“I’ve been cycling around the world” • Wanderlix

Don’t be afraid and get out of your comfort zone! The human is good at 99%, I am convinced...

It was in 1993 that Cyril, then 23, decided to realize his childhood dream: Australia . For five months, he's going to travel the country wide and across... by bike! Far from imagining that this cycle trip would have such an impact on the next 30 years of his life...

Indeed, since that day, he has never stopped travelling and above all, he has never (or almost) traveled other than by bike.

The bike, the red thread of my life

The question everyone asks: why the bike?

The question of the means of transport did not arise. It was like evidence. The bike has always been part of my life. When I was a kid, I lived in a village – I always lived there between two trips, and to go to school and then to college, I had to take my bike. There was no bus or taxi like now. I was going to cycling football, at the bike party. Everything was cycling at the time. In total, I did not travel less than 1,500 km a year with my bike.

Later, as I was at the library of my village, I fell on 2 books that recounted the adventures of people travelling by bike in the 1980s. It was their stories that inspired me. I was only 15 years old, but it was at that time that I had the click.

Were you physically prepared for your first bike trip?

No. As I said, the bike has always been part of my life, so I had a small base of cycling, but I never trained or prepared physically. In fact, when you leave for several years, training is the first 1000 kilometers. The whole thing is to put the machine on its way.

So once you did Lyon - Rome You're trained. So obviously, everything depends on the initial physical conditions of each, age and weight also come into play. But to be with my wife for 6 years, while she had never made a bike before, I assure you that everything is possible.

The art of cycling trip

Are you rather a king of the organization or pro of improvisation?

I never plan my trips in advance. I briefly trace a route of course, but I never know where I'm going to sleep the next day, or the same evening. There are so many variables. It all depends on the meetings I do on the road, which will make me take a direction rather than another. It also depends on my form, on the temperature it does, whether it sells or rains, and on everything that could “slow” my progression.

At first, when you travel, you're a real tourist. You plan everything, you're trying to optimize every minute of your time. Then when you realize that you have no time limit, no return date, the journey becomes your way of life. The journey becomes your life. Your new life.

Your house "on the back", you travel with the wind, without this pressure to stabilize every moment, without having to race against the watch because you are "more than" for a few weeks or months. You even take a vacation sometimes while you travel. So it is neither organisation nor improvisation. Rather, it is a matter of seizing opportunities when they come to you.

Rather minimalist or "loaded like a drunken"?

I'm rather old school. And as I am 100% autonomous, I am equipped accordingly and therefore quite loaded. To make it simple, I have 4 bags: one for clothes, adapted to the climate; one for sleeping, with the tent mainly; one for meals, with the stove and the necessary kitchen; and finally one for repair equipment, bike pump and road maps.

At first, I would be a little confused for nothing. But over time, my equipment has improved. I realized that some things were not for me. In general, when something never served you after several weeks, you get rid of it. Now, with experience, I know what I need and I can do my bag in 20 minutes.

80,000 km, 2,700 days, 75 countries

Tell us your tour of the world by bike, we want to know everything!

The most important, the most founder of all my trips, is the very first. With a friend, we absolutely wanted to leave on an island. Initially, we had the ambition to leave Bora Bora . We realized that a plane ticket was worth several months’ salary. And to be quite honest, we didn't even know where Bora Bora was. But it made us dream.

Finally, we left for three weeks in the Greek islands. And I realized that travelling was much easier than I thought, even at the time. And there were always solutions.

It is then that my bike adventures began, starting with Australia. I spent 5 months there, and that’s the trip that started my tour of the world by bike. It was there that I made my first 9,000 kilometers of bike ride. The beginning of a long series.

Tens of trips were followed in 75 different countries. A real tour of the world, so. I went from Saint-Etienne to Singapore in 28 months, equivalent to 34,000 km; I travelled 26,000 km from Bali to Saint-Etienne in 2 years; I pedaled 3,500 km in Madagascar; crossing the Wadi Rum desert Jordan and the tour of Europe; and more recently, I made a tour of Europe France 4,200 km in 50 days.

It is about halfway through our world tour that my son was born. We returned to France for the last six months of my wife's pregnancy, then we took the road again. No more than two, but three. He then spent the first 3 years of his life travelling around the world in a small trailer at the back of my bike.

We know that it is difficult to answer this question, but what is your country of heart?

It all depends on what criterion we rely on. If we talk about landscapes, relationships with locals, food... But to choose, it would be India No doubt! This is the destination I know the best and most exotic of all countries. I also loved the Japan , which is very disappointing. The Nepal also for treks. Or again New Zealand , for the diversity of landscapes that change in few kilometers.

But in India, you see things you don't see anywhere else. It is both majestic, wide and varied, perfect for making photos, but also very destabilizing. You can witness extremely hard things, you are facing poverty, illness, death.

And next to that, even if I spent two years of my life there, I don’t always understand everything that’s going on. You see monkeys on electric transformers, street scenes, cows that go back to restaurants and eat on plates, I pass and the best. This country has marked me deeply, I could talk about it for hours.

What makes you vibrate on a trip?

The human, without the shadow of a doubt. The important thing is to meet people, which is what animates me in the journey. Just like the nature aspect of elsewhere. Sleep outside or at home, make a fire, manage to find out where to wash, that’s the adventure. That’s what I remember.

And after all these years, even if I have the means to pay me one night at the hotel, I put a point of honour to keep this aspect roots from the trip. The memories are different and much more intense when you experience the adventure in full, in full nature or within the family cocoon of the premises.

What did the trip teach you?

The trip changed my life. It doesn’t happen a week without me saying we’re lucky. The chance to have drinking water and electricity, to be able to call firefighters in the event of an emergency, to be treated.

The journey teaches us to relativize, to become aware of the world in which we live. I don’t teach you anything, we French, we complain a lot, we’re never happy. Anyway, we always want more.

Beyond that, the journey defines our perception of things, our perception of the world. Typically, someone who has never travelled complains of having warm as soon as the thermometer approaches 30°C. Personally, for having experienced much higher temperatures in travel, my heat tolerance is much higher and my perception of heat is different.

To Hanoi at Vietnam and in Madurai in India, it is extremely hot, I remember very well. We easily reach 48°C... in the shade. The worst is the night, because the temperatures never descend below the 30°C, so the body never rests. We were always hot, the feeling of freshness does not exist there.

The journey also teaches us adaptation. People regularly wonder about my reintegration “in real life”, personally I’m not worried! I spent my life adapting, I know that I will always find solutions. Thanks to all my trips, my mind has become accustomed. I adapt continuously, it became natural.

The adventure starts at the corner of the street, it is enough to stretch the thumb

What was your parents' reaction?

When I left in Australia, in my head it was only one trip. I didn’t plan to have others. So my parents were not particularly reluctant. But finally, on my return, I did not delay leaving, especially in Czechoslovakia.

We were in the 1990s just after the fall of the wall Berlin and the countries of the east had just opened their borders. Of course, no need to mention that my father immediately warned me and advised me to leave, which did not prevent me from returning to the road.

But my parents finally came to the evidence. They stopped trying to understand and came to the idea that the journey was in me, that it was an integral part of my life. But when my wife and I returned to France for the birth of my son, they thought I had come home for good. I let you imagine their surprise when I left while my son was only 4 months old.

The first time they came to visit us, it was at Sri Lanka . They were surprised to see that with my wife, we were fluent in English, that we were doing very well on a daily basis, that we had no difficulty finding our way, finding a restaurant or the station. And they finally integrated the idea that the journey was indeed my way of life.

When I was in Australia, on my first bike trip, we had set a little routine with my mother. I called her every day at the same time, I let her ring three shots, just so she knew I was fine. And if there was an emergency, she answered.

Later, on my other trips, my parents could spend two months without news from me. Once, I remember calling them from Greece , and several weeks after since Egypt . They were far from doubting that during this time interval I had pedaled over 1,500 km, visited 3 other countries – the Turkey Syria and Jordan – and crossed Bosphore then Suez’s isthmus.

You are not without knowing that nowadays everyone has a phone. With social networks, we're all connected, we can contact our loved ones at any time. At the time, it was much more complicated. If we wanted to call our loved ones, it was extremely expensive. In the event of an emergency, we managed to send a fax or then we went to the embassies if necessary, but it was limited.

At the time, I was not aware that it could be hard for my parents. I now realize that I have children that it should not be obvious. When are we worried? At the end of how much time do we wonder if something serious happened? Nowadays, we don't spend a day without news from our children, otherwise we're wondering.

What would you say to someone who doesn’t dare go on adventure?

First of all, you should know that travel is not a matter of money or a question of social class. So obviously, if you have some savings, it helps, but the trip is possible, even without money.

Then don’t be afraid and get out of your comfort zone! The human is good at 99%, I am convinced after all these years on the road. In any case, this is the reflection I made after 30 years of travel. We're always doing great meetings, we're experiencing unforgettable experiences that change us.

So obviously, we live things less enjoyable sometimes, but the rest is good, and that’s what to keep in memory. All those people who hosted me, who helped me when I needed it, all those meetings and friendships that still persist today for some, that’s what I remember.

At the time, there was a slogan that marked me: just do it Nike. Just do it. That's exactly what it is. You don’t have to inspire yourself to someone who has done extraordinary things like Mike Horn. Everyone can do what he wants. It is up to everyone to build their own adventure. The adventure begins at the corner of the street, it is enough to stretch the thumb.

Tighten your thumb. Do we have to conclude that you have a history of auto-stoppers?

Yes, before our bike trips, we were having fun writing city names on pieces of paper with my wife. We were pulling a lot and we were leaving. In fact, the papers were just a pretext to give us a direction. So we tended the thumb, and we were going to adventure like that. It happened during all these kilometers, and we made very nice meetings. And then it is very formative the auto-stop, it has taught us – among other things – patience and perseverance.

I even made a stop boat Polynesia . People asked me for my destination, and I said to them, “I go where you go”.

So we often found ourselves, my wife, my son and I, to board boats without even knowing where they were going. That’s how I ended up on many islands without planning it upstream, and I met great people. And this is undoubtedly what makes the beauty and authenticity of all these journeys.

I also spent 8 months in Africa. In 4L this time. It was a wonderful experience but it’s not worth cycling. When you are on a bike, there are no barriers. People have direct access to you, they come more easily to you, contact is much easier.

For me the bike is the best compromise to visit a country. This is the best way to meet people while moving geographically, faster than walking.

What about the risks?

There must be no underestimate of the risks. Sometimes you can get robbed or assaulted, it happens, it's a fact. And sometimes it’s hard morally. As I said for India, in some countries, you see things that psychologically reach you, you are confronted with poverty, death, but good always prevails. Again, I am intimately convinced that the human is good. So it shouldn't stop you from leaving, stop you from realizing your dreams.

Happiness is at the end of the handlebar

The word of the end, for the last refractories?

Run! Go! There is never a good time. There will always be someone or something that can stop you. The family, friends, surround it in general. And then the work, the one you've waited so long. The end of the studies and the social pressure that force you to insert yourself into the active life. But as I often say: happiness is at the end of the handlebar, happiness is on a bike.

So get your bike, and go! And then after all, you don't owe anyone anything. If it’s too hard, if it doesn’t match you, you just need to change your plans, go back if you need it and try something else. Just.