Finale

In rainbows.














21000. Got to Chengdu, where I'm about to disassemble my bike. 21000.. Thinking of it makes me dizzy. If I subtract the 800/900 I did with Cycledad, there's a good 20000 kilometres that I've done alone. That's a lot of time to think. It has been a fantastic experience for me, one that built on everything I'd ever done. All the studies I've taken, all the sportive achievements done, all my fantasies, my fears. A life cycle; sowing and harvests. When I spoke with an older American man in the hostel yesterday, he summarised: "It was your coming of age", and I think he's right.



The ending couldn't have been more natural. My mind and body have enough, my two tools are at the brink of collapse. The focus sensors of my camera often defect and my bicycle, well, let's say it's time for revision. The speedhub that normally has 14 gears let me do the last 2000 kilometres with 7, the brake pads are gone, the shifter often blocks. My lights don't work anymore, the frame is damaged. The wheels have been fantastic though. Only one spoke snapped during all that time.



But that's not all that makes this a perfect end. Friends and family, dinners, evenings with conversation and a drink in the pub, these are things I'm longing for. And then there's a fantastic new job waiting for me. My friend Henrik shook me awake a couple of weeks ago with the announcement: "Here's your new job, but you've got to be fast, the deadline for applying's this Friday.." So I stopped in the first town to write a letter, I got invited for an interview (via Skype) and turned out to be the lucky one. Within a few weeks I'll start working in Bruxelles again.

Fitter, happier, and hopefully more productive.