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In Which I Appear In Print
November 9, 2007 by Mike
Hernan asked me to write an article for his newspaper, El Duende.
Very nice of him. It was translated into Spanish by his colleague Vanesa. Very nice of her.
Err.. I can't find it on their website, but it was definitely in the paper. I've been spotted as "the English biker" by several people. (Note to advertisers: people clearly do read El Duende!)
Anyway. Hernan had asked for 460 words. You know how I love to go on and on.. so I delivered 463:
--
Plastered across the back page - tomorrow's fish and chips wrapping..
The first thing I noticed when I rode in to Tarifa last week was the number of foreign vehicles on the streets. People come from far and wide to be here. There were number plates from Britain and Germany, Holland, France and Sweden. It made me smile: during the last year and a half, I have been lucky enough to see all those countries for myself.
Last July I left England for the Russian port of Murmansk, hundreds of kilometres north of the Arctic Circle. Beyond Murmansk there is no nothing but ice and tundra. I turned around and started to ride around the coast of Europe.
That was 40,000 kilometres ago. I have no idea how many kilometres remain before I reach the other end of the European coast in the Black Sea.
I have now visited the north, west and south of the Continent.
North Cape is a disappointment. I couldn’t see anything through the dense fog except the signs charging huge prices to get to the Cape itself..
Cabo da Roca, near Lisbon, is the westernmost point of the European mainland. But it is also a short ride from the World Heritage Sites at Sintra. The view across the empty Atlantic pales by comparison.
By contrast, I like the understated way Tarifa celebrates its position with a badly translated sign at the Punta de Tarifa (”The Southest Town Of Europe”) and… nothing else. No fuss, no nonsense, just great views.
What other impressions have I made about Tarifa?
You can be very proud of your wind. It is without doubt the strongest I have found on this journey – motorcyclists notice this kind of thing – but I imagine you knew that already. You also have more wind turbines than I have seen in the rest of Europe put together.
I had never seen Africa before. The view across the Straits to Morocco is inspiring. We are closer to each other than I imagined. Many politicians and scaremongers in the rest of Europe would do well to come and see that for themselves.
Above all, Tarifa seems relaxed. Look at the people as they amble through the Casco Antiguo, chatting with friends and smiling at strangers. Look at the hours they spend at work - and especially the hours they spend at lunch.
My life feels a little like that. Every day when I wake up I have to decide if I want to stay where I am or ride on a little further. That’s the hardest decision of my day.
Every day I thank my lucky stars that I have this opportunity.
Every day I tell myself - if I can do this, anybody can. Go on: if you have a dream, go out and do something about it.
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