Cyclists travel more than 3000 km from Slovenia to Gibraltar
More than 20 cyclists recently rode to Gibraltar on pedals, marking the end of their 3040 km long monthly journey from Ljubljana to Slovenia.
Tour operator TDA Global Cycling, with the help of a crew along the way, brought together cyclists from all over the world.
The ride was one of the longest on the way and started in Ronda, Spain.
However, one cyclist, Brenda Trenholme, who is from Rossland in British Columbia, Canada, traveled even further.
“I started in Athens, I went through the Greek mountains and I was in the interior of Greece, on this trip I crossed the Apennines three times self-sufficiently. And then I met this group and we had quite a bit of climbing, but I’m used to climbing, ”she said.
“Because my home is at 4,000 ft, and where I work, it’s at 2,000 ft and I usually drive to work in the summer. I’m used to a lot of climbing. ”
This was her third TDA tour and she usually does the tours she supports herself. Her previous tours with the company were from Beijing to Istanbul, 13,000km and from Cairo to Cape Town, 12,000km, most of the way she camped.
“This tour was kind of a piece of cake, they were hotels, it was very gentrified, it was a lot of fun. It was great to come from Canada and go on another tour, ”she added.
Also from Canada was Wallace King, who is from Tuktoyaktuk, an Inuit village in the Arctic Ocean.
“It was wonderful,” he said.
“The weather was great, we had first class hotels, first class meals and the crew was exceptional.”
“This is the tenth organized group ride I have been on with different outfits and this group of four boys [the crew] and their dynamics, because they understood each other so well, they joked and the next thing we’re all involved in, we joke and laugh, so that was a great basis for relationships. It starts, so to speak, with the crew and how they treat us and prepare our meals. ”
He believes the beauty of some of the Mediterranean coast was the culmination of his journey.
“It looks down on the small town that surrounds it. Just the natural beauty of it. There were a lot of interesting things, but that would probably be it. We climbed a lot, so we then got these beautiful views of the small town coast and the sandy beach, ”Mr. King said.
Simon Boyd hails from Burton Upon Trent in the UK and has always been a cyclist. When asked why he decided on this tour, he simply said it was supposed to work.
“This tour is supposed to start in Budapest [Hungary] two days after the charity golf tournament, which I always run every year in Budapest. So I applied for it, but due to Covid’s regulations and everything they had to do, they shortened it for another week, so we finally started in Ljubljana. So the plans got a little complicated, but still fun. There is a long way to go from Ljubljana to Gibraltar, “he said.
Because of this tour, it is the longest that Mr. Boyd has done, before Covid he cycled with the company from Dublin in Ireland to Copenhagen in Denmark, but the recent tour is about 500km longer.
“I was also amazed by southern Spain and Andalusia, which went through these plains and the sierra was absolutely beautiful. And the group of people was great, I really enjoyed it, ”he said.
Kim Wright, who comes from the other side of the world, Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia, cycled alongside her Canadian partner Kevin.
“So, as you know, the Australian borders have been closed for almost 18 months, so I’ve been trapped abroad for more than a year, so I decided to just cycle around Europe with my partner. That’s how I mark the time until I go home, “she said.
“It’s a wonderful journey. I did a lot of cycling tours, but this trip was really interesting from Slovenia, the beautiful country and all the time, so I completely enjoyed it. ”
Her highlight of the trip was the Spanish part from Granada.
“It was amazing through the mountains, the beautiful scenery, the hard climbing, but it was fun,” she said.
As the group rode into the Rock Hotel parking lot, the crew there was ready to start smashing the bikes and putting them in cardboard boxes ready to send home.
The cyclists were also greeted with champagne and snacks upon arrival at the finish line.