2014: European Cyclcing Tour III
ECT-III consisted of cycling The Way of St James (the most famous, ancient European Pilgrimage). I cycled the French Way, Via Lemovichensis, starting from Vezelay (France) and ending in Santiago de Compostela (Spain) in 14 consecutive days. The travelled distance was 1700km (click here for a map).
The tour was indeed very very special for the following two reasons. The first one is that for the later part of the tour I cycled together with with my father, Vittorio.
The second reason, and most important reason, was that we helped raise money to educate the children of an indigenous community in my country of origin, Argentina, that is close to our hearts: the Vilelas. My father and I are both spiritually linked to this community. The extraordinary man in charge of the Jesuit Mission, Juan Carlos Constable SJ, united my parents in marriage on the 30th of March 1974.
Juan Carlos was the confessor of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who chose the name of Pope Francis to support the poor following Francesco d'Assisi's way of life. The completion of the tour was programmed for the 28th of March 2014 (the day I turned 37), two days before my parents 40th marriage anniversary. Doing the Camino is always very special and finishing it around those days made it even more special. Moreover, on the day of my birthday in Santiago I proposed marriage to Sakina. Happily she accepted my proposal to marry her! It was magic!
My dad started his tour in Zaragoza (Spain) and cycled 900km in 14 consecutive days (an average of 50km per day). We joined forces in León to continue all the way to Santiago de Compostela, Galicia. We cycled together for 350km and I can guarantee that it was the best company ever. To be reunited with my father I had to cycle an average of 150km per day in 9 consecutive days. Impossible is nothing. The truth is that the maximum recorded distance I had cycled with panniers was 158km in a single day. In the Castilla-León meseta I managed to cycle 204km in a single day with heavy load. In order to get to destination, I had to train hard and lose weight to avoid carrying extra kilos. ECT-III presented more challenges than previous tours because, unlike in previous tours I did not cycle through the coast, I cycled through the Pyrenees and the Ancares. The geography was hillier than in previous tours, although the gradients were not as tough as the Apennines. In this tour I went over 1000m three times, once on my own and twice with my father. We reached 1500m above the sea level near the "Cruz de Hierro", close to Rabanal del Camino and Foncebadón.
Fortunately during the tour my knee was not a limiting factor during the tour. However, at some point during the tour, I had to take one day off to rest due to hugh effort exerted to reach my dad in León. Human nature is averse to pain and the type of pain I had to endure was really and truly excruciating. At some point, after having travelled around 1350km, my body asked me to stop. For me that day represented the end of the tour. At that point we decided together with my dad that I would rent a car and accompany him after that point. Making that decision was really hard because of the people I was letting down by not finishing. I did cry a little bit once I talked to Sakina, my fiancée, who was walking the The Way whilst we were cycling. She reassured me and helped me be at peace with my decision. Once I managed to let go of the dissappointment, I felt at peace with that decision. However, I was on the Camino and magic happens. I let things unravel in an unexpected fashions as they were out of my hands. I rested for one full day and the day after I found the strength to carry on. Magic did happen! I was mentally strong enough to withold the physical pain. The pain became bearable right until the end. Large doses of ibuprofen and diclofenac helped me get through until the end, where I met my other half.
Itinerary
Day 1: Vézelay (France) - Bourges (152.41km)
Day 2: Bourges - La Souterraine (152.86km)
Day 3: La Souterraine - Sorges (174.18km)
Day 4: Sorges - Bernos-Beaulac (France) (161.13km)
Day 5: Bernos-Beaulac - Orthez (135.12km)
Day 6: Orthez - Zubiri (Spain) (111.07km)
Day 7: Zubiri - Logroño (119.18km)
Day 8: Logroño - Burgos (115.07km)
Day 9: Burgos - León (204.22km)
Day 10: León - Astorga (56.02km)
Day 11: Rest Day
Day 12: Astorga - La Portela de Valcarce (97.03km)
Day 13: La Portela de Valcarce - Airexe (99.35km)
Day 14: Airexe - Santiago de Compostela (74.33km)
What We Need and What You Get
"Nobody should be denied an education. Education should be a choice and should not exclusive to some."
This project makes a very small difference to the world but makes a huge difference to this targetted communities that is in real need. Similar to last year's campaign, this year's campaign aims to create awareness and to inspire the readers of this page to do more for small and marginalised communities that live, as Pope Francis puts it, in the end of the world. Many of you have communicated that my tours have inspired them to start cycling. If you are up for a challenge, I invite you to try it out! You lose nothing and gain so much!
A large Vilela community lives isolated in the Jesuit mission of San José del Boquerón (Santiago del Estero, Argentina). The community is geographically marginalised and lives in poverty. Juan Carlos dedicated his entire life to helping this community but in spite of his efforts the economic conditions of the Vilelas are still very precarious. Juan Carlos managed to build a primary school and, more recently, a secondary school in San José de las Petacas. However, many parents in this community are not always able to send their children to school because they cannot afford to do so. Going to university is nearly an impossibility since the distance to the nearest university in San Miguel de Tucumán is around 550km. Only through sponsorships can young adult access university (if they are lucky enough to go to school in the first place).
Your generous contribution have helped educating children and young adults in San José de las Petacas (Santiago del Estero, Argentina). Santiago del Estero is the poorest province of Argentina and San José de las Petacas is a highly marginalised community. Your contributions went towards scholarships that will enable children living far away from the schools to access primary and secondary education, books and other educational material, improving the quality of teaching and sponsoring some young adults accessing higher education.
Our target was to raise £1 per km, so £2400. Hurray, we reached 63.4% of target!
Photos taken from Almas del Boquerón, by Key Reynolds and Leandro Calle
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