421adventure

Today 17 of September 2018, the love of my life and amazing wife turns 35. I know that you shouldn’t wait for special days to remind someone of how important they are for you and that it should be a day to day thing but hey, you don’t turn 35 everyday right? 😉

So why now? Well, readers of this blog might have realised that we are travellers, cyclists to be precise, and as such, we can only carry a certain amount of weight with us. This pretty much gives me the perfect excuse not to buy (or most importantly, not having to think of what to buy) her something.

Instead I’ve decided to write this. Why? Haven’t you read the very first sentence of this entry? Aurelie Cambon is simply ass-kicking, rock-solid, pedal-breaking, super-duper, great !

There isn’t one particular reason to say this really. However, two reasons which immediately spring to mind are that she doesn’t accept the world as it is but always imagines a better, more human one and tries to apply her beliefs as best as she can and, since this is actually a cycling blog, because she has, in a very short time, managed to become an incredible cyclist.

I think it all began about 4 years ago. At that time she had a bike and she used it almost every day to commute and such but I think that she regarded it as most people would a hairdryer or a juicer; she didn’t really see its full potential. Then, one night, while watching a film documentary about a bike trip, her eyes opened and she saw what, sadly, most people never will; bikes don’t just have wheels, they give you wings!

Straight up I have to admit, I was a little annoyed; I had been trying to get her interested in bike touring for years telling her stories of my summer endeavours when Scott (my life changing 30th birthday present from her and my friends and family) and I would roam the land in search of adventure and once or twice I succeeded in getting her out of bed for a Sunday ride somewhere close.

Admittedly this is something else that I love about my little croissant; it’s almost impossible to get her to change her froggy mind about anything. It shows character, it’s sexy.

But that night in that cinema something clicked and we started talking about it seriously and she started training and preparing and after not so long actually, it’s incredible how time flies, here we are, riding together like a real team. Her motivation and want is infectious, she has mastered skills others can’t even begin to understand and she has become much more than a cyclist; she is now a mega world bike traveller with balls of steel!

Over the top? Maybe. You know I like to exaggerate but you wouldn’t say so if you saw her walking down the road. Little and cute and looking as happy as a flower in spring you would never guess she is 50% of 421 and rocking the world with her eagerness to see what’s behind the next hill.

Ever since we met my life has been getting better and better. When I think about all the things she has taught me it makes my head spin! Open minded, heart like a mountain and as creative as The Beatles on LSD, she has often been like a role model for me and that’s just much more than I had ever dreamt of.

Happy birthday Crevette, thank you for rocking my world and for all the crazy shit we do together. If I could take just one thing on a trip with me, I would definitely take you! 😉