08252014Mon
Last updateFri, 22 Aug 2014 3pm

Around the world on a bicycle: The reflections of Salva Rodríguez

In 2006, Salvador Rodríguez of Granada, Spain decided to visit the world by bicycle. Since then, he has covered 135,150 kilometers on two wheels, fixed 258 flat tires and written two fascinating books on what he has learned. Recently he gave a talk on his adventures at Estación Bici, a popular R&R center for cyclists, located inside the Primavera Forest.

“Salva,” as he is widely known, has a background in sports, but the outlook of a philosopher. When I asked him why he is engaged in what might look like a lonely pursuit, he replied, “In Granada, I felt I was the prisoner of the things I had bought, prisoner of the place where I lived. So, I wanted to cut this bond and, for a while, live apart from the world of production and consumption.”

As a result, Rodríguez went off on an 800-day bicycle tour of Africa, covering some 42,000 kilometers. “People I met all over Africa treated me so well that before I got back home I wanted to visit Japan and then I decided I wanted to know all the rest of the world as well. So I started out in Granada to see the world and Granada will be my last destination when I finish my tour. Right now, I’m here in Mexico, stopping for a pause. When winter comes, I’ll be off to pedal across Europe.”

Rodríguez says the life of a nomad has opened his eyes. “I wake up in the morning without knowing what is going to happen that day, where I will sleep, who I will meet. Every day I am curious to know what adventure awaits me around the corner, to know different cultures, races, landscapes. I look forward to testing my luck in remote places, tackling life head on, because life is one big gamble, where the more you risk, the more you stand to gain.”

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