Being in Babia while wandering around the world

El uncle de la bici ‘might sound like a vague description of a cyclist sharing his stunning photos on Instragram, but when using it for rating Alberto Finisterosa It is practically a question of the economy of words. Otherwise, we must say it’s the guy on the bike, the one who crossed United State (USA) coast to coast and there are still visa days left for more business tourism crossed Japan End-to-end or the person that contains BH Top Line, That legendary gray and black mountain bike from extinct Caja España, crossed from Valencia to Kathmandu (the capital Nepal) At the age of 25, in 2003, when there was no more Terra on the internet. Today it is possible to cross the “uncle of the bike” on roads Papia. Ironically, despite his ancestors from Lyon and his familiarity with the eastern mountain, this backpacker is one of those who can joke that they have never been to Babia, even though he has spent most of his life traveling.

This is a land of desertion and loneliness, but it is also a land of landscapes capable of filling the deepest voids. Going back is a must A few days earlier he entered Lyon via Pula de Gordon, continued north and was mesmerized by the Arbas Valley. He describes it perfectly: “This is a land of desertion and solitude, but it is also a land of landscapes capable of filling in deep vacuums. Going backwards is a must.” He is determined to fulfill his word and return with the other travelers on their new project, Nagara Aventura (nagaraaventura). Magara is an African word referring to the spirit of things and Naga is a Japanese word for “while”. From the merging of both, the name of the Alberto Finisterosa project was born, because “everything happens while waiting for the next” Currently, between discovering and discovering the treasures of this province, he is designing the website in which he will present semi-organized tours in Route 66 And the west coast of the United States, IranAnd the Iceland In winter to see the Northern Lights and CantabrianOn a motorhome tour that also passes through Lyon.

This personal project has a great professional career as an adventure travel guide. To reach the specialization, El tío de la bici did not lose a second. He has served as a rescuer and launcher in Baqueira (Lleida) and at other stations in Andorra, in Swiss AlpsAs a diver in Bali (Indonesia) and in conservation projects in Samos (Greece) and Melgate (Croatia) or as a guide to see the gorillas in Uganda. Between them, he lived for two years in Sultanate of Oman, She reached Huascaran (6,757 meters, Peru) and I descended the Amazon or, “in the yard of a house,” Transcantábrica completed. “It is amazing to be able in the morning at the foot of Naranjo de Bulnes and in the afternoon to shower in Playa Pechón (Cantabria).”

I love this photo, they are two children in a school in Kathmandu. He reached the finals in a photo competition organized by the Lonely Planet Guide publisher. That look has a thing. :: AF

It might seem like you are in a hurry, and the experience is fleeting. But the opposite is true. Among his references counts the journalist teacher Ryszard Kapu .cińskiFor explorers of Antarctica Shackleton s Scott, a Joseph Conrad (“In the Heart of Darkness”), by Felix Rodriguez de la Fuente, Miguel de la Quadra Salcedo or Juanjo Alonso “Capitan Pedales”. With these sources of inspiration, it is not surprising that Alberto Finisterosa has awakened his “artistic concerns” in his watercolors of lighthouses or drawings of puffins and other birds, “those who know the most about travel”. In this way, as with his social networks, he seeks to “convey the feelings and beauty of the place.” As well as talking, which is essential when traveling alone.

This vision does not condone the lesser known parts of the world. Alberto Finisterosa remembers colliding with a grizzly bear, with an angry elephant while driving a Nissan Micra minivan, or above all, traffic by bike. The military is also very present in some of the areas that I have traveled through, but in general, with “common sense”, the world is not hostile. “Deep down, we are all alike, and have the same dreams and fears,” he says.

And so, as the sun sets behind the Arbas mountains, El tío de la bici, Alberto Finistrosa, sums up: “Well, we have no places, roads, people, cities, rivers, streets, continents and countries, bakeries and museums, paths, streams, hills and peaks, peaks, valleys, mountains. Fields, tulips and poppies, gates, people, from near and far, the universe, deserts, forests, skyscrapers, roads, seas, forests, steppes, glaciers, sand, oceans, … whole worlds to travel through. Don’t leave your fingerprint too deep, Whoever comes behind you. “

Another view of mountain gorillas in the Volcanoes National Park between Rwanda, Uganda and the Congo. :: AF
Leave. Bike at the foot of Mayon volcano in the Philippines. Before arriving in Japan to travel from start to finish, I spent some time wandering around the Philippines, a tropical country like a book, with its forests, beaches, volcanoes … and its suffocating heat and mosquitos. | AF

right. The bike is in the gaze of the giants of Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming while crossing North America in 2013. The bike is the Top Line, only I had to change the tire after it cracked. | AF