Cyclingforrekko, the end of the start.
Hi,
My apologies for the silence of the last 10 days, core days of the initiative. While cycling I did not find the time for the blog as the “cycling days” were long and after cycling I had to dedicate myself to my hosts (with pleasure, do not misunderstand me!).
The trip in its totality has been great: I have seen places that I wouldn’t have seen anytime soon without this trip (I am talking about all the beautiful cities in France), met some amazing people and successfully completed what ,the first day, looked like a very difficult trip to complete.
The weather has been pitiless the all time with just a little sun shining on me between Lyon and Grenoble. But the cold, the wind and the rain, if I think about them now, just made the trip more memorable and valuable (while cycling I could not find all this positivism in the rain that was pouring on me). Photos of the trip can be found on the page : facebook.com/cyclingforrekko
The fundraising effort has been successful too. Thanks to the numerous people that decided to contribute to the project, I have been able to raise 1100euro, 100euro over my objective. I can’t thank enough all those that believed in me and in this project and contributed with a donation! Now I am awaiting to know more about what is going on in Guatemala regarding the Ambulatory and I will update all the donors as soon as I will receive details on what these 1100euro will be spent on.
I have given this title to this post because I think that although cyclingforrekko as “A ride across europe to raise money for Rekko” might have come to a conclusion, Cyclingforrekko will hopefully continue embracing new adventures and activities. For this reason I will try to keep this blog alive.
Once again a big thanks to all those that helped me with this initiative, those that followed and commented the blog, those that hosted me along the way, those that contributed with a donation and everyone that supported me in general.
If anyone has any ideas on what should be next for cyclingforrekko, please, share it with me!
Matteo
Cyclingforrekko
News from Troyes
Bonjour !
I am writing from Troyes, a beautiful town in France . I arrived here yesterday after a long day of cycling from just outside Reims. Altough I am mostly cycling on beautiful roads in the country side, the weather is really making it hard to advance. Yesterday very strong head wind made my average speed fall to 17kmh which meant I took 7hours to cover the 125 km from Reims to Troyes. Also the unusual cold and the rain don’t make the cycling any easier. However I remain positive because I am having a great experience and I know I am doing it for a good purpose. Moreover a part from the cycling , every night I have been hosted by amazing people that are making this trip even more precious.
Today I will reach Dijon but I am still not sure if I will do so by bike or by train (probably a combination of the two) as the weather it’s really really bad and my body is starting to crack down.
So far I have been cycling 48hours for a total of 855km since last Sunday .
I would love to keep you more up to date on the blog but I am finding hard to find the time to write .
I attach some photos from these days 🙂
Matteo
Please remember that this trip is part of a fundraising initiative and that you can help reaching the fundraising objective with a donation through the page http://www.buonacausa.org/cyclingforrekko
Cyclingforrekko finally hits the road!
Finally yesterday we hit the road! It has been a long 6 hours ride but thanks to the sun that shined for most of it, it has been a pleasant ride!
Leaving its been harder then I thought initially but once I did the first few km I realised that I was doing a good thing and that I can make it!
The bike works well although not perfectly ( the front derailleur is ” lazy”) but I can’t complain!
Right now I am in Tamworth ( actually a small village called Warton near Tamworth) waiting to the depart of the next stop, Oxford!
My host here were great and it was a pleasure to meet them and get to know each others!
Thanks everyone for following Cyclingforrekko!
Donations can be done following the link buonacausa.org/cyclingforrekko
Matteo
24 hours to the start!
Hi!
How is everybody?
Here in Manchester the sky is grey and the temperature low as usual but I am excited as tomorrow at this time I will be finally cycling towards Italy!
I was thinking the other day that between the all exciting things related to this trip, I found strange thinking that it will take me 12 days to cover a distance that I usually cover in 2 hours or so by plane. Also the action of “going home” never lasted more then 24 hours (when I was returning from China), while this time the action itself of going home will last almost 2 weeks..
I have finished my exam last Thursday and from the moment I have started running around to prepare my departure (changing the bank account related address, empty the room, packing the boxes to send to Italy etc..). But I have also found some time to relax : I went to see “The Great Gatsby ” and yesterday I had a very nice dinner hosted by two friends of mine that offered us some delicious Chinese “Delicatessen ” followed by a visit to K favorite club in Manchester, The Venue.
Today I have to finalize a few things, send some emails and check that everything is ready for tomorrow (as well as watching Giro D’italia stage! :D)
Preparing the necessary for the departure!
I will be in touch again before leaving, remember to spread this blog between your friends ! I am doing all this for charity and it would be great if you could contribute to my fund-rise. All the details on how to donate at http://www.buonacausa.org/cyclingforrekko
Matteo
Cyclingforrekko
Less then 1 week !
Hi everyone,
I am really sorry for the “grammatical” mess of the previous post. Sometimes I write on this blog to release some tension, and I write too fast and without checking.
Sorry!
However we are now 6 days from the departure day! (and we reached 101 posts on this blog whoooppwhhoppppp!)
I am continuing with the preparation of the bike and of the equipment 😀
In particular I am writing down the roads I should follow in order to avoid getting lost. They look clear to me now, but I am not sure they will look so clear once I will be “On the road”.
Oh, and I am also preparing the “Snacks bag” 😀
I would like to remember that behind this project there is an important fundraising effort. We have now raised 750euro thanks to numerous donations, and we are in need of further 250euros to reach the 1000euros target.
Help Cyclingforrekko!
Matteo
Cyclingforrekko
13days to go. Short Updates
Hi everyone! I hope everybody is doing alright!
I am writing for my room number 86.3 in Manchester, still with a little temperature and still studying for my exams.
Weather here is crazy( nothing new under the sky)! However while I was in Barcelona I noticed that all the threes got back to green color and most of it are full of blossoms which makes the view from my window less bad 🙂
I am not very happy about this temperature I am having as, not just it stops me from training but also is making my body less strong and trained overall, I can see it. It’s a shame.
Regarding some more general news, today I will have a Skype interview with an association in Guatemala “Ninos de Guatemala” regarding a possible internship period with them (I need to plan what to do after the summer!)
Also I am very happy as these days the Giro d’Italia is on and it really makes my afternoons better! 🙂
I am also trying to organize little events in the cities I will touch through the website Couchsurfing, will see what will come out of it!
Have a great day everyone!
Matteo
Cyclingforrekko
p.s here a little video that I have shot yesterday to try the Gopro camera I have received lately! I went out for just 10 minutes and headed to the northern quarter where I found a street festival. 🙂
Review : London “Look Mum No Hands!”
Cyclingforrekko @Lookmumnohands!
Matteo @Lookmumnohands! London
One of the first place we visited during our four days in London has been “Look Mum No Hands!”
Inspired by the great reviews on the Internet and by the perfect mix of bicycle passion and good food discernible already from the website ( http://www.lookmumnohands.com/) we took the subway to Old Street and start the search.
We arrived to the place after walking about 8 minutes outside the subway station (Fairly easy to find as it is located on Old Street). From the outside the place looked busy and after passing the outer garden (pretty amazing thing being the bar in the city center of London!) we joined the group!
A good number of little tables , a long table for computer users and a little bicycle shop together with the bar front compose the intern of the bar.
“Inside Look Mum No Hands”
“Inside Look Mum No Hands”
“Inside Look Mum No Hands”
“Inside Look Mum No Hands”
A glance at the menu and what do we see? “Minestrone alla Ligure ” as the dish of the day : I could not feel more at home!.
Fair prices, good food (and fair quantities) , great atmosphere and friendly staff makes the place a “Must See” for bicycle lovers of every level.
I would love to watch a Tour de France stage inside this bar!
Updates CyclingforRekko 27.03.13
Hey Everyone!
One thing before all the others : How crazy is this spring being so far?!?!? In Manchester it’s so cold and it keeps snowing!
Now back to Cyclingforrekko!
Cyclingforrekko has been in London during the last four days (more details about the trip in the upcoming posts! keep checking!)
While I was in London I have received a great support photo from U.C Pistoiese (Particular thank to Luisi Lorenzo)
U.C Pistoiese http://www.facebook.com/uc.pistoiese http://www.cicloweb.it/squadra/2013/uc-pistoiese-dilettanti-2013.html
And from Simone Masciarelli , Pro Rider for Acqua e Sapone Team and part of a family of Cyclists (http://www.cicloweb.it/squadra/2013/uc-pistoiese-dilettanti-2013.html)
Simone Masciarelli for Cyclingforrekko
We have also received some important donations that helped us reaching the current balance of 560Euro raised for CyclingforRekko (www.buonacausa.org/cyclingforrekko for more details). In particular I would like to thanks ASD Bici Camogli and Golfo Paradiso that allowed Cyclingforrekko to raise 70Euro during the race of last sunday (Thanks to those who bought Cyclingforrekko T-shirts!).
Also a great thanks to Simon Geschke who is demonstrating a great support to cyclingforrekko (Keep an eye on this rider riding for Shimano Argos, which after an 8th place at Roma Maxima has collected a 5th place at Criterium International just few days ago ( https://twitter.com/simongeschke , http://www.1t4i.com/riders/simon-geschke/ )
Today I also had a pleasure to have a chat within Lokum Il Caffe (https://twitter.com/LokumilCaffe ) with Luca Zanotti who is already supporting Cyclingforrekko and is willing to organize something with us!
Also Today, I received a call by Mr. Nicola Reineri from the Liguria Regional office, who showed the interest of the Region in helping Cyclingforrekko in it’s fundraising activities.
Another important news is coming from Visions-Channel.com who confirmed the interest in borrowing us a video camera to be used to film the all bike trip to then possibly publish the footage on their website.
The weather is being crazy therefore training is difficult and I can’t really do more then going up and down the stairs of my building (the other day I had a session of 750 steps running and it killed my legs!)
Now After this brief update I will try to post some content regarding the 4 days in London!
Thanks for following and supporting Cyclingforrekko,
Matteo
Photo from Bandiera Marco
Today we have received a photo from Bandiera Marco who shows his support for CyclingforRekko!
We are really thankful and we invite you to follow his cycling season and get to know more about him ! Grazie Marco!
Zanzana introduces herself
Zanzana
As she recently mentioned on one of her blogs, Zanzana was invited by Matteo to be a guest writer on CyclingforRekko: Zanzana feels really honoured and hopes to contribute as much as possible to this initiative.
She now takes the opportunity to introduce herself to the readers of CyclingforRekko, with a short description she has created for her online avatar:
Arabisante Italienne, Urban Biker, Horse Addicted, Aspiring Urban Farmer, Downshifting and Self-Production Supporter, Lifelong Thankful to those who support her.
Zanzana is trying to improve as housewife everyday, but still can not prepare a proper mayonaise.
Zanzana dreams of a far-away countryside, while she mostly posts from Milan, when she is not travelling, lost in a creative environment.
She can tell you she has improved quite a lot with the mayonaise, and also her first contacts with CyclingforRekko started with a post about Focaccia di Recco, one of her favourite dishes, beside being a landmark food of the town and region Matteo comes from.
As she mentioned to Matteo, she will publish mostly in the Miscellaneous section of CyclingforRekko, being her interests a little far from the main subject this blog deals with; at the same time, she will be very happy to get in contact with new readers, and to follow all the steps of the project and of Matteo’s trip from Manchester to Recco.
She is also wondering whether the road from Manchester to Recco passes from Milan! She really hopes so 🙂
Keep in touch!
Zanzana
CyclingforRekko 