The bet was crazy but so important for Violette Théard and Charlie Clédon. These two young engineers embarked on a bicycle trip to reach France from New Zealand. The couple find themselves pedaling with temperatures ranging from -8 to -20 degrees in the evening. A difficult progression that lasted more than a month.
A departure in April 2019
Both have studied engineering. They also met in this context in Nantes before leaving to finish their studies in New Zealand. It was once there, from 2017 that, little by little, this travel project was born. “Our ecological awakening was growing and we also wanted to return to France. We wanted to limit our carbon footprint as much as possible, avoid flying and this bike trip was like an obvious way to get home,” explains Charlie.
They got a lot of information, studied maps and it was in Singapore that their journey together began. “We have crossed all of Southeast Asia, we have also intervened in several French high schools abroad, mainly in capitals. We have raised awareness among students on energy and environmental issues”, says Violet. But the pandemic has changed everything.
– Charlie Cledon
The arrival of Covid-19
They who estimated the duration of their trip at a year and a half, they saw it double because of the health crisis. “We didn’t want to give up on our trip. So when the pandemic happened, we were in Laos and we just stopped for over a year where we waited. We were lucky enough to be able to work in a school as teachers”recalls Charlie.
The couple is waiting for the borders to reopen but it does not arrive. “The two exit doors are either through China or through the former Burma and Myanmar, then India. And these are countries that are still closed and so unfortunately we had to resolve to make a jump in plane to continue the journey.” After waiting more than a year in Laos, they land in Kyrgyzstan in July 2021 where they finally hit the road to return to France. “We had to leave all the awareness part with the schools because it was still quite closed because of the pandemic” but the journey continues.
– Violet Theard
Etched in memory
“There are a lot of things that marked us on this trip and it’s always a little difficult to find a place, a place, a favorite country. But I think that for both of us, we were deeply marked by the Pamir region, which is in Tajikistan”, Violette explains before Charlie completes. “We arrive on an altitude plateau which is over 4,000 meters above sea level. There is no more vegetation or almost. We are in the middle of immense desert mountains. There are ocher peaks, of purple, red, orange that pass us from everywhere, often overhung by glaciers and an uninhabited desert landscape where we just find ourselves together. It is an impression that we find in few places on Earth. “
– Violet Theard
“There were also difficult times, when we arrived in eastern Turkey, in the wrong season. We were there in January and we knew it was going to be cold, but we didn’t expect not that it’s so cold. Ironically the young man. Especially since the locals told us it was the coldest winter they’ve had in maybe 40 years.”
The couple find themselves pedaling with temperatures ranging from -8 to -20 degrees in the evening. a difficult progression that lasted more than a month. “There was even a day when my rear wheel got stuck in the ice, Charlie remembers. If there’s one thing cycling has taught us, it’s that you always find a solution to everything.”
– Charlie Cledon
The bicycle, a discovery
Before leaving, Violette and Charlie were not seasoned cyclists. They cycled to work, had trained before leaving to get back in shape but without much preparation. In total, they traveled together 26,000 kilometers by pedaling and nearly fifteen countries.
With them, all the necessary equipment for such a long journey. “My bike weighed a maximum of 55 kilos approximatelyexplains Charlie. That of violet was about 40 kg. We had clothes for all weathers since we went from the extreme heat of Southeast Asia to the very cold in Turkey, or when we climb to more than 4000 meters in altitude. The duo had also planned a tent, sleeping bags, a stove for cooking and then some tools to repair the bikes.
– Violet Theard
The return to France
For the moment, there is only Violette who has found her family in Sarthe but will soon go down to the Basque Country to find Charlie’s family. “A small committee was waiting for us and we were also lucky that very good friends joined us when we arrived in France, in the Jura, to do the last ten days of cycling together, smiled Violet. It made for such a nice transition to end the trip.”
“Obviously it’s a great emotion to be here, observes Charlie. At a time, he was longing for us but we were also apprehensive of him. Finally, passing through the Jura and along the Loire Valley, I felt like I was always on a journey, in a new country that I was discovering and this transition went rather well”.
– Violet Theard
For the future, the couple plans to seek work in their field but without denying their ecological convictions. They will now always put them first. And why not, also, keep one foot in the field of cycling.