The path of desire
The Santos bikes are ordered!
We have selected the most important thing for our trip, the Santos Travelmaster bikes!
A beautiful journey to create the perfect bike! We first viewed a list on the Santos website, and wondered what do we really need to think about? We could actually choose the tyres and the colour of the frame! Have you ever heard of spacers and determined which headset to choose? Thanks to Robbert, we are now fully aware of the ins and outs of the bike!
The various components are laid out on the table at Santos, quite a beautiful sight to see! Especially since they belong in places on the bicycle where you will not see them once it is constructed. Everything is top quality, a story which is true and that you see and feel in the bike ... an amazing place where you can also go for a bit of a ride ;-)
After a tour through the store we could not wipe the smiles from our faces - what a beautiful bike and what an awesome feeling! The saddle was nice and hard because there's no standard weight, nice big pedals that will be great to push with the maximum possible force in the mountains. Mudguards? That's not our thing, because of the snow and mud that gets clogged up in there. We can also assure you upfront that we are happy to have the suspension seat post, it's great for the bum. Marcel is getting heavy tires and a hub dynamo for uploading energy so that Ingrid can keep up with him easily on the light rolling supreme tyres – a great prospect! Last but not least, we do not need any lubricating oil!!
We are going to ride with the ingenious belt drive! A carbon drive instead of a chain! Cool, huh!
It's hard to acknowledge and yet completely true, we are a matching pair, ha ha! OK, so we both chose the same color and even fell for the straight handlebars together .... No we just need to wait a few weeks and we can proudly make our first Santos ride! Then we get an upgrade from being prospective Santos riders to being ' real Santos riders'!
In July 2011 Ingrid and Marcel will step onto their bikes to live life! Just ride out from Amsterdam and then see where "the path of desire" brings them. Living life on the bike as it emerges, both intense and simple. Enjoying the moment, focus on the good things in life for themselves and for others. A trip of indefinite duration, through many countries and with many kilometres awaiting them ahead, where the journey is more important than the goal itself.
Marcel; the plan came to me during my meditation retreat in India. There I was asked; what would you do if you had only one year left to live? As I thought this over I connected to my values; to live intensely and simply.
Ingrid; I have several surgeries to make it possible for me to live to a ripe old age. That was a reason for me to celebrate life, to do what I have yearned to do for such a long time. What a joy to know each other for just a month and realise that we want the same thing; intense and simple living combined with travel! That is how our plans developed. We have spent many nocturnal hours on the beach in Goa talking it over, and we still do!
In going back to the simple life and the free choices they have in that, they realise that not everyone is this privileged. During their journeying they are confronted by this every day. That's why they take pleasure in seeing others enjoy that "moment" as well, even if it only lasts a little while.
Are you curious how they prepare themselves for this trip?
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Wanderlust greetings from Ingrid & Marcel!
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