Category: English

Logistics #2 – Getting supplies while on the road

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Type 1 diabetes isn’t the kind of illness I can take a holiday from as it requires multiple injections of insulin every day. This means that I can’t skip my treatment for a few days in case I would fall short on supplies. Yet, counting on local pharmacies to refurnish my stock isn’t an option, since distribution of pharmaceutical products is problematic in most countries I am to cycle through. I hence need, as I explained it in my previous post about the temperature problematic, to organise my own supply chain along my route.

The Pharma Companies

To do so, my first step was to contact the pharmaceutical companies producing the insulin and the medical supplies to ask them if they would agree to support my project, by ensuring access to medical supplies in the different countries I would be cycling through. Bike with Diabetes did raise an interest among some of my interlocutors, and several Continue reading “Logistics #2 – Getting supplies while on the road” →

Egypt #1 – First days in Egypt

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The traffic in Egypt is crazy. It seems only one rule applies: squeeze into a free space, even if that will block everyone, yourself included.

Cars, minibuses and trucks are old and their exhaust gases envelop the city in a grey smog cloud. Drivers use their horn, not to prevent an accident, but compulsively, probably to check that they are still alive, like one would pinch themselves. Pedestrians nearly all walk on the road, along the sidewalk instead of the sidewalk. It is understandable, given the amount of obstacles one encounters there: shop displays, potholes, parked cars, trees planted in the middle of the pavement, construction wastes, garbage. At every crossroad, the sidewalk itself becomes the obstacle, being sometimes 30 cm high.
The pedestrians walking on the road, and the drivers adapting to that situation, show that the space allocated to cars is disproportionate. I wonder about the number of car accidents that occur per day in Egypt. I am told by a doctor that they happen often but that these are seldom fatal, given the slowness of the circulation. Fair enough, but still…

The Nile Delta is one of the most densely populated places in the world. Its average population density is 2,300 inhabitants per square kilometer over a 24,000 km2 area. That figure explains the crazy traffic. I hence decide to take a train to reach Cairo, situated about 200 kilometers south of Alexandria, as I don’t see myself breathing all those exhaust gasses, and risk an accident while cycling. On my way to the train station, a taxi driver bumps into my trailer in the middle of Continue reading “Egypt #1 – First days in Egypt” →

Gisele A #3 – The Name

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« Did you give a name to your Bicycle ? » asks Emre, the Chief Officer of Gisele A, a cup of coffee in one hand and a book in the other, his hair still wet from the shower he just took.

It is my fourth day on Gisele A, the container ship bringing me to Alexandria, in Egypt, since I embarked on 20 November 2017 in Fos-sur-Mer, near Marseille. Until now, we’ve had perfect weather conditions : clear skies, a soft breeze and a sea as flat as a mirror.

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Days are divided into Continue reading “Gisele A #3 – The Name” →

Gisele A #2 – Boarding Gisele A

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On 20 November 2017, my father, my uncle Philippe Comeliau and I, load the bicycle, the trailer and my luggage in the back of a rented van. My father and Philippe came over to Marseille to greet me a last goodbye before I am to leave the European continent. We are expected at 9 am at the entrance of the Eurofos container ship terminal of Fos-sur-Mer, about 70 km away from Marseille, where I am to board Gisele A.

The restaurant of the hotel we are staying at is empty when we leave. Breakfast trays have been prepared by the morning team and have been placed on the bar of the restaurant, waiting to be served to the still sleeping guests. The sky is blue and the power of the wind that had been blowing for nearly a week now, has sensibly decreased overnight.

We arrive a bit early at the gate and wonder how things will go from now on. Boarding the ship, sailing on the Mediterranean, cycling in the desert and across Africa…

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A few minutes later, Gilbert Braun, Benjamin Picanias and Andre Zakari, escort me from the gate to the pier where Gisele A is berthing. I am welcomed at the foot of the passerelle by Continue reading “Gisele A #2 – Boarding Gisele A” →

Gisele A #1 – Why and How did I get on a Container Ship ?

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On 28 November 2017 I reach Egypt in a rather unusual way. I hear from people involved in my passage from Marseille to Alexandria that boarding a container ship as a passenger would only happen in exceptional cases. And indeed, a lot of discussion, people and negotiations were involved in making this crossing possible. The reasons Continue reading “Gisele A #1 – Why and How did I get on a Container Ship ?” →

Europe #5 – The Drowning

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The leaves turning yellow and a fresh wind tell me the season is shifting to autumn. I notice, as I inspect the garden of Roynac, a drowning bee in the swimming pool. It is floating on the surface of the water and is desperately trying to fly away. Her struggle results in what seems like a hopeless synchronised swimming. Fascinated by the beauty of it, I decide to pull out my phone to capture the moment. It might sound cruel like that, but my intention isn’t to let her drown. When I take her out of the water, I imagine that she will fly away. Yet, she stays in my hand, as if trying to catch her breath. After a couple of minutes, she fascinates me even more, as she starts a Continue reading “Europe #5 – The Drowning” →

Europe #4 – Cabrils – Marseille

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The trailer, the bicycle and the rest of my luggage are in the trunk of the car. It is time to say one last goodbye. I am sad to leave the Bueno family and at the same time I’m happy to have had such a great time with them in Cabrils. Also, I am looking forward to finally reaching Marseille on my bicycle!

But before that, I need to drive to Valence, in France, to bring the car back to its owner. After about 1 hour and a half of driving, the engine of the car strangely loses power. I manage to reach a petrol station a couple of kilometres further. Unfortunately, there is no mechanic that can help me out.

I drive through small towns and villages, as I don’t want to take the risk of being stranded on the side of a highway. I enjoy the beautiful evening lights. The colours of the vineyards shift from green to light brown with red, orange and Continue reading “Europe #4 – Cabrils – Marseille” →

Europe #3 – The Trailer

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Cabrils, 8 November 2017.
Jose Miguel, the manufacturer of the trailer, calls me to announce the trailer is ready.

The next day, I leave Cabrils early in the morning to avoid traffic in Barcelona. I reach the city without many problems, even though the traffic is dense. Then it stops. And starts again. And stops again. I am caught… The accordion of cars is playing its tune. A tune played in so many cities around the world in a more or less orderly manner, but never sweet to the ears and certainly not to the lungs.

I think of my friend Maurice who hosted me the first night of this journey. Maurice is the first person I remember using the accordion analogy when referring to traffic jams. I must have been 15 or 16 at the time. He didn’t invent that expression, of course, but it got stuck in my mind the first time I heard him use it. Maybe because Julien, his son, is an accordion player?
To Maurice, traffic jams were part of a relaxing routine in which he would listen to classical music while driving back home from work. Music has the power to transform the stress of a traffic jam into a relaxing bliss… How powerful is that?

Motorcycles and scooters whoosh past me from both Continue reading “Europe #3 – The Trailer” →

Europe #2 – Race Against Time

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(For English subtitles, click on the little icon at the bottom right side)

I leave Brussels on 30 septembre 2017, cycling towards Marseille in the south of France to embark on a container ship sailing to the port of Alexandria, in Egypt.
There are three challenges ahead of me :
1. the fact that I am leaving Brussels one month later than expected ;
2. I have to take delivery of a trailer specially produced for Bike with Diabetes, in Alforja, near Barcelona, which is way off my route towards Marseille ;
3. the imperative need to reach Egypt as fast as possible in order to be able to cycle across the desert and reach Ethiopia before the end of the winter season.

Back on the Saddle

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Dear friends,

I would like to thank you all for your patience as it’s been a while since I last posted anything on BikewithDiabetes.com or on the other social media channels. You may hence wonder where I am and what I have been up to. As a matter of fact, I have good and bad news to announce. The bad news is that I had to set the project on hold after reaching the south of Egypt in early January 2018, after injuring my back and right leg. I was forced to return to Brussels to seek medical treatment where a scanner revealed a hernia in my lower back, which compressed the root of my sciatic nerve, hence the pain in my right leg. Besides being painful, the sciatica greatly affected my mobility.

While temperatures were falling below 0˚C in Belgium in February and the hills of Ardennes were being covered by snow, the temperatures in Sudan, on the other hand, were reaching up to 50˚C in the south of the country. Continuing the journey in Continue reading “Back on the Saddle” →