Hi! My name is Fran, I'm 41yo and I come from sunny Spain!
I've done many bike touring trips, both in Spain and the UK (Scottish Highlands, Caledonian Way, Hadrian's Wall, Lake District, TransAndalus, Alpujarras… to name a few), but my lifestyle became more sedentary in the last few years. A bit too much, I'm afraid, as I was diagnosed with diabetes early this year and lost my eyesight because of a bad reaction to the treatments. For a month and half, all I could see were formless blobs.
Thankfully, the meds did their magic and everything is back to normal, but during those dark days, I promised myself to stop making up excuses and go ahead with my dream bike touring adventure: Cycling Europe following the steps of the Allied in WWII, from Normady to Berlin.
Well, that was the original plan, because I started to think why stop in Berlin when I could just keep going towards Italy and THEN cycle back to Spain.
I love the planning phase, but I needed to take a first step to make this dream a reality: Buying a new bike.
After weeks of research, dozens of websites and videos, I ended up trying to decide between a gravel or a touring bike, so I bought… A hardtail:
I went for it because it's similar to other bikes I've used for bike touring (Trek 4300, Specialized Hardrock, Orbea Tenere) and I can upgrade most parts.
I did my first 25kms and I had a blast. It's my first 29" bike and I was very surprised of how agile it is. I also started thinking about future upgrades (tyres, pedals…) to make it the best tool for the job ahead.
It won't be easy (or cheap), but I'm excited for what's ahead!
by FranTrek23