Category: Short Reads

I’m not a superstitious person — but it seems like being on the road has put me in closer contact with how often amazing coincidences actually happen in our everyday lives.

Here’s one that happened to me when i was cycle touring in the Odessa Region.

As i’m pulling out of the worse dirt road ever back into the main road — and worse asphalt (?) road ever — a red van driving by stops, while the driver steps out of it shouting, “Brazilia!”

What the fuck? — could he see the tiny Brazilian flag sown to my handlebar bag from all the way out there? — probably not — and he seems too jolly to be the secret police — it must be Yuriy’s friend!!

I was supposed to spend the night before camping in Gennadiy’s backyard, as arranged by our common friend Yuriy, from Izmail — but the heat, energizing encounters along the way and sincerely bad roads slowed me down and i couldn’t make it. I planned to swing by the day after anyways just to say hi, but it seems like life magic once again took care of that for me!

Do you notice such coincidences in your life? I would be delighted to hear one! Please share it in the comments below.

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Featured photo: Gennadiy and his red van (Ukraine, May ’17)

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‘Trelograms’ is a wordplay between ‘telegram’ and ‘trélos’ (Greek for ‘mad’)

Trelograms: inspiration; cycle touring; Ukraine

My host Sasha invited me to go fishing — was that excitement or discomfort?

One way or another, i was certainly curious.

From what i understood, they leave traps permanently set up along the canal, and go every evening check if anything got caught in them — there was one this time, whom i found to be surprisingly settled, not sure if because already tired from trying to escape from the net the whole day, or resignation to its fate.

It was not quite my first time ever fishing, but it was the first time i remember paying attention to what was happening. It was also the first time i ate an animal i watched being killed. In particular, i had never seen a fish being cleaned before — the reflexes were still there several minutes after that — so, when did it die? — was it when its brain was removed? — or was it when the cat ate it? — what is ‘it,’ anyways? — has it ever been alive — what does any of that even mean?

Sasha doesn’t eat fish.

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Featured photo: fishing with Sasha ( Ukraine, May ’17 )

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‘Trelograms’ is a wordplay between ‘telegram’ and ‘trélos’ (Greek for ‘mad’)

Trelograms: inspiration; cycle touring; Ukraine

This picture shows Tania, Natasha, and Valia from Mahazyn Kashtan in Kiliya, Ukraine. The town comes up along the stretch of the Danube River between Izmail and Odessa — a popular week-long cycle touring route during Spring/Summer.

Mahazyn Kashtan was where one of my shortest and most intense cycle touring encounters to date took place. I walked in just to get some bread but, as it’s nearly always the case, that’s never the whole story — they seemed especially glad to see me, perhaps because i came from so far (Brazil) — i believe that can be seen in their smiles on the photo.

Despite their contagious joy, this encounter was also a tough reminder that we’re constantly departing on a cycle tour — perhaps in life in general?

This was one of the countless occasions in which i broke into tears upon leaving them behind — am i ever going to see them again!?

This will likely not quite apply to the vast majority of my readers — but on the off chance that you’re doing the Izmail–Odessa ride, please swing by Mahazyn Kashtan (it’s somewhere around here) on your way through Kiliya — do you food shopping there, and tell the ladies that Mika, cycle touring guy from Brazil, says a warm hi 😉

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Featured photo: Tania, Natasha, and Valia (May ’17)

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‘Trelograms’ is a wordplay between ‘telegram’ and ‘trélos’ (Greek for ‘mad’)

Trelograms: inspiration; cycle touring; Ukraine