“From the bicycle the Bidasoa River is seen differently and always different”
- Irundarra Oinatz Mitxelena Munduate left everything and settled in the Aragonese Pyrenees. The motorhome lives with the home and the bicycle in the last three years. Your spare time is invested on two wheels or you design trips. Thus, in September he remarked “Euskal Herria Zazpiak bat, drawing Euskal Herria”. He has travelled a thousand kilometres in seven days, by cycling the borders of the seven provinces.
Three years ago, he abandoned everything to live in a motorhome and to travel by bicycle.
That's right. I left the house for different reasons and went to the Aragonese Pyrenees. I bet on rejecting the current pace of life and decided to change my philosophy of life. Even though I'm funny to many, I'm very happy with myself, no need for more. I live as I want. I work as a cook, and I go to the mountain in free time. I have also passed the pandemic without the feeling of being captivated by the freedom of the mountain. There too, the rents are very expensive and when it comes to looking for work the assistance of the motorhome has been very important. I am happy not to have residence in employment.
He has drawn Euskal Herria this September, translating the bike along its edges.
I've had a lot of trips in my head, dreamed, and one of them was to go back to the Basque Country. I finished working at the restaurant and felt the time was right. I've been able to study the maps, design the trip and turn Euskal Herria over the bicycle. Gipuzkoa and especially the Biscayan coast have made me the hardest, but in the rest I have enjoyed very much. In addition, for seven days I have accompanied the time, I have not had muscle problems or accidents. Everything has gone well, I've been very lucky. We divided the journey into seven stages, running a daily average of 140 kilometers. In total, I've traveled a thousand kilometers. I do not sleep in hostels or hotels, but on the street, so I have had all the freedom to choose a stop and a place to sleep.
Have you slept in the street?
Yes, it's part of the adventure. In this kind of travel it is easy to get shelters, but I like to enter the village. I spend the last few kilometers looking at every corner and corner, choosing places to sleep. I just have a shed and choose a nearby fountain to prepare dinner and fill the water bottles the next day. Place the sterile and sleeping bag on the floor and close your eyes. I do so. People have asked me if I have not had any problems, but the other way around. I have received more help than complaints or barriers.
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How have you organized what and how to bring you?
I've used two small bags. In total, not more than 22 litres of capacity. Sterile, sleeping bag, fire, a pot, a pair of couches, a towel, fire, gas… There is no more. And punctual food, I've also been taking fruit from the trees. I've been able to eat lots of figs and apples. It was clear that he bore as little weight as possible, otherwise it is impossible. That's something you learn little by little. I used to put in a lot of precarious stuff. Now I know what I am going to use. I prepare it three days before I leave. This time, for example, I left out the circus pants. I had good time and less bad!
What did you feel when you finished?I did a dream that had been hidden in
my head for many years. And that I've been able to draw the map of our people, that we've seen in so many places, by bicycle. With everything worked for so long, my head was empty, I thought, “Now what?” I'm still doing it.
Why the bicycle as a companion?
I loved it from a young age. All I do about the bicycle. Sport, walks, transportation… I would say it’s one of the healthiest ways to travel. Even to get to know corners… I would encourage everyone to try it, even for a weekend. For example, 30 kilometers. If there is fear of walking on the road, there are clues in our people. In the Bidasoa, for example, we have the Via Verde, you can go to Doneztebe and return the next day. It's a unique opportunity to meet Bortziri and Malerreka. When we drive through the N-121, we pass villages, but on the bike the Bidasoa River looks different and always different.
Have you fled the current pace of life in search of freedom?
Yes, absolutely. I'm not going to say I live without a phone because I have family and friends. We should all live quieter. The social networks I have are for mountain or bicycle tours. I look at paper maps more than anything. I don't have a TV in my motorhome and I turn on the computer for very specific things.
I think we should slow down the speed, for everyone's health and to improve the medium ambiente.Queremos to know the world up and down, but how do we do it? I don't like the current tourism model, I like to get to know the village from within, and that's done in a different way. Quiet. Today here and tomorrow there, it's not possible. If you're here today, enjoy what's here. Get to know your house before you travel abroad. I'm very comfortable in that quiet.
After returning to Euskal Herria, what corner would you choose?
I've had a lot of places I didn't know, it's hard to pick one. For example, Bastida would say. When I got there and stood, after walking around the wall, I had a desire to sleep in the cave of the wall, but because I didn't know if I had to leave the bicycle below and if I was going to bother, I moved somewhere else. But the place is beautiful. It's hard to choose, ours is a beautiful house.
with a green smile, has had the bicycle by his side. I know to approach your friends, go to work... It doesn't understand mobility as anything else. It is committed to a demanding pace of life and faces challenges beyond working hours. He has spent several hours analyzing the maps and stages of the return to Euskal Herria within the motorhome in which he lives. Where others perceive obstacles or panic, he sees opportunities and adventures. In his words, in addition to purple, I have seen the need to add another color to the glasses. The green of tranquillity, for example.
