Sounds of the route

I recorded 2 minutes of snow in the neighbourhood of Zirmunai in Vilnius.

Day four was probably my best day, I felt I had such powerful legs and so I pushed to the mountains, dropped my friends for a while and enjoyed the steep landscape in solitude. Once we reunited and eat together, we reach the Mediterranean, climbing Cabo de gata leaving other riders behind, finally facing the hell of the beach, stormy and wet and Almeria where we ate a very nice and so much needed burger. After Almeria, we decided to hit the road to find a smaller place to sleep, but we didn´t expect such a challenge, in the dark, the city rejected to disappear, it was like a dream and didn´t matter how much we pedalled, the city lights were there all the time. At some point, the path was that difficult that we had to walk, a group of 5 friends and riders walking in the dark. Ricardo, Paolo, Jordi, Adrian and I, pedalling until almost 3 am. The next day was our final push, and we all arrived in Capileira within the same hour (Around 1am). for sure I will never forget this awesome ride, and the friends it gave me.

Day 3 started in good company, Paolo, Ricardo pushed side by side, sharing the best conversations you can have while crossing the hell. not so much climbing, but the desert of Tabernas received us with its 40 degrees celsius, after a delicious lunch, we faced the challenge that ended in one of the worse terrains I ever rode, a dried river.

After a hell of the first day in which I had 7 punctures and I got seriously dropped, the new day started very early. 4:00 am and I was already climbing out Gorafe, according to my tracker, I started the day in position 140, feeling a bit sick and with the morale literally on the floor. I decided to continue until my body decided it was enough, something never happened. With every minute on the bike, I felt stronger and I just kept pushing and pushing until the end of the day. A hard day, by the way, Gorafe desert, an insane climb after riding inside a canyon, also a beautiful blue river where I found good recovering, and finally two good new friends along the way. Paolo and Ricardo.

I had the pleasure and of course the pain of ride on one of the most hardcore Ultracycling races in Europe The Badlands, a race around Granada, across deserts, highlands, beaches and beautiful small villages. I recorded some audio that may be interesting for you. I think it may be part of the last project, sounds of the route, but you decide. The first day started plethoric, I was literally on fire, feeling extremely strong and capable to finish this race in a very privileged position, at least among the first 30 finishers, but rapidly my expectations got dropped. Less than 100 kms and I already had 5 punctures, loads of riders passed me while I was struggling to keep up my position and morale, pumping my wheels again and again... at the end of the day I ran out of replacements and patches, I had to stop every 10 minutes to pump the back wheel and then push as it was humanly possible. arriving finally in Gorafe to eat sincerely not the best pasta, but it tasted like glory after such a pain.

I ended my bike trip in Berlin, of course, as a performance artist, I had to finish this dream in some way close to that world. I was invited to perform in a huge collective but I didn't made it, I arrived in Berlin one day late. Anyway I could enjoy the last day of the festival and I wanted to show you how a street performance art festival sounds.

I am fascinated with Berlin, it is one of my favourite capitals, and this is the sound of one of its ultra crowded squares.

A very calm and sunny day, short 120 kilometres ride in total, I wanted to go somewhere close to Berlin and I found this beautiful place, Postdam gave me castles and beautiful gardens.

I don´t feel I arrived in Berlin without going to the Brandenburg door. Always full of tourists, life, colours.

My friend Marian took me for a mountain bike ride around this blue beauty, a fantastic lake with a church in the middle Island.

A jewel between mountains, a colourful city crossed by a river. so much life, I loved Ljubljana from the very instant my wheels touched its streets.

Never fully trust on your GPS, watch sometimes the map on your phone, find other ways and never trust blindly on Garmin specially. Anyway, despite being lost in the mountains, I enjoyed the gravel experience, the insane gradients on the ascents, the mosquitos and bees and the two crazy descents. Here is a small audio taste of how it sounds the loneliness os the slovenian mountains. By the way, now I know where Roglic and Pogaçar train.

I arrived a bit late to Trieste without finding a place to sleep, I rode 200 k with my bike and at that point I was exhausted but then I realised I had to bike at least 10 kms more in order to find a good place to put my tent, out of the big city. The only problem was that those 10 kms had 20% gradient in average. after all the suffering I arrived in a camping place and I recorded the sounds of what happened around my tent.

Half an hour by ferry from Venice, I found the beautiful island of Burano, a small place full of artisans and colourful houses. I forgot this episode but it should be right before Trieste. This is how this island sounds

After a hell of a ride of 200 kilometres under 36 degrees celsius I finally arrived and got the opportunity to see the Adriatic sea from the mountains, a beautiful city that for some reason reminded me Mar del plata in Argentina. This is how this beautiful city sounds.

As I was amazed by the vibrant Venice, I did some recordings, this one is on San Marco Square.

One of the reasons why I came to Venice, was Marco Polo and his journeys, I am a traveller mainly because of my parents and because of the lecture, The Voyages of Marco Polothe voyages of Marco Polo was my compas book. this is the sound of the streets and the channel in front of his house in Venice. The Voyages of Marco PoloThe Voyages of Marco Polo

My journey took me to one of my dreamed cities, Venice was the jewel I always wanted to visit, that is why I have more than one recording of its streets. This is the first one, and I did it right in front of the station, watching the traffic in the channels, the white constructions, and the fantastic energy this small city have.

An small village going down from the Italian Alps

So many tunnels and a dangerous descent before arriving in Trento, a beautiful city in the Trentino region, the north of Italy is just amazing.

Right before the presentation of a futbol team, which is very traditional in the area, I stopped to have an ice cream and this was the sound of everything around me. By the way, Italian ice cream is the best, when your energy levels are low after a long ride.

In the middle of the Italian alps there is a small town called Breguzzo, in Trentino region. There I found friends from my home town, they introduced me their friends and in one party they played briscola. first they told me that this game is interesting because you have to communicate with your partner using gestures, I imagined a very silent game, but of course I was wrong, is Italy.

I left Milan early in the morning and a few hours later I found Brescia, Beautiful city, with a white square and small streets where with fountains everywhere, its nice to hear people talking and drink water prom those public taps. I hope you will enjoy the sounds of the city who was the door of the mountains a head, in my way to Breguzzo.

Leaving Milan early in the morning makes a huge difference with arriving at night. The noise and the music disappear and everything is calm, just a few people on their way to work.

Milan appears to me like a white jewel after an insane ride of 200 km. I arrived in Piazza del Duomo when the night was slowly coming, despite not so many people was there, the environment was noisy, musical, festive. I stayed there several minutes enjoying the company of strangers. This is how the piazza sounds on a Friday night.

On my way up to the Saint Gotthard pass, I found a very calm passage with a great view and a lot of cows, I liked the sound and stopped to record it for you. I almost lost my bike because I put it on a very weak fence Luckily, after some minutes, I managed to fix the situation and continue the recording of the wonderful cow symphony.

The rain followed my trip may be too long, but several kilometres after Zurich, I found Wassen, the first place without rain in two weeks. There, it was a beautiful river and I approach the first mountains before the big effort of the Saint Gotthard Pass. Despite the huge amount of traffic, the landscapes appear to me very calm.

Zurich was waiting for me with some rain, but once the sun was out, my good friend Wathiq invited me to downtown for a guided tour. he is also a performance artist and knows some of the most important points of the city. We went for example to the mythical Café Voltaire, where Dadá was born. sadly it was closed for reparations, we could get in and see the process but no coffee for us this time. I may have to go back at some point. This is how Zurich sounds in a good company.

On our way from Stuttgart to Zurich, we found a blue lake that divides part of the territories between Germany and Switzerland, the Obersee or Bodensee. we had to take a ferry to cross the border and avoid 50 kilometres of extra ride. this was the second border I crossed in this journey and the only one I did with my brother. This is how the interior of this ferry sounded.

A place with good friends, reminding us that home is everywhere if we find familiar faces and smiles. this is how Stuttgart sounds

After hours of pedalling under the sun of a new day, my brother and I reached a place called Manheim, we stopped for some water and found smiles along our way.

Few kilometres before arriving in Frankfurt, a strong rain hit us but once we arrived in the city, the sun started shining. a very modern city opened its doors with good weather for us.

Cycling in the middle of Germany is a wonderful experience, here I was with my brother surrounded by trees and birds. Enjoy the sound of the German nataure.

The rain has followed my path during these last two weeks. It´s been cold but extremely beautiful. In the middle of the mountains, on the banks of the river Neckar, we found a jewel called Heidelberg. this is how this beautiful city sounds under the rain.

I found myself looking for a part for repairing my bike in Leipzig, I didn´t fount it, but the experience of the city was pretty much calm. here you will hear how Leipzig sounds on a Friday morning.

I had some issues with my bike since yesterday, I had to find a small replacement, pretty difficult to find these days of pandemic. but anyway, I enjoy a short ride in Halle, this is how the downtown of the city sounds.

To leave Denmark, I rode 170 Kilometers, pretty rainy and windy but beautiful. capturing good audio was very challenging but I think this is the most interesting moment of the day. Right before leaving Sjælland, I got a flat tire. Enjoy my struggle.

I am heading on a big journey on bicycle, and the main idea is to document the route through the sounds. constructing a diary of my trip. This is the city where I live currently and I would like to introduce her to you. This is how Copenhagen sounds from my bike.