cape 2 cape 1
Call for Inspiration,  Cycling Cape2Cape,  Suíça

[EN] A trip of a lifetime: a bike journey from Cape 2 Cape

One of my favourite things about traveling is the amazing people I meet. They have the most extraordinary life stories to tell and better: they are hungry for more. So they will keep going to new places, discovering new ways of connecting to people and live more.

One of these awesome people I’ve met is Adi. We met in Borneo for no longer than one day but we kept in touch for what it has been, today, more than one year. And now he’s doing one of the most incredible things I’ve ever heard of: A trip from Nordkapp (North Cape) in Norway to Cape Town in South Africa by bike.

Isn’t it the coolest thing ever?

And because I like to share cool things with you, I’ve partnered up with Adi to have a monthly (more realistically, maybe every 3 months) update on their trip here on Mudanças Constantes. To kick things off, an interview about the project and how they are making it happen.

Let’s start with the introductions: who are you guys? Names, cities, age, jobs, horoscope signs, weird tattoos… Give us a quick bio!

We are Adrian (28) and Fabian (29) from a small village in Switzerland called Buchrain. We both quit our jobs for this adventure. Adrian was working as a research assistant in aquatic research and Fabian worked as a wood construction technician.

And a little curiosity: Adrian has a tattoo on his foot with the outline of Switzerland.

During the first 4 months they will be 3. From left to right: Fabian, Joel and Adrian (Adi)

Now that we are acquainted, how the hell did you come up with this idea? Have you done any long bike trips before?  

The process started a while back, maybe 3 to 4 years ago. We started to think about a long bike journey first and then later decided to go from North to South instead of going West or East. Upon this we did a test tour 3 years ago in the Baltics for about 2 weeks to see how it feels and if we would like to do this of traveling for a longer period of time. This trip was the longest bike trip we both did, up to this point. Eventually, we started planning the Cape 2 Cape trip with more details and now we are finally about to start.

What does it take to prepare a trip like this? For how long have you been planning, what have been your main difficulties at this stage?

The detailed planning started last summer and it got more intense in 2018. We planned the possible route, equipment, insurances, visas, bank accounts and other administrative things. The main difficulty was to find out if it would be possible to arrange the visas on the way and where. Up to this day, we still don’t have much information on how and where we can get visas for most African countries.

 Do you have your plan all sorted out? Or do you have some room for changes?

We just created a preliminary time plan and route to have a rough idea about how long it could take us. On the way we want to be flexible and change the route as much as we want, according to new information of locals or just the daily mood.

If you want to check our detailed planned route click here.

Right now, what’s your route? Number of countries, kilometres, days, dates…

We will fly to Tromsø and then go as far North as possible by ferry, a 16 hours ride! On the North Cape we will start cycling South through northern Europe, do a detour on the UK and Ireland, then cross France and Spain before we cross over to Morocco. Afterwards, we will cycle the west coast of the African continent until we reach Cape Town. We plan to cycle more than 30’000 km crossing 30 countries in about 600 days.

And what are you looking forward to the most in your trip? And the least?

While I (Adrian) am particularly looking forward to see Ireland, Scotland and Africa in general, Fabian can’t wait to experience the African culture. We are both concerned about the headwind in general and kids throwing rocks in Morocco (something we’ve heard about).

I’m a bit of a loser when it comes to bikes, but what’s your equipment? Talk to all the cyclists out there!

There is a lot to think about when it comes to the equipment for such a trip. I won’t go into details, since we will put all the equipment and the corresponding brands on the website. We are using rear panniers, handlebar bag and a huge dry bag on top of the rear panniers. A tent, cooking materials, sleeping bag, and air mattress are basic equipment we both need every day. Each one of us is carrying between 30-40 kg and in Africa we will have to carry even more.

Intercycle equipment

If other crazy bike fellows want to join you on the road how can they reach you?

There are many ways to reach us. FacebookInstagram,  or using the contact form on the website .

And finally, with this huge adventure ahead, are you particularly nervous about anything?

Adrian: I get a bit nervous when I start thinking about the rainy season in Sub-Saharan countries as the “roads” tend to change into impassable trails.

Fabian: I am not very excited about the mosquitoes in Scandinavia and the humidity in the Tropical regions in Africa.

First update from the trip: Landscape in Northen Norway at midnight.

And that’s it! Hope you have enjoyed getting to know these brave guys and their awesome project! Keep up with them through social media and go give them some love!

Hopefully in the next months we get a second interview to know their stories! Have an awesome trip guys!

Boa viagem 😉

Alfacinha germinada e cultivada num cantinho à beira mar plantado, a Inês tem uma certa inquietação que não a deixa ficar muito tempo tempo no mesmo sítio. Fez Erasmus em Paris, trabalhou em Istambul e em Portugal, fez um mestrado em Creative Advertising em Milão e agora trabalha no Reino Unido. Viajar, criatividade, cozinhar, dançar e ler são algumas das suas paixões. A combinação de algumas delas deu origem a este blog, o Mudanças Constantes. Bem-vindos!

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