I recently had the opportunity to meet a very interesting french couple, Elsa and Ollivier, who were shopping for a trailer for their tandem. I asked them a bit about where they were riding, and it turns out they have been on a fantastic trip for the last two years, riding around the world on their Mountain Tandem, sailing across oceans and travelling by horseback through Asia.
Their website is called Vents Nomades, which translates to “Wandering Winds”. Elsa and Ollivier met as national park rangers in 2006, and within three years had decided to ride their bike around the world, leaving France in 2009. Elsa is a Marine Biologist, and Ollivier a mountain guide, having led treks in Nepal, Mongolia among other places. The purpose of their trip is to explore the connection between man and nature, and write reports about various conservation projects throughout the world. Their goal is to travel around the world without emitting any CO2 (or as little as possible).
Their tandem is quite the machine, and the two years on the road it has endured shows in it’s various scratches, dings and rust spots. Almost everything on the bike has broken, including the frame, spokes, rims, fork, and even the Rohloff itself needed to be replaced at one point in New Zealand. Note that with the Rohloff drivetrain on a tandem bicycle, two standard cranksets can be used. The outer ring on the back runs to the Rohloff, and the middle ring runs to the Captain’s crank.
Elsa Showing me on their netbook their route across Asia. Apparently Kyrgyzstan has been their favorite place to cycle so far on their trip. They said that it is very similar to New Zealand.
Ollivier readying the new BOB Ibex trailer. They have switched to this trailer from panniers due to the excessive flex caused by the extra weight of bags on the frame, and the broken parts caused by the weight.
That is one well used Rohloff shifter.
Two front brake levers, one for the rim brake, the other for the gigantic hydraulic disc brake.
Elsa’s cockpit and Ollivier’s saddle.
Front end of the bike. The fork is a special double crown downhill fork, designed for doing stuff like jumping off ten foot drops. Maxxis is their tire of choice at the moment
Installing the trailer for the first time.
Elsa’s saddle and various other stuff on the back of the bike.
Those are kilometers. They said the actual number is higher because the computer hasn’t worked the whole time.
It was a pleasure to meet these two adventurers, and I’ll be following their journey as they head towards South America. If you want to read more about their mission and trip, their press kit in english is available as a Microsoft Word document, currently the second link when you google vents nomades. Also, to see another couple travelling by tandem, check out here.
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