chamonix to tokyo
bedrock stories
episode 1
a conversation with re:routing
bedrock: For those just discovering your project — how would you describe what you’re doing?
re:routing : Riding self-supported from Chamonix to Tokyo. We’re linking the places we’ve always wanted to see, meeting people living in the countries we pass through, and experiencing what it means to cross a continent by bike: the highs, the lows, all of it.
bedrock:At what point did this idea go from “cool dream” to “ok… we’re actually doing this”?
re:routing: The moment we quit our jobs. We’d been reaching out to sponsors, doing the research. But handing in our notice was the point of no return. After that, it was real.
bedrock: What does a day look like for you right now?
re-routing: Up at 7, eat as much as possible by 8, rolling by 8:30 or 9. We ride all day, stop for lunch wherever food appears, usually somewhere between 1 and 3pm. Along the way: photos, locals, chai. Somewhere between 100 and 150km later, we find a campspot or a homestay, eat again, and lights out by 9.
bedrock: What have been your favourite moments so far that have nothing to do with the riding?
re:routing: Being invited into people’s homes, for food, for tea, sometimes just to sit. The look on someone’s face when we tell them where we started and where we’re going. Sleeping on the heated floor of a restaurant instead of a frozen tent. Eating whatever we want with zero guilt. And watching the blue dot on Google Maps inch further and further from home.
bedrock: What do your days look like when nothing goes to plan?
re:routing: Rain or a mechanical, usually. The fix is always the same: find the nearest cheap hotel, lie horizontal, eat well, and think it through. Simple formula, works every time.
bedrock: What do you already know you’ll miss from this?
re:routing: Not knowing what the next week looks like. Where we’ll sleep, what we’ll eat, what we’ll find. The only things we have to worry about are the weather, the climb ahead, and where the next meal is coming from. There’s a clarity to that, living completely in the present, that’s going to be hard to find once we’re back
.
bedrock: What’s the why behind this project?
re:routing: Five years of corporate life had set us on a clear path, one we were happy with but that felt like it was narrowing. We wanted more, and we knew that if we didn’t do something about it now, it would only get harder. The trip is about taking a different path before the window closes. That’s where the name comes from: re:routing.
The bike specifically matters. The pace is ideal, slow enough to actually see things, fast enough to cover ground. People stop you, ask questions, invite you in. It’s the best way we know to really meet a place.
