The whole story began with a joke I made to my mum.
Back in March, I was about to start an internship in Budapest. Out of curiosity, she asked how long it would take to drive from Lille, France to Budapest, Hungary.

While checking Google Maps, I noticed it also gave the travel time by bike… and, well, you can imagine where this was going. I laughed and said, “Look, it’s only three days by bike!”
It was supposed to be a joke, but then I thought about it a little more… and it didn’t sound that crazy after all.

That’s when everything started.
I began looking for a bike, figuring out what type I’d need, trying to find people who’d done similar trips to see if it was realistic for someone who had never biked before. I fell down the rabbit hole of bikepacking videos, spent far too much money on gear I didn’t even understand, and got a crash course in a whole new world.

The first mission: find the bike.
After bouncing between a few shops and asking a lot of questions, I landed on a gravel bike; light, fast, and able to go pretty much anywhere. The options for my size (and being a woman) were… limited. But then I met her: Philippine, my Lapierre Crosshill 3.0.

It was, without a doubt, the most expensive thing I had ever bought in my life. My heart was racing at the checkout, half-convinced my card would get declined.

With the bike sorted, it was time to train. The general advice I found was to log at least 3,000 km before a big trip like this, so I’d be in shape and comfortable on the saddle.

At first, riding around my hometown in France wasn’t so bad… until I hit the 20 km mark. That’s when my whole body started complaining, especially my lower back and, well, my butt. I’d come home sore and cramped after every ride.

It was clear from the start this was going to be a tough journey. And with only three months to prepare, I had no choice but to push through and get ready.