Arrived on Friday, December 29, 2023 in La Serena, Chile, after a tiring flight of 28 hours and 3 flights. The tension mounts as I wait for my bike to roll off the baggage carousel. Yes, there's the box! I can finally start my solo cycling trip in Northern Chile on January 1, 2024. It's my fourth season S4 of Cycling Adventure 15, my global cycling adventure.
Cycling Adventure 15 (CA15) is my path of personal growth with which I want to inspire people to develop their own path of personal growth in this rapidly changing world.
I'm not celebrating New Year's Eve at home this time.
But first a warm thank you to Eduardo, a friend of my fantastic coach Thiago, who picked me up from the airport and invited me to celebrate New Year's Eve with his family.
The preparation was quite intensive.
People often ask me how I prepare. That depends on the region. Europe, with all its facilities, is not such a challenge to organize. But a solo cycling trip in northern Chile, with its vastness and low population density, is a different story. And the fact that I am bringing my tent with me for the first time and am absolutely not a camping expert, made the preparation quite intensive. Finding the route and options for sleeping, eating and drinking was especially challenging. My biggest concern is finding water to safely cross the Atacama Desert. So far I have no answer, but I trust that I will discover it in Antofagasta, my starting point for the passage through the Atacama Desert.
Luckily I took two extra days in La Serena to rest and make final preparations. Namely doing some shopping and looking for butane gas for the tent. Rarely have I seen such a traffic jam in a large supermarket. Thirty cash registers and an hour of waiting per cash register, it turns out that the salary has been paid. Inflation has also hit hard here.
My mind is made up regarding alcohol consumption.
During the previous seasons, the difficulty level logically made me refrain from alcohol during my cycling trips. But once home, I didn't see enough of the importance of banning alcohol. I convinced myself that you couldn't resist something so delicious. But because of my drinking behavior, where I can't stop after 1 drink, it became more of a way to get into a certain buzz to control my stress than actually enjoying the taste. It took until this year to realize that things couldn't continue like this.
At the end of November I made the decision to stop, because I felt that it could not be combined with the intense physical preparation. Cycling and fitness sessions interspersed with an abundance of alcohol was not only impractical, but seemed ridiculous. My intention, once home, is to eliminate alcohol from my life day by day. It helps not to say that I will never drink again, but to consider daily whether I will drink that day. The significant benefits I am now experiencing, especially much better sleep, make my decision much easier. Especially the book “Sleep” by Matthew Walker convinced me of the fundamental importance of sleep.
I also decided to pay more attention to my diet and understand more about it. I already did it before the sport, but not enough before and after. Many books emphasize that healthier eating, especially avoiding sweets and fast sugars, provides more energy.
A final resolution is a digital detox. I spend too much time on my phone, replying to messages, reading news items, looking at Linkedin posts, and so on. I leave newspapers for what they are, and I have disabled WhatsApp. All this will bring me a clear mind to enjoy things more consciously.
12 cycling days, 1600 km, 20.000 elevation meters, and crossing the 3000 meter mark.
This bike ride will be a challenge. Not only because I am stepping out of my comfort zone by sleeping alone in my tent in a complete stranger for the first time, but also because of the physical effort I will make. In the mountainous landscape, approximately 20.000 meters of altitude await me over 1600 km in 12 cycling days and two rest days. In addition, the Atacama Desert will take me above 3000 meters, where altitude sickness can come into play, an experience I have no knowledge of as of yet. In short, it will be an exciting adventure.
I will try to share my first travel story with you during my rest day in Antofagasta, after I found my water to trek through the Atacama Desert. Stay tuned!
From Monday 01/01/24 to Monday 15/01/24 the route of S4 (part 1) is South America - here to follow live.