First my new friend Héméra is leading me everywhere and it is a real pleasure to ride it, especially when it is sunny and warm like it is those days. My amount of kilometers is increasing everyday and my capacity to handle kilometers is improving.

Recently I bought my trailer. A trailer that is meant for bikes so I had to ask a friend to built an adaptation so that I could use it on my handbike. In order to gain some weight I have decided to use my wheelchair wheels (since I will carry my wheelchair in the trailer), instead of using the provided wheels.

I have also started to work with a partner on my sport suit and you will find a picture hereby attached. Later the logos of the different partners will appear on it. This suit is custom made, reinforced where there is a risk, breathable where there is contact with my seat and stretched for more confort. This suit is not waterproof, this is why I have a second suit which is waterproof. All the properties of the different garments is impressive but funny enough, yo unever have one garment that combines all the properties that you are looking for...

I also contacted the company which will provide me the appropriate freeze-dried food. The range of product they have is amazing, I just hope I won't be fed up too quickly and that I will handle eating this kind of food for 3 months.

I would like to take today's opportunity to introduce you to my new coming sponsors who recently agreed to support my adventure: Jaeger-LeCoultre, the SBM of Monte Carlo as well as Sogelym Steiner. They come in addition to those who already joined the project.

A big thank you to all of these companies and people who have trust in the project without whom I would not be able to leave...

Nice suit, isn't it ?

The preparation phase

Dear readers,

This week, I want to introduce you to my new best friend "Héméra". Why new? Because, it/ she just came into my life. Why best friend? Because we are going to hang out together for the next 4 months. Who the heck, am I talking about, you might ask ?

Well, first clue, it is not a girl... No it is my trip's best companion, the one that I am going to use everyday, whatever the weather, whatever the road, whenever within the day. I am talking about my handbike. I have been waiting for it during a whole month and it has at last arrived. The project is now becoming concrete and I can have a real training planning instead of before when I was dependent on other people lending me their handbike. I thought I would give it/ her a name in case I need to talk to someone. It will be easier to talk to Héméra than to a handbike.

Now that I have Héméra, I can also look for an adpated trailer. It might seem easy but it is actually much more difficult than everybody thinks. Indeed, the trailer is adapted to bikes and not to a handbike, meaning that I have to make some changes. But to choose the right trailer is also not simple, you have a wide range of products, ranging from monowheel towards two wheels, both offering advantages and drawbacks. Feel free to provide me with valuable advice if you have some experience with one of them.

Appart from that I have also started receiving some camping equipment. I am relieved, I will have something to sleep under. I have also chosen to take some freeze-dried food with me. 90 days of freeze-dried food will be heavy so I will make some sendings in order to spread the weight along my trip. Freeze-dried food gives some kind of flexibility, as well, managing when and where I want to eat not depending on whether I will find a restaurant or a supermarket or not. Freeze-dried food is lighter than normal food it is less bulky and you can keep it for a longer time.

Now that I am tackling logistical and concrete issues, I can feel D-Day closing in.

D-Day: D-42 

Have a look at the following video to meet Héméra:

 

If you were in a wheelchair... part 7

Dear readers,

1. Something very interesting and original happened to me one evening in Rotterdam. I was on my way home after I had accompanied a friend back to her place when it started raining. Under the rain, your hands can slip off the handrail and it becomes really tenuous to control your wheelchair. I was getting off a pavement when my wheels got stuck in the gutter and my wheelchair tipped forward. I managed to restore my balance, and before I was on my way again, a police van stopped and the two policemen inside kindly offered to drive me home. This act of kindness really touched me then and I wanted to express my gratitude.
2. What about a nice evening in a restaurant? I never say no: there’s nothing like not having to cook and discovering new flavours. But I always feel a bit embarrassed because I know that the space between tables is limited and moving in the restaurant is a real pain in the neck. The only way for me to get through with my bulky wheelchair is to ask other customers to move their chairs forward. It annoys me and I understand perfectly that people can get annoyed, so I am really thankful for most people’s sympathy and patience in these cases.
3. We haven’t really talked about pavements yet. They can be a real nightmare when they are too high, whether you have to get on or off them. It is physically impossible to get on a pavement without help if it’s too high. Getting off the same sort of pavement is a pain all the way down your spine. Most often, wheelchairs are condemned to get off the pavement when there’s a pedestrian crossing because it’s the only spots where you find accessibility facilities. That’s why a car parked on a pedestrian crossing shows the selfish and condemnable attitude of its owner.

See you next friday some new stories...

If you were in a wheelchair... part 6

Dear readers,

 

1. When I moved to Paris, I started looking for a flat. After an unfruitful demand to the city council, I decided to look for one on my own. How greatly disappointed I was when I realized that looking for a flat is far from being easy. Especially when you’re looking for a flat in a building with a lift. Moreover, you cannot always fit the wheelchair in the lift, so you sometimes need to dismantle it… I am sure you know what I’m talking about, those tiny lifts where you cannot even turn around and that barely fit two people inside. I am of course aware that these cannot be changed. This would need tremendous work, so one simply needs to look a little longer.
2. Handicapped toilets are much appreciated when they are provided for. Fortunately, you can always find them in recent buildings. The usual problem, likewise for regular toilets, is when they are in use. But it’s scandalous when they are being used by a valid person. My experience is that each time a valid person uses handicapped toilets, he or she leaves a terrible smell and an unbearable vision behind. Another reason why it is important to leave handicapped toilets free is that we do not have the same capacity to "hold in" as well as valid people… Keep this in mind…
3. I recently went to Disneyland resort Paris for the first time – it’s never too late, you might say! I could generally access all attractions (which is not always the case depending on the handicap). I was consequently really surprised when I was not granted access to one of the most recent attractions: Crush’s Toaster. In fact, it’s supposed to be accessible. Well, in theory, because it’s not the case in practice. When I got to the entrance of the then most recent attraction, I was asked to "walk" for 300m on an authentic assault course with a lot of stairs and a very large crowd making my moves difficult and even impossible. I was told that this was a security measure and a sort of security test. You can imagine that this was the end of it and that I didn’t see the attraction. It’s a real shame for a new attraction that is said to be accessible and adapted.

See you next week for some new adventures...

The wheelchair is part of my life...

Dear all,

This week, I would like to tackle the topic of wheelchairs. I often compare it to a pair of shoes. Indeed a bad pair of shoes is painful, the same holds true for a bad wheelchair. A back rest which is too high will hinder your arms when pushing your wheelchair, a back rest which is too low will be dangerous as you might risk to fall back. If your foot rest is too high then your knees will knock your chin, if on the opposite it is too low then you will loose control of your chair. Choosing your wheelchair is hard and customization is expensive, so you usually have to cope with standardization.

In France , if a €600 pair of shoes will enable you to be the king of the night, a €600 wheelchair will not lead you very far.

Furthermore, I believe that a wheelchair reflects your inner personality so you do not want your wheelchair to be ugly, you want it to be trendy and fashion like you will do with your shoes. Some carbon there, some aluminum here and some titan over there, expensive materials that are adding up easily and quickly. These materials play in favor of nice wheelchairs but they also contribute to your health and your safety. Indeed titanium hand rims might sound superfluous but it allows your hands to break without overheating. Some carbon and some aluminum decrease the weight and thus diminish your effort to get your chair going. A small reminder, arms are not originally made to play the role of legs and they cannot provide the same level of effort and do not have the same power. 

My conclusion is that a good wheelchair, a wheelchair you are proud of, will have a positive influence on your well-being but it will also cost you an eye.

Departure: D-73