Pierre-Yves Tremblay - Riding Sky High: A Bicycle Adventure Around the World

Copyright 2014 by Pierre-Yves Tremblay

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Jacket design by Anna Christian

Front jacket photo: Thinkstock

Back jacket photo: Jean Denis Cantin

Print ISBN: 978-1-62914-799-4

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-63220-108-9

Printed in the United States of America

To Lili and Victor

Waiting for exactly the right moment to make your move usually means inaction. Jean Rostand

Acknowledgments

In moments of deep loneliness as well as those of intense happiness, my journal, which I scribbled in day after day, filling every inch of the page, has been my most faithful companion. Thanks to Lili, who meticulously transcribed and edited all my letters and writings and made them the basis of this book. Without her, it simply wouldnt exist. Thanks to Caroline, my sweetheart, who understood my need for challenges and faced them with me. To Victor, for being the light in the shadow. To Jean-Pierre Dor and Jean-Denis Cantin, who were my partners in this crazy dream. To Franois Gouin for his suggestions. To Stphanie Wells, Jean-Marie Talbot, and Andr Leclerc for their objective insights. To Christian Beaulieu and Nicole Fradette for proofreading the manuscript and for their timely comments. To my Uncle Antoine, for his moral support. To France Fillion, one of my teachers, who introduced me to the joy of reading. And finally, a special thank you to those who welcomed me into their homes during my travels.

Translators Note

August 16, 2011

Recently, I caught up with Pierre-Yves in Chicoutimi, Quebec. This is his hometown and where he ended his epic journey on Day 863November 23, 1996. Chicoutimi is also the place where I married a local girl in 1981.

Unlike Pierre-Yves and my wife, Sylvie, I am not a bleuet (blueberry), an affectionate term for those who live in the Saguenay region, north of Quebec City. But as a fellow world traveler (born in Adelaide, South Australia) I know that our journey through life can take us on many an unexpected turn. Such twists of fate are so well described in this book.

Pierre-Yves is exactly as you imagine him to be: a good-humored, fair-minded, go-getter who knows how to enjoy life. Looking through a shoebox containing his original journal and the letters sent home, I could see that his passion and sense of accomplishment was still a beacon of inspiration some fifteen years later.

Translating this book was quite the trip all by itself.

Enjoy the ride.

Peter Dare Mystic, Quebec

Contents

Foreword

Just taking off. Going around the world. Its a dream we all share. But on a bike!...

Besides the sheer physical effort, this epic adventure is about a person confronting himself, alone, with his bike; encountering life, its possibilities and limits; dealing with his emotions and everything that compels him to keep going, to persevere. It means exchanging glances and sharing a slice of life with people from so many different cultures. It also means overcoming the many pitfalls: too cold, too hot, too windy, too high... such is life on the road. Pierre-Yves had to draw deep within himself to overcome such constant challenges.

Perhaps this heartfelt account will help us understand the mysterious and irresistible passion that fuels such an adventure. The satisfaction that comes with successfully circumventing the globe is not short-lived... indeed, it deepens with time.

So well join you, Pierre-Yves. Take us along, and tell us all about it.

Bernard Voyer

Explorer

Chapter 1

Past Memories Resurface

Arrival in ParisJuly 15, 1994

After an uneventful flight, our plane lands firmly on the Charles de Gaulle tarmac. Passengers unfasten their seatbelts, get up, and gather their belongings as the plane taxis toward the terminal. Having been cooped up in a cramped space for the past seven hours, they are in a hurry to leave. But, inevitably, they still have more waiting before they claim their checked luggage and clear customs.

I just sit and watch the disembarking passengers. Ive got plenty of time. Im just about to start an epic cycling trip that will take me and my traveling companions, Jean-Pierre and Jean-Denis, all the way from Paris to Hong Kong.

Weighing in at 306 pounds, our personal gear, plus bikes, make heads swivel. The customs officers are more interested in our itinerary than the contents of our luggage. After some chitchat, our passports score their first travel stamp: Charles de Gaulle, Paris, France, July 15, 1994. We exchange looks. A great adventure is about to begin.

Simply hopping on our bikes is out of the question. Each has been dismantled and carefully packed, with re-assembly requiring at least two hours work. The downtown shuttle for the city center is already waiting. Were the first in line.

Fortunately, the driver is nowhere to be seen. With no luggage compartment on the mini-bus, it takes us ages to stash our gear... twenty-odd saddlebags, plus our disassembled bikes in three huge boxes! On his return, the shuttle driver, obviously annoyed by the sheer quantity of our gearwhich means lots of passengers will have to wait for the next shuttleleaves the terminal swearing under his breath.

I chat with a friendly lady in her sixties sitting next to me while Jean-Pierre and Jean-Denis keep an eye on our pile of bags. She happens to be a nun and is surely moved by the trip were about to embark on, because she digs deep into her bag and pulls out a medal of the Virgin Mary. She hands it to me with a smile and urges me to wear it, so that Our Lady will protect me throughout my travels. God bless you! she adds. I mull these words over in my head. The nun gets off at the next stop, leaving me in a thoughtful state. What just happened here? A message? A warning?

The bus stops abruptly, jolting me out of my reverie. Here we are in Paris. The driver, now a little more relaxed and obviously keen to leave, helps us unload. On this particular morning (the day after Bastille Day, Frances national holiday), the city seems to be sleeping in. Some city workers are dolefully cleaning up after the previous days festivities. They look wryly at us three naive tourists, buried under an avalanche of equipment, who somehow hope to hail a cab.

For two long hours, we put up with one taxi after another passing us by.

Then one wily driver finally stops for us. Any concerns about saving money have now been forgotten thanks to jet lag, lack of sleep, and the endless waiting around. He could have asked for the moon, and we would have given it to him. Soon enough, we find ourselves at Denises apartment. Shes a family friend who gave me somewhere to crash in Switzerland six years earlier. We are taking advantage of her place in Paris while she is at her parents home in Lausanne. Denise lives in a small, back lane in the 7th Arrondissement area. As agreed, the key is under the doormat. Hardly having set foot inside, Jean-Pierre and Jean-Denis collapse onto our pile of bags and promptly fall into a deep sleep.