‘There you’ve got another poor fellow,’ do I hear the man saying who’s cycling past me. He’s talking to his wife who is cycling steadily behind him. The village I just passed I have seen two bikes standing at the only café which was surprisingly open as well. I choose the budget option and have lunch in the shadow of a tree, just before I need extra power to cycle uphill to Laon. This man and woman are Geert and Janna, and become my neighbours at the campsite in Laon.
Because my bicycle has a little sticker from the shop where I bought it, it is recognisable to Brazilian André, who bought his bike there too. He and his wife Karla are on a worldtour as well and are shooting parts of film to make a movie about cycling. They want to make cycling a more daily habit of the Brazilian local, who are usually taking the car. Hopefully their movie will be the beginning of a creation of cycle paths. Their roads seem to be blocked and packed constantly, so here we are, three Dutch cyclists who are willing to talk in front of their camera. I am, surprisingly the first one. And since I am very used to camera’s, thanks to the close cooperation between Edwin and Eva from Pasta Media Productions, I feel no nerves. I just go for it, as a natural, I am a professional now, aren’t I? Well, obviously not. It is Janna who has to reminds me that I try to raise money with this cycle tour. Oeps…. We need to have a second take. It takes us half a day of filming and talking and it is great to do, us cyclers: Brazilian André and Karla who’s shooting us from out of the bushes, Geert and Janna, past the age of seventy and visiting their daughter in Paris. And me, who’s carrying a lot more at her own than Karla, with a mere 16 kilogram.
Cycling Cindy 