Emmanuel Lacombe, retired soldier, has decided to "give up everything to discover our beautiful planet" and has just started a world tour by bike, which should last between 8 and 10 years.
A project of which he specifies the details at the microphone of Europe 1.
INTERVIEW
"Give up everything to discover this beautiful planet, especially the people and their culture."
This is how Emmanuel Lacombe, a 53-year-old former soldier, sums up the somewhat crazy project he has just embarked on.
Originally from Grenoble, the Frenchman is embarking on a world tour… by bike, which should take him between eight and ten years.
At the microphone of Europe 1, he specifies the outlines of his plan from Ile Rousse, in Corsica, where his journey begins.
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"Hoping to avoid quarantines"
"Initially, I planned to reach South-East Asia in the next two years, by the Silk Road", explains Emmanuel Lacombe.
"Then after, I decided to join Australia and after Alaska, to finish my three-year journey across the American continent."
Small "snag", however, recognizes the adventurer: the Covid-19, which could prevent him from crossing certain borders.
"I am 53 years old and I am not one of the people who have priority for vaccines," he laments.
"But I will do everything, before arriving in Asia, to return to France and get vaccinated. Otherwise, it will be tests to enter each country, hoping to avoid quarantines."
"Meet other cyclo-travelers"
Emmanuel Lacombe, who intends to pedal between 40 and 50 km per day and spend "80%" of his nights in a bivouac, leaves alone, but with the idea of not being so permanently.
"I will meet other cyclo-travelers, whether French or foreign," he smiles.
"We will go a long way together!"
A long road, for which the former soldier did not hesitate to sacrifice the comfort of the life he had led until then.
"I sold everything, everything I had," he says.
"My life now comes down to my bike, four saddlebags and three or four boxes that were left with my mom."