January 2017 | 75
“ The lows have been the days with no other choice than to cycle on big , chaotic highways , where we could not appreciate any landscape , but had to constantly concentrate on the cars and trucks around us . One day in Bosnia and Herzegovina we had to cycle on a road with 26 narrow tunnels , which were very dangerous for cyclists because there were no lights and no sidewalks . That was a stressful experience .
“ In Ukraine we didn ' t meet much traffic , but the conditions of road were awful , with huge holes all over the asphalt . This meant longer times to reach any destination and more hours under the sun .”
Another episode fraught with danger was when they were cycling in Northern Iran near a small village called Bastam and they were caught in a violent sand storm . Their route became impassable and perilous as it was impossible to see anything around them and they were unable to cycle any further because of the severe strong winds . On this occasion they were luckily able to flag down a passing vehicle , load their bikes on board and safely made it through the storm .
The cycling couple revealed how the often searing heat and high temperatures they have encountered while in the saddle is another hazard they have to navigate . Chiara said : “ One of the main obstacles so far has been the hot temperatures . We are trying to wake up and start cycling very early in the morning to avoid being under the sun in the hottest hours of the day , but sometimes we don ' t get to our destination by lunchtime . So we stop in some shady places and get some food and after these breaks , going back to the pedals is often very hard . The body is not very responsive after meals and a couple of hours of inactivity .
“ Another difficulty is the fact that the we can never leave the bikes during the day , because the bags are too numerous and too heavy to be carried anywhere apart from when we eventually arrive at our final accommodation destination , a mixture of hotel rooms , warm shower houses and camping sites . This means that it is impossible to park the bikes and luggage somewhere and go visit some highlights of the place .”
However , the keen cyclists acknowledge there are positives to being in the saddle everyday as they make their way to their final destination of Singapore , which they scheduled to reach by June 2017 - a year after they originally set off from their native Italy . Riccardo said : “ We can spend on food all the money that we don ’ t spend on gasoline .”
He revealed they cycle constantly and ensure they rest when they are feeling tired , however he confessed they don ’ t always stop as long as they should because they are so curious to cycle onwards to see what ’ s next to discover .
So far they have not had many maintenance issues when it comes to keeping the bicycles roadworthy . Riccardo said : “ I ’ ve had four punctures in my back wheel , but these have been the biggest problems so far , so I would say that the bicycles are doing a great job . We have cycled in very bad conditions like off-road and muddy paths without any major problems . We are trying to regularly service our Ridgeback bikes so there have been no big issues so far .” A plus side of being in the saddle so long on a daily basis means the pair is exploring parts of the globe they have