On the first day of march 2022 , I started a trip with my selfmade e bike trailer from Linz to Mallorca. The time limit was set to 26th of march.
To find out how me and my team built the music e bike trailer – called Freequencer – together, have a look here.
Day 21 | This is the end … for now ; )
Day 22 | New motor, new start, same goal
Day 24 | Annecy, the little Venice of France
Day 26 | Not so noble in Grenoble
Day 19 – Musique à Yverdon
I hardly remember where I woke up today, because so much happened. Beside of a loud street but for Saturday morning ok. After my morning cleaning routine without water 😀 and protein shake to make my muscles grow, I started the ride. The first two hours where horrible. Always up and down and up and down, like my song Nordic Samba by the way. ; )
When I was almost about to give up something wonderful happened. A dancing guy came along the street and explained to me, how I can receive more energy from the sun with the palms of my hand. Other people would consider him maybe as crazy, but I could see his shining soul. What a wonderful spontaneous miracle that gave me energy to carry on. We hugged and wished each other goodbye from a deep heart connection.
Later I found a lovely public area for a pause. The trees protected me from the wind and the sun was strong and warm. As my muscles still did hurt so much, I regenerated for two hours and decided to make that day an easy one. This place was very close to the town Yverdon. I didn’t want to ride on, and because it was a sunny saturday afternoon I looked for a good place downtown to play some music. I had many great little connections in between the songs and people enjoyed my presence. Also I earned quite a lot which made me also happy and motivated to continue the journey. In addition people offered me to sleep at their place and have a dinner twice this day but I declined, because I wanted to stay tough a little longer and not make it too easy for me. At least till I reach Geneva.
On the way out of the city I talked to many citizens. There was one woman with a dog that asked me about my destination of the trip. My finger went automatically straight to my heart. I just started to realize this in the last days. After I survived some more steep slopes, I made one more stop to cook for the first time on the trip with my gas station. A tasty garlic creme soup and later a full bottle of warm tea made my stomach smile – finally variety of food. Then the police came and told me there is a prison area beside so I should take a different route, what I did of course.
That is it for this wonderful Saturday in the west of Switzerland.
Day 20 – Marc Antoine
The sun rose at the end of the agricultural fields and slowly pushed the morning fog away. Just very few cars passed by, so the day was ready to begin with joy and gratitude. On my whole trip just a few hours of rain so far.
Just after a few km I had to realize my muscles need a longer break. Everything felt so much heavier and more tedious than the day before. I arrived in the small town Orny and stopped at a market, that was open on sunday to buy some more nutritious energy for the rest of the day.
A guy named Marc Antoine with wild hair and mechanic working clothes opened a conversation. After he found out I want to carry my trailer for the way to Versoix / Geneva, he told me about the upcoming hills and steep slopes. So he offered to help me – because sunday is gods day haha. : ) He had great vibes and since I was afraid I can’t reach the top of the next hill, I agreed to his plan. He drove an 1972 old red Ford Transit and we managed somehow to put my whole trailer and stuff in it.
Then Marc Antoine drove me all the way down to my cousin Louis in Versoix. Wow I have no words for this spontaneous help I didn’t expect without even asking. We talked about a little bit of everything, for example the high prices to live nowadays. As we arrived at the house, nobody was awake. After a while when the housemates looked out of their windows, we introduced ourselves. Soon we sat together outside to drink coffee and have breakfast together.
In the evening we went to my uncle Wolfi in the next town … by bike of course … for a surprise visit. He cooked a very tasty dinner while we enjoyed a typical male discussion about finances and politics. ; )
Day 21 – This is the end … for now ; )
The trip stops here in Versoix for now, but I will continue. If you want to get a note when the blog will be continued leave me an e-mail on edstean@gmail.com, then I will remind you about it! All the best & I hope you liked the blog so far – it was my first one. : )
Summary Video:
Here are some summary words from me:
Day 22 – New motor, new start, same goal
After a three week time-out, I finally continued with the trip to Mallorca. No going back and keen on finishing the trip by bike as what I set out to do, I repaired and upgraded my bike to carry the trailer now with a new motor in the front.
In front of the home of my cousin a group organized a meeting every monday. People can come and use the food with expiry date from the supermarket for free. In the world with a raising gap between rich and poor and environmental problems, this is one creative way to bypass capitalism and reduce the waste. It happend to be on monday before I left, Florent was there and observed my bike trailer with interest. We talked about it and he told me that he is a bike mechanic for cargo bikes. Florent is constantly and successfully building up his company ByKarl. It’s a great franchise business idea. Have a look!
So just right before I left Geneva, Florent helped my with the fine tuning of the breaks and some detail works to have a safer trip. Also I could sleep at their cool house for one night, where I met his roommates and girlfriend Marion. It was a great social evening and I also played a short little private concert for them – and their three cats.
Day 23 – Au revoir Genève
In the wonderful sunny morning right beside the Lak Léman, all house mates met for a coffee in the garden. Florent and Marion decided to join me on the first station in a big park at the lakeside in Geneve where I played a music session for one hour. It was so funny and together we filled with the area with great vibes.
https://youtube.com/shorts/m5mLAKHuR6c?feature=share
After a lovely goodbye and amazing motivating words of both of them, I headed toward Annecy. It’s always a struggle to find your way through bigger cities, so it was in Geneva. The road was also 200m uphill. It was a good chance to test my new system and the battery capacity. Since I left geneva late at 4 pm and the battery was empty too, I had to stop close to an ancient bridge 15km before Annecy.
At the first house I passed by, Emily and her Daughter Elisa opened the door after I parked my big guitar on their parking space. It was hard to communicate, because the spoke french only. But with an open heart, the will to explain and also the help of google translator it worked. Emily was super generous and offered me food, wine and a dessert, even the two woman were a little bit afraid of a lone man visiting them before sunset.
Over night I could charge my battery and had a nice place to stay under a garage roof. With a beautiful view to Mont Blanc, I enjoyed the sunset and lay in my trailer for the first night outside for a while.
Day 24 – Annecy, the little Venice of France
At half past seven the sun appeared behind the mountains and Emily opened the door with coffee and bread rolls. It made me smile. After one more attempt to communicate understandably, I prepared my trailer, hugged her and started with a cool downhill ride in the morning traffic haha.
Soon I found myself by the lake in Annecy, one of the most beautiful cities I have ever been. As I prepared my setlist for the piano and ukulele streetmusic sessions, a lot of people stopped and started a conversation. Also that day three groups of Austrian Tourists passed by. It was nice to speak my mother language again and they did understand my german songs too. I played two sessions with my piano trailer and one session with only ukulele in one of the small alleys. This city is called „Little Venice“ for a reason. With lots of beautiful bridges and places, an ancient old town and many tourists (even on a monday), I enjoyed every moment. Though it was a challenge to navigate and roll my big trailer across the busy old town.
In the late afternoon I continued the trip along the scenic lake, because it seemed like a flat and an awesome route made for bike trips. Someone told me they reused the old railroad between Annecy and Albertville for especially that. Two more premieres for me happened that evening: First I experienced a great bike road tunnel through a mountain and second I met a wild boar for the first time in my life. It was a blessing to have a big trailer, so it kept its in distance. xD
When I stopped in Giez close to a golf course (yes I always feel safer there – just kidding), I appreciated the unforgettable view in the valley between high mountains and a half moon on a clear night. With a almost full battery I was prepared for a nice trip the next day and slept peacefully.
Day 25 – Alps Valley Alley
The whole valley from Annecy to the end of Grenoble was unforgettable. And the best, all quite flat to drive. I stopped just once to eat something in stone road beside the river Isére. It was a fight and I could only ride very slowly and carefully to avoid any damage on the trailer. No wrong I also stopped twice to collect some bear‘s garlic for my snacks and spaghetti. 😀
When I arrived in Pontcharra the battery was empty. I didn’t expect it, because the new display didn’t show it correctly. After talking to a few people in broken French and a lot of wild gesticulations the best idea was to sit down at a bar and ask friendly if I can charge the battery. I found one and after a while Robert sat down beside me. He could speak no word english and I could speak no full sentence french. It was still a great conversation. : )
Somehow after an hour or two I ended up at a house of a wonderful family with three children and three chicken in a cool garden.
First Caroline & Cedrick helped me with my usual demands and introduced me to their kids Leandre Aurele Valentin. After a while Christopher, the famous teacher of the town joined the party and we started to jam together. When the kids went to bed, our topics turned political ethical and a little about austria. It was great to talk and listen to the ideas and exchange our thoughts. The intelligent and open couple prepared a bed for me. I didn’t sleep long, but super fine and deep! Thank you for all your support.
Day 26 – Not so noble in Grenoble
I was highly motivated on my way to Grenoble. Before the city appeared, I had to drove up middle-high hill and stopped at a bus station at the top with a beautiful view across the valley and the mountains.
Now after almost one month of traveling I got used to all the gazes from the people, or even better: I am not distracted anymore by that and able to focus my attention on other things. 🙂
Grenoble is a beautiful city with a lovely old town, many bars and cafes and tiny alleys. It was a very windy day there and I wanted to find a place where I could do streetmusic and load my bine battery at the same time. It took a while, but after about an hour I could charge at a small store right beside an irish pub. The set I played was almost two hours. I got just very little money but the sound and the mood there was super.
On the way out of the city was a cute park where I cooked spaghetti bolognese to regain some calories. Finally close to midnight I made it out of the big city area and stopped on a quiet bike road beside the river in the woods.
Day 27 – Why not!
It was great to wake up at a quiet place and a sunshine between the trees on warm morning. 27 days without rain, I am so lucky, thankful and can’t really believe it. I said to myself: „Stefan take it easy, enjoy the place, maybe do some camping and get to know a lovely girl.“
Suddenly I got a flat tire on my motor wheel after just a few km drive. It was a big problem to bring the heavy trailer to the next town Tullins. I was happy to find a car garage where I could repair the tube inside the tire. It took some effort and help from the mechanic guy at the garage but after an hour it worked again. Thank you for your support & I hope you enjoyed the Leff beer. 🙂
In the supermarket beside the garage I bought a lot of tasty food to make the relaxing day even more enjoyable. 😀 Out of the market I crossed a guy with a t-shirt „WHY NOT“ written on it. We had a short and funny conversation and he just gave me 5 € because he loved what I do. I am still very surprised how some people are being so fascinated by this trip. Thanks man!
While resting at a sunny biker stop, a cute skater girl called Laetitia passed by and we spontaneously spent the day together. I invited her to my mobile hotel. After we found a good place for camping right beside the river I prepared everything. The full moon and clear sky made the evening and night super romantic haha. Sometimes wishes come true more quickly than you think.
☔️Day 33 ☺️ Liebe Grüsse aus Luzern CH.🏔 Dennis & Nadja 🚲