Ordinary, lazy stupid. Let's do this!

Looking fresh. Right before the start. Probably the last picture you get to see from me up here ;)

Day 1: Bidart to Hossegor. 61 kilometer (don’t ask me why I thought it’s only 40km to Hossegor).

What’s new: Everything.

Useful tool of the day: GPS “Garmin 800”. Not sure how it works,, but I already depend on it.

Heros of the day: The Elleringtons for having me. Regi hosts me even though she is sick. Her soup built me up! 
Soundtrack (listen to this while you read my post): Josh Garrels – Beyond the blue.

Today, 11am.

Uta: “Cynthia, I am so ashamed. How unprepared can someone possibly be? I am so stupid.”

Cynthia: “No, you are inspiring.”

Uta: “Maybe. An inspiration of stupidity.”

Maybe stupid is a strong word, but I really can’t believe how unprepared I started this. I know, the blog does look pretty professinal (thank you Laura + Sarah), but I am not. I don’t know what I am doing. I have never changed a tire in my whole life. I have never cycled more than 20 kilometer a day ever before.

I am not sure what kind of Uta you want to get to know in this blog.

- If you want to think of me as a semi-professional who you can learn from - then go and read section A at the end of this page (black, italic). I'd love to be the well-prepared girl and I'd love to be a perfect example of discipline and prepreation. Come on, read it, admire me!

- If you are ready for the truth, though, you should read section B below (gray, bold). Because this is what’s going on.

I am very embarassed about most of the stuff on this, such as th lie and the thesis. Ashamed to the point that I am not sure yet if I will really upload this. But I think that’s the only way this blog makes sense. I am a very ordinary person sitting on a bike. And I am pretty stupid and lazy sometimes ;)

Doing it anyway is what counts.

So come watch a lazy, ordinary and stupid girl (no worries, I like myself inspite of that stuff) cross France on a bike.

Cynthia: “It is not about knowing your equipment perfectly. It’s about your strength, your head, your heart.”

Oh, yeah, abuot today - it was wonderful! I saw old farms and old men in old pants working on the fields and talking to their cows. I am happy. And I never fell off my bike.

Section A - Pro Uta (everyone, please read only this)

-         I have a great bike and great equipment. I invested in high quality and I did a lot of research on the internet and lots of bike shop tours in Köln in the last months.

-         I know that I am very strong, physically. My body surprises me with its strength and I rely on that for this trip.  

-         I know some French.

-         I did a big hiking trip before (2011, 400km in 16 days) and I have some experience from that.

Section B - Loser Uta (this is what’s happening)

-         I turned my Bachelor thesis in today. Well, my friend Lisa had to turn it in for me, I only sent the pdf to the copy shop. The day you go on a 1300 km bike trip might not be the best day to turn your thesis in. You only do that if you didn't manage to do it before. I obviously didn't manage.  

-         I didn’t really work out the past three weeks. It was super hot in Bidart, and I am lazy, and also, I love croissants and napping.

-         I took the GPS out of its box for the first time today, two hours before I left. Lovely Elli installed the Mirco-SD-card which I orderd last week. I still can’t believe I got away with this. Not very responsible.

-         I stopped at a bike store to ask them to check my bike. Just because. They were really nice and did it for free. When they asked where I had come frome, I said: “San Sebastian”. I am not proud of this lie. I just was too ashamed to admit that I had just started and have only been biking for 1.5 kilometers so far.

-         I took my helmet off when I took a break. 10 km later, going down a hill, I felt a breeze around my head and realized: I am not wearing my helmet anymore. I stop in shock. Where did I lose it?? When I turn around, I see it just chilling out on the bike rack.

-         I hung out between three roundabouts in Bayonne for about an hour. I just couldn’t figure them out and the GPS wasn’t quick enough and I just didn’t realize one street was closed... anyway. France loves roundabouts, I not so much anymore. 
-    I pushed my bike up 3 hills today, breathing like an elephant giving birth.

There is always the "last night"

This is the last night before I will be one of those people on the road looking all professional on my bike (even though I have no idea what I am doing).Tomorrow, my tour de france begins.

There is always this very special last evening - no matter if you just went away for the weekend or you move out of a house you lived in for twenty years. Suddenly, it is ... the very last day. And you try to grasp the fact that the next time you go to bed, you wil be somewhere else.

There is always this last night.

Thirteen years of school. And then, suddenly, I danced at my graduation party and wondered: Are we grown-ups now?

Moved into the first own apartment. And I blink, and I moved out again and the last night in my special place, I tried to inhale the feeling of the room I love.

Tonight it is this: I worked at the Surf Hostel for a few weeks now. It's my third summer here. When I arrived at the End of August, I met a few other volunteers who were packing up their things and I thought: "Everything's still ahead of me - yay! So much time."

And here I am. This is the last night and I have to say good bye to the cutest village on earth, the loveliest beach - and these awesome people. It's sad.

But the "last night" has one important characteristic: It is always only hours away from the "first morning". I hate change because it takes me away from people I need and places I enjoy. And I love change, because it brings me to more people and places I will adore.

There is always a "first morning". Can't wait to see what the next two weeks bring.

This is how you look like the night before you go on a 1300 km bike trip.
Thank God, I am surrounded by my awesome roomies.

Destination tomorrow: 40 kilometer "warm-up" - going up to Hossegor, and staying over at Rich & Reggis, theawesome British-Swiss pastor couple from SurfChurch Hossegor