Ivybridge to Switzerland

My name is Flurina Felix, I'm 19 and from Switzerland. From summer 2010 until summer 2011, I worked as an Au Pair in Ivybridge, running with the Erme Valley Harriers, exploring Devon, Cornwall and parts of Scotland and Wales as well as following a GCSE English in Plymouth. I'm enthusiastic about the outdoors and exploring, thinking a lot about meaning, necessity and  sustainability of being on the road.

One day in February, I decided to cycle home rather than taking a faster mean of transport, and the idea quickly grew into a major project for me. I was very lucky to get help from Trail Outdoor on making the right kit decisions! And thanks to Tom, I ended up with a  suitable bike that became a very reliable companion.

Day 1 Roscoff-Douarnenez

Saturday morning, 6pm. After a couple of uncomfortable hours of sleep on the rocking ferry floor, we've arrived in Roscoff! I couldn't have wished for a better start into my journey – upon leaving the ferry, I met Etienne, a somewhat wild-looking round-the-world French cyclist, who kindly invited me for coffee in the harbour. We left town together, exchanging last thoughts on travelling 'à bicyclette', before separating and each heading on in different directions. I cycled past pretty houses on flat, empty country roads, greeting everyone with a cheerful 'Bonjour!', until I got to the first hills after Morlaix. 'Nothing compared to Cornish hills', I convinced myself, and managed to keep up my spirits this way. The day got hotter and hotter, the landscape more hilly, the roads more busy by the hour, and in the afternoon after 80 miles I still wasn't nowhere near the town I'd been invited to stay with my friend. It was late evening when I finally arrived in Douarnenez after having pushed 100 miles on my heavily loaded bike!! I was exhausted and decided to make the next day a rest day, enjoying for the last time a comfortable bed...

Day 3 Douarnenez – Lorient

I was fully recovered and eager to get moving again, and couldn't even be bothered by the rain. A few hours later, I learned my first lesson about road choices when I accidentally ended up taking a very busy, fast national road. To escape all the cars and noisily overtaking heavy lorries, I took the first exit I could find, and tried asking a local lady if there wasn't an alternative? Yes, she said, through her mean neighbour's garden (which was clearly marked as 'proprieté privée') and past his growling German shepherd I would arrive at a smaller road... It didn't look great, but better than the gruelling road I'd just left – therefore I sneaked through his garden, trying to appease the barking dog, telling him please not to bite my legs because my mum was expecting me home... It seemed to work, and I cycled on with very wobbly knees... At lunchtime, I met Jean, who invited to stay the night in his flat in Lorient! Things seemed to go really well.

Day 4 Lorient – Le Guerno

My last day in Brittany – I hadn't really been talking to anyone the whole day long, but was very pleased to pitch my tent for the first time in a charming village.