Ça y est !
Dans quelques jours, j’enfourcherai mon vélo et traverserai l’Afrique ! 20.000 km, 650 jours, un désert à traverser, des montagnes à gravir les unes après les autres. C’est un continent entier que je vais traverser !
Comme vous pouvez l’imaginer, ce projet n’est pas qu’un rêve d’enfant sur le point de se réaliser. Il s’agit Continue reading “Comment traverser l’Afrique à vélo avec un diabète T1 ?”
Cela fait quelques semaines que j’ai lancé ma campagne de crowdfunding et un peu plus de trois semaines que j’ai entamé mon périple à vélo. Depuis lors, pas mal de choses se sont passées et il semble que mon appel aux dons a porté ses fruits malgré mon absence sur les réseaux sociaux. Dans l’ensemble, ce sont 1.180€ qui ont été transférés sur le compte en banque de l’Association Belge du Diabète en date du 12 octobre 2017. C’est un montant considérable, néanmoins je vais avoir besoin de vous pour diffuser l’appel sur les réseaux sociaux, parmi vos proches, vos amis et vos collègues afin d’atteindre la cible de 5.000€, nécessaire à la réalisation de Bike with Diabetes en Égypte, au Soudan et en Éthiopie !
Mais comment s’est passé le voyage jusqu’à présent, vous demandez-vous peut-être ?
Et bien, le temps a été un peu capricieux et pluvieux, mais malgré cela, vous étiez nombreux au pied de l’éléphant de la place Flagey le jour du départ ! Je ne sais pas très bien comment décrire l’évènement dans la mesure où il constituait la consécration de centaines, voir de milliers d’heures de recherche et de planification. Alors que je quittais une vie bien rangée, le rêve se muait en réalité et une autre réalité s’ouvrait à moi. Le genre de réalité où chaque instant est synonyme de surprise et d’inconnu, aussi excitant ou terrifiant que cela puisse paraître.
Mon ami Ryan McKenna, le créateur de la cartographie dynamique des températures en Afrique, m’a accompagné à vélo pendant trois jours avant de reprendre l’avion vers l’Irlande.
Depuis lors, Continue reading “Europe #1 – 3 semaines sur 3 roues”
– Version française du texte ci-dessous –
I left Brussels on my bicycle just over a month ago and after a technical stop in Barcelona I will soon reach Marseille to embark on a container ship sailing towards Alexandria, in Egypt. But what is the background story of Bike with Diabetes, you may wonder ? Here is an insight that will give you an idea on how this whole project started. For the ones who don’t know me yet, I should probably start by presenting myself !
My name is Arthur. I was born in Brussels in 1983 and I grew up in Rwanda between 1988 and 1993. During that period, I had the chance to travel with my parents and my brother to neighbouring countries, namely to ex-Zaïre (nowadays Democratic Republic of the Congo – DRC) and Tanzania. During those trips, before the GPS era, we would use the Michelin 746 map, which covered the southern half of Africa. The main towns and villages, roads and dirt roads were, for the most part, represented on the map. Signposts along the road, on the other hand, were more often than not missing and some dirt roads drawn on the map could sometimes have disappeared under the thriving vegetation. We often had to stop to look at the map and make sure we were heading in the right direction. It is during those moments that maps, spread on the hood of the car, started to make me dream of even bigger journeys than I was already experiencing. To me, all those roads led to Continue reading “The background story – Les origines du projet”
It’s been a few weeks since I launched my crowdfunding campaign and a bit more than three weeks since I left Brussels. Since then, a lot has happened and it seems my call for support has been well received despite my lack of presence on social media. All in all, it is 1.180€ that were transferred to the bank account of the Belgian Diabetes Association as of Octobre 12th 2017. This is a considerable amount, yet I will need your help to spread the word on social media, your group of friends, colleagues and relatives to reach the target of 5.000€ and make it possible to reach the necessary amount to make Bike with Diabetes a reality in Egypt, the Sudan and Ethiopia !
But how has the cycling been so far, you may wonder ?
Well, the weather was a bit capricious and rainy the day of the departure, yet many of you were present at the feet of the elephant of place Flagey ! I’m not sure how to describe the event as it was the consecration of hundreds, if not thousands, of hours of research and planning. The dream was becoming a reality as I was leaving a well settled life to dive into another reality where the unknown waits at every next corner, however terrifying or thrilling this may sound.
My friend Ryan McKenna, the creator of the dynamic temperature map of Africa, cycled with me for three days before flying back to Ireland.
Since then, Continue reading “Europe #1 – 3 weeks on 3 wheels”
That’s it !
In a few days, I will get on my bike to travel across Africa. 20.000 km, 650 days, a sea to cross, a desert to cycle through, mountains to climb, one after the other. All in all, a whole continent to cycle from top to bottom !
(English subtitles available)
As you may imagine, this isn’t just a childhood dream coming true. It’s about Continue reading “How to travel across Africa by Bicycle with T1Diabetes ?”
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