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Karen Fig
Karen Fig

Karen Fig

traveled in 9 countries Read more🇺🇸Chicago
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  • Karen Figgermany-czechia-austria-switzTraveler
    i hope we find true peace one day
    The Brandenburg gate, built in 1791, was closed between east and west berlin from 1961-1989Sunset on the spree riverDusk in Mauerpark, or "wall park."

    impressions of freedom

    August 31, 2019 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 82 °F

    Berlin is: art and graffiti. nocturnal. a beautiful, endless world of clubs that don't open until midnight and tiny sweltering bars in run-down brick buildings. they are probably so cozy in the winter; in the summer, not so much.

    People are out drinking in the streets and sidewalks all night long, smoking hookah, watching the sun set along the river, or barbecuing in the green space that used to be the death strip along the berlin wall.

    Or, of course, dancing, probably to techno.

    It feels like a huge contrast to Chicago, where the police literally kick everyone out of the parks at 11pm sharp and fine or arrest you for doing something as simple strolling down the street with a beer.

    After my bike ride from the airport, I walked 11 miles and ended up dancing at 2:30am at a place that felt like the 90s- no air conditioning, fog machine, loud house music, literally underground. I got back to the hostel at 5am, walking past still-thumping bars and clubs that don't stop until the sun comes up, and sometimes not even then.

    It seems like an endless party here, and it definitely could be if you wanted that. But more generally, I think this is what it feels like when a city belongs to its people.    Read more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler

    reunited

    July 27, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 70 °F

    It took a month, but I finally got my bike back. It was itching to get out of its box by the time it got to me.

    what a nightmare. i would recommend against flying wow air, but they have unsurprisingly gone out of business since then.

    anyway - all's well that ends well. First 800 miles through europe officially done.    Read more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler
    Last view of Paris
    My bike carried her own box half a mile to the airport shuttle! What a sport

    Lost

    June 19, 2018 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 72 °F

    My dear, strong, perfect, beloved bike never made it back to me at the airport in Chicago. At 1am, two hours after landing and waiting, I had to give up. I called the airline but they told me I have to make a claim at the airport. Everyone from the airline had gone home for the night. It's the next morning and I'm on my way back to O'Hare, hoping for the best, imagining the worst.

    Where are you, Ice Dragon? Forgotten in a corner of Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris? Abandoned and alone in Iceland during the connecting flight? I can't believe we came all this way only for this to happen at the end.    Read more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler
    1Me and my date
    GodparentsNathalie's husband's band, the Woofettes, playedJust family stuffI love my family cause they love their dogs

    I think we clean up ok

    June 16, 2018 in France ⋅ ☁️ 55 °F

    The wedding was epically beautiful and fun. Stayed up all night with wine and tequila. At 7am i collapsed in my medieval bed. Woke up feeling not like a human. After 15 miles and 12 hours straight of partying, the castle steps were particularly treacherous and people were slowly shuffling around eating Nutella on baguettes and drinking coffee. I got a ride back to Paris with a couple of Nathalie's friends. It was a really, really, hard 7 hour drive after a really, really great night.Read more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler

    1200 kilometers

    June 15, 2018 in France ⋅ ⛅ 54 °F

    Well, I've more less made it. 760 miles from the port city of Amsterdam to the port city of Brest, in France. I still have another 15 miles or so to the wedding, and then back, and there will be so last minute Paris riding, but....no more 50 mile days. No more camping, or trails, or bruises on my hands from the handlebars, or concerning levels of dehydration.

    I guess I should feel happy, or a sense of accomplishment, but mostly I feel really tired, and I'm really looking forward to seeing my family tomorrow, because although the trip has been....amazing, an adventure, beautiful, hard, and so much more....

     ...i guess anything that doesn't involve people I love is hard to feel strictly "happy" about. Ice cream sure does help though! :-D    Read more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler

    Sizun, France

    June 15, 2018 in France ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    The "oh man that looks cool but I only have 20 miles left and I want them freaking over with" photograph struggle

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler

    Plougastel-Daoulas, France

    June 15, 2018 in France ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F

    To my surprise, everything here, in the western Brittany region of France, is in both French and Breton, a Celtic language. From Wikipedia:

    "Brittany is the traditional homeland of the Breton people and is recognised by the Celtic League as one of the six Celtic nations, retaining a distinct cultural identity that reflects its history."

    Super fascinating to have reached a part of France where it's not even really French! I have no idea how to pronounce half the towns I passed through today.    Read more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler

    Last day of riding

    June 15, 2018 in France ⋅ ⛅ 52 °F

    I can't freaking WAIT. I haven't had reliable service or a way to charge my phone in days, basically. More updates later - dinner with my godparents in Brest tonight, assuming I can ride 60 miles in a reasonable amount of time!Read more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler

    Last campsite

    June 14, 2018 in France ⋅ ⛅ 57 °F

    It just didn't seem worth it to set up the tent when I really only wanted to rest for a few hours before setting out on my last day as early as possible. Luckily, rural bus stops make great napping spots! It was very cozy and there weren't even any spiders 👍Read more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler
    These trails are old converted train tracks, with all the accompanying old stationsApricot tarte. I wonder what it's like to not eat French pastries every day

    Loudéac, France

    June 14, 2018 in France ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    I decided to check out the trail again, hoping it would be dried out enough. It was, and I spent a blissful, meditative 75 miles rolling through the french countryside, sometimes singing along loudly to music, sometimes enjoying the silence. Occasionally i popped into whatever tiny town was nearby for a snack or water

    It's been a very long time since I challenged myself this much. Even on a straight, flat, trail, 75 miles is a lot. I've been riding almost non-stop since Sunday, taking breaks for sleep and wine, but to cover all the miles I really need to push, not relax. I can feel my brain rewiring itself. It's like, "is this all there is to life now?"

    And, the thing is, for now, yeah, it kind of is. And it makes me feel a little crazy, the lack of company and the lack of every-day tasks. In a way it feels like a sensory deprivation chamber. In another way, my senses feel overloaded.

    Sometimes I wonder why I do this. Like, when it's raining and I'm cold and tired and have to sleep on the ground. It's not because it's fun. It's just because it feels like living.    Read more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler
    Jaffa

    The Saint of Saint-Méen

    June 13, 2018 in France ⋅ ⛅ 59 °F

    Well, I lasted, oh, 3 miles or so before I got tired of the trail. It was heavily damaged due to flooding (have I mentioned the rain?). My tires were spinning out. I was getting nowhere fast. Back to the country roads for me. I arrived at my destination quite late. I walked into the only open bar and, as always, the small crowd of people interrogated me in the friendliest way possible. "You're riding HOW MUCH? BY YOURSELF?!"

    This ain't my first rodeo, and I've learned that when people offer you a spare bed or couch, you should probably say yes. Especially if they have a dog that likes to play soccer.

    My gracious host took me in at 11pm, brought me coffee and a croissant in the morning, and sent me on my way.

    Bike trips have a way of connecting people in ways that are rare in day to day life. You leave with an everlasting impression of kindness and hospitality, and usually without any way to ever thank, much less see, them again.    Read more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler
    I'm really relishing riding between 7 and 10pm. All the daylight, none of the traffic
    Riding into the 11pm sunsetI stole this from the interweb. The Louison Bobet watertowerAnother mediocre picture of the beautiful landI REALLY needed dry socks

    The Angel of Châteaugiron

    June 13, 2018 in France ⋅ ⛅ 68 °F

    I was discouraged from having wasted the morning charging my phone (and myself. electricity for the phone, french pastries pour moi) only to find that my "easy" day of trail riding was going to be another long day of road riding due to flooded trails, when a cyclist in spandex and a fast bike scared the living daylights out of me, whizzing past with a quick "Bonjour!" As they do here.

    Yes, we all know that I startle easily, and this guy felt so bad about it he turned around and apologized.

    Naturally, the conversation turned to "so....where are you going?" as it does, when you have socks drying on your saddlebag. And we spent a lovely 10 miles at a quick 13mph sharing cycling stories. He rides 30km (18 miles) each way to work, every day, even in the winter. I told him what i was doing, and that I was worried I wasn't going to make it.

    This random man, he told me, "you can do it. I did the Paris-Brest-Paris ride. I am not young or a competitive cyclist. You can get there. Courage!"

    Paris-Brest-Paris is a famous annual race where a shocking number of people do what is going to take me a week - TWICE. Without stopping, basically. He did it in 72 hours and slept once a day for one hour. So, here was a real, live, crazy person telling me I could do it.

    And honestly, it helped.

    My destination was a small town only known for being the hometown of famous French cyclist, Louison Bobet. And in a way that I've never really needed before - because I don't think I've ever attempted anything this ambitious - I drew on the inspiration from my new friend of a mere 10 miles of my life, and of the ghost of a cyclist I'd never heard of before to get me 65 miles to Saint-Méen-le-Grand.    Read more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler

    Going over the maps

    June 13, 2018 in France ⋅ ⛅ 63 °F

    Only just over 200 miles to go. I've made it to Brittany, a region in France known for its cycling (and its unpredictable weather...but today - sunshine!)

    They gave me no less than four cycling maps when I got to the tourism office (city, county, region, and one of the specific path I'm following). I'm just like, the ocean is west, right?Read more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler
    The countryside was amazing. My photography skills, not so much
    I was in such disbelief when the rain stopped that i kept my rainjacket on for hours

    First flat, hills, more rain, more hills

    June 12, 2018 in France ⋅ 🌙 57 °F

    Well, I woke up on my sad bathroom bench and instead of being miserable, I was just - angry. I was like FUCK YOU, ENDLESS RAIN. YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING ELSE TO ME.

    I was already miles behind. I was already out of dry warm clothes and socks. My shoes had been dripping for days. My feet were beyond raisiny. I hadn't really slept. I may have been having some sort of adrenaline-based survival reaction to it all. So I was like, I DON'T CARE. COME AT ME, WEATHER.

    And then the rain was like "okay, madame, if you insist." It continued through the morning.

    And then I got a flat tire. I walked half a mile to the next driveway so I could fix it off the road. And I fixed it. And it kept raining. And I kept riding. It was hills, all day. Up and up and up and up.

    Eventually, the rain stopped. And I made it, and more. After 95 miles, on a day where 90% of my time or so was spent climbing at 4 or 5 miles an hour, I am back on schedule.    Read more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler

    Baguettes

    June 12, 2018 in France ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F

    In many ways it's amusing how much france is a stereotype of itself. People are carrying baguettes and eating croissants on the street everywhere you go. I've eaten - I don't know exactly - but AT LEAST one entire baguette every single day. I don't know what baguette to mile ratio is appropriate, but I suspect that mine is heavily skewed towards the baguette.

    Some towns are too small to sustain their own bakery. In one town I was in, the regional bread truck comes every morning to sell to all the small villages. This town has a freaking baguette VENDING MACHINE, filled daily by the baker in the next town over.    Read more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler
    Pretty sure this is not a campground?
    Where I "slept"/spent a cold and uncomfortable night after the same kind of day

    Are we having fun yet?

    June 11, 2018 in France ⋅ 🌧 61 °F

    After a long and miserable day of very wet riding, i followed google maps to the municipal campground. Which, was not the municipal campground, but this alley. My god, if there's anything to break your spirit at the end of a day, it's when you think you're there and - you're not. I flagged down a runner, who gave me directions in very fast french. I found it eventually, but it was raining so hard I couldn't even set up my tent, and I spent the night in the camp shower shelter area.Read more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler
    I rode through this. And then a car followed me....
    Rode through this, too. Whatever, I was already soaked through

    Another day, another downpour

    June 11, 2018 in France ⋅ 🌧 61 °F

    I have to admit that by yesterday night I was getting really f-ing tired of the rain. It lasted for more than 24 hours straight. It was there when I went to sleep on Sunday (I camped in the very corner of my site because it had already rained several days and was starting to flood), ALL day and night on Monday, heavy - to the point that I didn't make all my miles due to starting late (hoping to wait it out. Didn't happen).

    AND THEN, it was still raining in the morning. I don't have a lot of pictures because my phone was in a plastic bag most of the day. But I grabbed a couple that felt necessary...    Read more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler

    chartres at night

    June 10, 2018 in France ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F

    Because of the downpour I got into chartres much later than intended. And because of the downpour, I got to see chartres at night. They have projectors all over the city making their already beautiful city look - unbelievable.Read more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler
    I want to be a pigeon so that I can live here

    Way better than Paris

    June 10, 2018 in France ⋅ 🌧 68 °F

    Ice Dragon and I made it to the Cathédrale Notre-Dame du Chartres today and it's truly one of the most magnificent things we've ever seen.

    I could actually see the spires from about 15 miles out and thought, "wow! it must be huge!"

    It is huge. It's also at the tippy top of a very, very steep hill. Enjoying a much-deserved glass of wine and crème brûlée. We hit the 400 mile mark today!    Read more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler
    Here I am before the storm, thinking, "this is fine! "
    It was not fineAnd then it got even less fine

    Stormchasee

    June 10, 2018 in France ⋅ 🌧 75 °F

    It's been a long, long time since i saw thunderstorms of this intensity so consistently. Even though I was in a bike lane with a concrete barrier, the extreme downpour made it impossible to see, much less ride. I took refuge under a bridge and not long after, the road under the bridge started flooding. Eek!Read more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler

    Not the scenic route

    June 10, 2018 in France ⋅ ⛅ 73 °F

    Today was a much-needed 65 mile day of actual bikeable conditions. The first good riding day since f-ing Holland. I was on the interstate bike lane for half the time, which is about as exciting as the interstate anywhere, but it gets the job done.Read more

  • Karen Figholland-belgium-franceTraveler

    Ville-d'Avray, France

    June 10, 2018 in France ⋅ ⛅ 72 °F

    Sundays are the best day for biking. I passed no less than THREE farmers markets and yes, I stopped at every one. Flaky, warm, buttery pain (bread) au chocolat. Delicious, crispy, burn-your-mouth hot potatoes. And, a sausage so scrumptious I forgot to take a picture.Read more

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