Queens of the world (part 2)

Is it possible for a woman to travel alone by bicycle? "Off course it is!", answered me in chorus of inspiring cyclotravelers who decided to let their hair float to the wind.

This article first appeared in the excellent magazine Vélo Mag, September-October 2019 edition.

Part 1 is available here.

Madeleine Bousquet: Extraordinary experiences

Aminda (left) took care of Madeleine during her stay in El Salvador.

This is not her first trip. From the end of the 1970s, Madeleine Bousquet left alone with her backpack for Ecuador and Peru. Then it was the family cycle tours, with his four children. When the latter became adults, the cyclist from Quebec simply continued to travel, but this time alone, starting from a specific location and cycling back to the house. From Windsor, Ontario (1600 km) in 2012, then Boston (1200 km) in 2015.

In 2018, just after her retirement, the young sixty-year-old decided to take even more of her time and reconnect with the warmth of the people and the Latin climate. For three months, she travels the 2400 km road between Cancún, Mexico, and the Panama Canal. In complete autonomy in eight countries known more often for their bad sides.

“I have been afraid of the way other road users drive,” she told me. But it's the same with a man. "

In fact, Madeleine's bag of stories is filled with more good than bad experiences. Like when one of her axles broke near Lake Erie, Ontario, and a couple happily invited her over to their place, before driving her to the nearest bike shop. , more than 40 km away. “Two angels on my way,” she told me.

“If I had listened to all the prophets of doom who advised me against going to Central America alone, I would have missed out on extraordinary experiences. So have confidence in life and in humanity, and dare to make your dreams come true, ”concludes Madeleine, positively.

More information on Madeleine's trip to Central America on his website.

Cloé Ando: Beautiful image of hope

It was in an oasis-city in Uzbekistan that I met Cloé Ando almost three years ago. The twenty-something then went for a backpacking trip with her mother and her brother, between two university sessions in architecture. The sight of a strange traveler on a bicycle coming out of the desert will have marked her. A few months later, she launches her turn. From her native France, she heads east with the distant goal of Japan, where her father is from. "See you in two years ... or in two days!" »She says to her family on the eve of her very first cycling trip.

Almost 2 years and 18 countries crossed later, she could not be happier in her life.

"By bike, you experience the road, you feel the country and its climate, you immerse yourself in its culture."

Accepting all the invitations, Cloé even gets by with an astonishing daily budget of $ 3 in some Southeast Asian countries!

“People on my route worry more about female travelers. I am entitled to a lot of advice, opinions, even reprimands because I travel alone. "

"The road is long, but worth it." Astonishing sign that Cloé came across on her way in the northeast of India, a few days before her arrival in Burma.

Yet Cloé cautiously adapts to each culture. She does not pedal in the dark and does not camp alone in India, and most often tries to be invited by families. She also adapts her clothing to local customs, avoiding shorts in Turkey, for example. In Iran, she even wore a veil all day long, including while pedaling, in addition to covering up to her wrists and ankles.

The positive young girl does not take offense, on the contrary.

“The women of the countries I cross see me on my bicycle, alone and free, while many of them are chained to their husbands, their fields, their families or their kitchens. We cyclo-travelers are their most beautiful image of hope. With a pedal stroke, a smile, a word, we open up new perspectives, a new vision on the status of women. And maybe one day, they too, inspired, revolted, they will say to themselves “Why not me?”. "

We can read the adventures of Cloé on Facebook.

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