Par
Julie Hurisse
Published on
Nov. 17, 2024 at 7:00 a.m.
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Since his retirement eight years ago, Pascal Coconnier, resident of Sablé-sur-Sarthe, has been making solo trips on his bike. After Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Morocco and even Romania, the Sabolien traveled 2,500 km through Tajikistan. A 50-day journey that he intends to tell, with photos and videos, Saturday November 30 et Sunday December 1st at 4 p.m. at Micro-Folie in Sablé.
“It was worse than I feared”
The Sabolien set off on August 14. The adventure was “tough and beautiful”. Pascal Coconnier, accustomed to challenges, knew that this trip to Tajikistan would be his most difficult. It was.
The Pamirs is a mountainous region, high and with degraded slopes. It was worse than I feared.
The Pamirs “make up 40% of the country’s surface area but 3% of the population”. Pascal Coconier observed this every day. “The region is abandoned by the authorities, there is no maintenance, the roads are often made of stones and sometimes sand.”
He sometimes had to give up for his safety like this tunnel of five unlit kilometers where he had no choice but to call a taxi. “I pushed the bike a lot and I also had a puncture several times. »
Added to that was the altitude. “I reached a summit at 4,600 m but acclimatization went smoothly.”
“I surprised myself accepting all of this”
A difficult adventure physically but also psychologically. No question of hoping to do 60 km per day. During this journey, Pascal Coconnier learned to put things into perspective, to accept giving time another value. “I'm not naturally patient but I found myself accepting all of this with a certain philosophy. »
400 km of border with Afghanistan
The Sabolien ran along the border with Afghanistan for 400 km. A site heavily monitored due to drug trafficking and infiltration attempts by Islamists. “I encountered several patrols every day who checked me.” In addition to his papers, the soldiers systematically asked him for cigarettes. “I explained that it was incompatible with cycling. »
Of these days “struggling on the rocks”, Pascal Coconnier keeps good memories, “the pleasure of physical effort, that of the landscapes and a complete change of scenery, of having a somewhat rough life”. At its coldest, the thermometer showed -6° at night.
Meetings that “put things into perspective”
The pleasure also of discovering different lifestyles. “People live with nothing, they survive in this isolated region.” And paradoxically, the inhabitants of the Pamirs have “a real pleasure in opening their door”.
When I was refused to pitch the tent in the garden it was because I was offered to eat and sleep in the house. I have been welcomed free and warmly by families around ten times.
The Sabolian cyclist remembers “beautiful moments of sharing despite the language barrier and the difference in culture”. Moments that “make us think about our living conditions and put many of our daily difficulties into perspective. »
Pascal Coconnier also met travelers on bikes, motorbikes and vans. “Compared to them, I told myself that I was a tourist. Some had been gone for six months. » Also enriching meetings with travelers who are out of business or in need of breaks.
“I won’t do it again”
50 days of a journey that Pascal Coconnier had been thinking about for a long time. “I dreamed of this Pamir, I did it, I won’t do it again. Such difficult journeys are over,” he believes. However, he is not giving up cycling and is already thinking about his next expedition. “I want to avoid flying to limit my carbon footprint. Perhaps I will leave Sablé for the Balkans.” It will be for 2026.
In the meantime, the Sabolien, who kept a very popular blog during his journey, offers to look back on his adventure during two conferences, Saturday November 30 at 8 p.m. and Sunday December 1 at 4 p.m. at Micro-Folie.
PracticalAlone by bike in Tajikistan, travel report by Pascal Coconnier, Saturday November 30 at 8 p.m. and Sunday December 1 at 4 p.m. at Micro-Folie in Sablé. Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes. Free entry, participation in the hat for the benefit of the Telethon.
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