19 - BILAN ET JE RÉPONDS À VOS QUESTIONS - BROMPTON TOURING - BUDGET / | La P'tite Réinventerie
Episode 19 - Season 2, where are we going again? Well friends, we're on foot there because I don't have a handlebar clip so it's boring to take stock of the bike We do it the old fashioned way in the streets. Look at me, it's so good , we're not too serious It's cool, there's no one, there's lots of green leaves, we don't remember after five months of winter, what is it? what are the green leaves and the flowers what does it look like? We say pity to each other, help me make this winter end. We're full of ass I wanted to tell you a lot of things I wanted to say thank you because it's crazy We're almost 1000 on the channel but for me, it's a crazy stage. I tell myself whore, but if I had known you see the extent that it would take. But damn it, it's so cool.
I love you delight me with your comments. I love reading you, so thank you. It's too hot In addition, there are people who come from all over the world. I just fucked the pedal in my foot Come on, let's go this way, it's pretty there too.
So it's cool to answer questions under YouTube comments. So don't hesitate at each video release if you want to write a comment it's always a pleasure to read you. So thank you because I got a lot of comments from you, where people said: ah but we're traveling with you, it's as if you were taking us on board with you on your adventure.
Oh, that's so good, I love it. Because me, on the road, I have the impression that you are with me. I'm the only cyclist talking to her camera. I think And then also, here are all the people I met.
I have a lot of gratitude for them too, be it the portraits I did in Quebec. Or there, I stayed two or three days and it's really portraits of people. So people opened their doors to me. Even the people in Ontario who welcomed me.
Everyone welcomed me with open arms. Frankly, I have the impression that we knew each other, that we were friends. I enjoy.
I enjoy chatting with people so much because they are people who live differently from what we are used to So me, each time I left with a portrait at someone's home but I crazy energy. I said to myself but me, it's too cool. Frankly, it was actually super inspiring.
Me before, I had gone maybe four or five days on a bike with a normal bike a few years ago, but I never had. I never really went on a cycling trip over several months there, then also with a folding bike, a different bike from what I'm used to and I don't regret it. Frankly, I don't regret it.
It was still 2 months then after I was also in my country. for me, I didn't take too many risks even if people told me oh la la you're all alone oh la la my god my god But no, but no, but no. Everyone has been admirably nice and frankly I would do it again, I would do it straight away. I loved I really loved it. So what did this trip bring me? Good question. A lot of things, already a lot of self-confidence.
Already making the videos alone from A to Z. I released ten or eleven videos, I think, seven portraits and frankly, I say to myself But it's brilliant. Of course, I didn't expect it to be so much work . YouTube is a lot of work. I've never worked so much in my life between September and today, but I think it helps to be persistent. I believe that's done. It gave me confidence to say to myself fuck, you can do it, you're all alone, but you're not really alone because in fact, people were telling me oh la la you don't feel too much only ? But me, in fact, what I answer to people is that well not at all In fact, I'm never really alone because suddenly everything combines my passions: video, meeting people and the bike. And so I have the pretext of going to meet people.
So it's a great excuse to actually connect. And that's one of the main purposes of why I'm doing this? It's more for the video than for riding a bike, although I love pedaling Archie obviously, but I'm a little lazy around the edges. So suddenly, I think that if there was no video, because me, my great pleasure is to share it. In fact, I couldn't do this just for me and tell myself I'm going on a bike trip without sharing it. I don't know I think there's something missing and it's cool to have alone time too, camping time, alone you can really just breathe, relax, do these things it's just a good balance , I would say. We left.
We're in the Villeray district, it's the district where I live and where I live There is... Okay, let's stop talking bullshit That's enough. We go to Jarry Park Frankly the return, it was tough. Honestly, it was difficult, I found it difficult to come back to Montreal after two months of cycling. meeting lots of people, changing my routine every day, landing was difficult but now that it's back, that the weather is nice, it makes me want to ride a bike in Montreal and resume the videos.
There, it's too good. I like. Damn, we're doing well today. Sunday, go quiet! And the little wind is too good. I said it was too good or not It's been at least ten times Come on, let's leave that. Why such a folding bike for such a road trip? Me, two and a half years ago, I didn't know Brompton.
It happened as my research progressed. At first, I said to myself, it's clear that I want to go on bike trips. Little by little, I clarified my project and I wanted something that brought together everything I actually liked. And me, it was clear that in my travels, I wanted to take the train.
I am passionate about trains, I love it. I find that it 's a mode of transport In any case, here in North America which is under-exploited And I thought to myself how to be able to go everywhere and be as minimalist as possible so as not to be bored, book your bike in the train, when you go on the plane, you have to dismantle his bike, etc. so it was a lot of small things to do and it seems to me that I was already tired in advance. So suddenly, I said to myself damn, there are not folding bikes? I wanted to invest money in a bike, but I didn't want to invest . I wanted to encourage a business, let's say local, even if that bike isn't made in Canada. But it's made in England, but I also didn't want it to be made on the other side of the world for the same price in the end.
And in fact, when I discovered Brompton and the values they put forward and also that there were communities all over the world, I said to myself but damn, this is great, I love it and I found the concept of this bike extra. I saw that there were people who traveled all over the world with this bike who even went around the world with it. I thought Wow, the project is awesome.
So it kind of happened like that in the end. Before buying the Brompton, I rented it here in Montreal two years ago. Just to see how I was going to feel, the feeling.
And yeah, frankly, I loved it. I said to myself but direct. As soon as I started pedaling, I said OK, this is the bike I want.
So sometimes you just have to try. We are not sure, we can rent, then we try, then we see there No, I said to myself it is with this bike that I want to go that I want to go and make videos because people often tell me Ah there there, the small wheels, it's not the brothel? But isn't your bike electric? But no my bike is not electric. So sometimes it's like clichés. Then there are plenty of videos on YouTube explaining how a Brompton bike performs so well. Of course there are differences, that's clear. But sometimes you can't stop at what you see.
In fact, you just have to try it. And then, we just have to find the right bike that simply suits us. Damn, but that concludes the first question that's it What is my main challenge when I go on a folding bike? There are several, I would say the first would be the place, that is to say that it is limited what I can bring. It is certain that if you take the trailer, for example, the Chubby trailer, you have 100 liters you are the king there. It's like home there.
But on the other hand, if you put a dry bag in the back, so a dry bag or a backpack behind the saddle, you will be more limited. And that's what I'm going to do for the next trips because I find it's more compact when you're on your bike alone. So there I will have 40 liters which expands to 20 liters more.
So 60 liters, let's say. Of course, it has to be compact. I have to choose my equipment carefully There are things that I will not take, that I took during the last trip, that I will not take There are things that I exchanged which were heavy, which I like the tripod, I took a lighter one. So it's choices, but it adjusts.
It's constant adjustments finally traveling with a customer bike, it also has a disadvantage. In quotes, let's say, the folding bike is always with you. And for me, it's impossible to tell myself that Archie I'm going to leave him with a padlock outside. I don't think I would feel well. It has to be compact. Let's say, if I stop to do the grocery shopping, I don't have to have 10,000 bags all over the place to go grocery shopping.
I have to have my front bag with all my gear , my bike on one side and my backpack, my dry bag on my back and then you're safe and it's compact and it's more pleasant. I find stopping and taking breaks like that. That's me personally. At first, I thought it was going to be difficult to film alone, it was also a challenge , then in the end, not so much.
In the end, it's done well, it's just that it's more work, it's twice as much work as if now I was with someone who accompanied me on the trip and who also filmed But it is cool. At the same time, we learn, we manage, we find small techniques. And to try to make the videos enjoyable and fun to watch. So third question how did I plan such a long adventure? This is an excellent question Jean-Pierre. In fact, in this preparation, there are two parts.
There is the road part, the itinerary as such, the bike trip and the filming part of people. I don't know if we say filming for the road part, for example. Me, it's clear, that I wanted to go to Lac-Saint-Jean, etc. So I made sure to make my itinerary at this level, for example by reserving my train ticket in advance Shawinigan, Jonquière , etc.
for the part of filming people, it was done a little very easily because I already had knowledge in this network there. There are other people that I didn't know who are, who got added by word of mouth, but all the people were kind of aligned in the way. So ultimately, it was quite intuitive. The choice of route. So, I put myself roughly, let 's say between 40 and 55 kilometers, let's say between people.
for the Quebec part in any case. Afterwards, I had no GPS and I used Google Maps a lot. And it's not necessarily a good idea because sometimes it tells you it's flat, then it's not at all. But at the same time, that's what's also funny on the road. You laugh afterwards, but not at the moment at the moment, you cry, at the moment you curse your life or you talk to the camera saying that you're fed up I also looked a little at the campsites to get an idea on the road, but I didn't book anything, but at least in the head. I had the idea that I could stop there if I needed to.
There is also a confidence that is established at some point in saying things, they will also happen gradually and because sometimes there are things that we did not plan. So we can't book everything at once. For the part in Ontario, it was also three days in advance. I had my whole itinerary, but I had the kilometers between each city. And afterwards, for example, when I met Richard, there, I was also able to get other advice, other places where I could stop.
So I just integrated that as I went along. The thing is, for me, in the project I'm doing, it's not just a bike trip, it's also. It is also integrating people that I will meet and film. There is this complexity there too and at the same time.
Yeah, that's a cool challenge. Beyond the fact that this project is also to show that it's possible to travel on a folding bike, that it's possible to film on a bike. I think what I also want to show is that it's possible to travel by bike with comfort. And actually, I love having comfort and that's why I started contacting Equinox last year, so they sent me one of their folding chairs. And but just that just that.
But that changes everything. It changes everything. The second comfort, for example, is the mattress, the mattress, Thermarest that I have for the tent. That was non-negotiable. I wasn't going to buy myself a camping mat that in the morning you wake up that you just want to go back to sleep. No , it's full of little things that mean that, as I go along, I'm going to add things that will increase my comfort in order to be able to say to myself Oh yeah, I'm calm But it's as if I were at home Shit, I knocked it down, what a draw It saves the thing or not? So where were we on the questions there I was asked the question how was it to travel without the trailer? to put the whole part in Quebec into context , I had a trailer.
This is the Radical Design Chubby trailer that is made for the Brompton and has a capacity of 100 liters. So damn, don't give a shit! To respond to the question. For the Toronto Montreal part.
I didn't have the trailer. I decided to just see with another freestyle set up and I had a dry bag that I bought really quickly I was totally unprepared 40 liters which isn't a lot knowing that in it, I had put I hadn't looked at the weather forecast either Ben, you don't look at the weight either You don't look at the weather forecast girl zero all the way and in fact, I had suddenly taken the same things that I had in Quebec. So except that it was 40 degrees for twelve days So it was a bit of a hassle to go from 100 liters to 40 liters anyway. It 's yeah, it's getting ready, it's getting ready, After trip after trip, who cares.
if not perfect. we do with what we have, when we want to go on a trip, on a bike, we take the camping things we have, we're not going to buy 10,000 things. After that, it's my opinion. But because otherwise, afterwards, there are barriers.
So it takes more money to buy lighter stuff. At worst, you have a sleeping bag that's big, you try to pack it with straps then you do what you can there But it doesn't matter if it's not all packed you laugh about it afterwards, but that is the most important. The most important thing is to do with what you have, it gives you anecdotes to tell.
Archie caused you miseries like punctures, breakdowns? No, not. Walou, no, in fact, I had no breakdown, just for a moment, the hook of the trailer loosened So I had to order a security from Radical Design because I was afraid that it would come off other than that the only thing I would say is that you have to be careful when riding a Brompton to tighten the handlebar grips well because sometimes you can pass on dirt roads and the handlebar can loosen if not properly tightened. It happened to me and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
What was my worst moment during this long journey? So clearly what was my worst moment was the bullshit roads. which are clearly not made for cycling. Between the holes, the roads in Quebec, the trucks brushing past you, it looks like I wasn't so prepared for that. At Lac-Saint-Jean, nickel, nickel. We see that these are really places that are made for cyclists and are super pleasant. you have services of small shelters, toilets.
In Lanaudière, it's not quite that. Ah yes I know damn a worse time but it was the rise of Shawinigan, the rise of Shawinigan by bike, no, it's not possible, but I don't even know if we have the right to be there, in fact. But I think so, because that's where you end up and it's horrible. you have the cars driving past you and it's a long climb to get into the city . It's just crazy. There are times that have been uncomfortable, such as pedaling during the heat wave. Other than that, there haven't been any other worst moments, let's say.
I'm going to show you something too good in Montreal. It's garage sales. And there's a good example of that because in the alley, they're doing that right now.
They're setting their table and they're selling stuff from home in the alley. When I came out of this experience, really the thing that struck me was to tell me so much humanity, welcome and mutual aid. In fact, it feels good to get out of a sedentary life, to be on the road. Yes, as I say, there are discomforts, you struggle and everything but just to see that, to say to yourself but there are people they live this way They are innovative in their way of doing things and they want to share you they want to share with you what they know. They want to tell you their story. They want to listen to yours.
That's a lot of hope. Oh damn, the pedal is boring. A lot of hope in humanity with all that is happening at the moment. Frankly, I would do it again anytime. I was asked the choice of saddle, which saddle did I choose? that's a big question.
So I used the SMP Gel Trek saddle. and what I really liked about SMP is that it's a saddle that's made to avoid chafing. I did 1000 kilometers with it and for real I really loved it. Of course at the end of the day I feel like my ass hurts, like with all saddles but I think if I had used the original Brompton saddle. Forget it the thing I would have left my ass on the low side But it's cute, look Here it's like an alley back alley with their library of books. So the saddle is padded.
here it's made in Italy too. So that's great Next question Next question What budget did I need for this adventure? So I took over all my accounts. I wanted to give you a fairly precise calculation, not to say a random number At the start, I had put myself $500 a month, so I was leaving for two months, I said to myself $500 a month, that should do it knowing that the same, there we make an estimate approximately. Transportation for the train.
It cost me a total of $170 (Canadian) for accommodation. It cost me less than $400 in Quebec and less than $400 in Ontario. It is not given here accommodation in general, campsites, campsites. Here, it's often for one night, around $40 a night.
There, it is necessary to count that nevertheless for the food, In total, one is approximately between 450 $ and 500 for Quebec and Ontario. It includes both. I don't really realize, but in fact, all the budget included, we are between 20 and 25 $ per day.
What I meant about campsites is that there are campsites. Welcome cyclist to Sépaq which costs nothing, which costs maybe $11 a night. I think what I did at the Pointe-Taillon campsite and at the Lac Kénogami campsite. It's often pitches that aren't super . It's a bit in the middle, but who cares, when you get there you just want to sleep, then have water services, to be able to shower all that.
In Brockville, on the Toronto Montreal route. There is also a Welcome Cyclist campsite , but it is not part of a park. It's sure that it's a bit of a public park, it's not great, but it's not very expensive either. Sometimes it's better than nothing.
The Saint-Laurent parks which are on the edge of the Saint-Laurent between Kingston and Montreal, we will say we can go there like that without booking. It will cost less than booking online. Because if you book online, there are costs.
So we try to find little tricks, little advice like that to save money on the left, on the right and that's it. And it's going well. It's going well. Team tap socks Friends, for the second season of the adventure on the YouTube channel, we are leaving with Archie in Europe.
Cross five countries which are the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Spain and Portugal. So the idea is to land in Amsterdam and arrive in Lisbon. This project there, it will be from September, until December. You will be able to follow the whole trip on Facebook Of course, during this time, there will be no videos on the channel. The videos will not resume until January, next winter. But in the meantime, during all this time you will have on Facebook, the photos and the story of my daily adventures to find out if there has been any trouble.
Here, here is the bullshit, the funny stuff to share. I can not wait. Please subscribe to this channel if you haven't already. I know there are people watching my videos who are not subscribed. I see you
It's free, me in exchange, it encourages me a lot. That shows my work and also the people I film. So it's an exchange of good practices, as they say. If you want to write me a comment, a quick note, well spoil yourself. Me, I love to read you, I love to answer you, we exchange, it's so cool. And on those, we see you in the next video of the month of June.
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2022-06-21 00:18
