Introduction

Hello folks! This is the story of my bike trip this summer – from Austria all the way to Corsica, with a couple of detours here and there. As always, the trip was unplanned – I strongly believe this is what I enjoy most about these voyages: it is like being in a movie, where you are the producer, the director and the main actor all in one person, where the events unfold in front of your eyes. You never know what the next town brings, what is on top of that big hill to climb, will there be a safe place to sleep when the night falls? Enough water to drink?

Well, so completely unplanned was this trip not. I did have two fixed destinations in mind: my folks were on vacation on Istria in the town of Rabac and my then-partner and I were to meet in Venice for four days. The former stop was more optional – the latter one was a firm commitment – but then it was up in the stars how I would get just to Venice or any place for that matter. I was contemplating riding through South Tyrol via the Grossglockner - a trip I had done earlier - of course, there were other options as well.

I packed my bike, a recently acquired ToutTerrain with 18-gear Pineon shifter, with two new front panniers, two (already used) back panniers, a saddle bag and this is what I looked like in front of my house.