Generational Tales: A Daughter’s Father
“I was 17 when I did my first (and until then) last “bikepacking” tour. With fully loaded panniers on all sides and a tent, I cycled from western Germany towards London, during the early 70's. Although I have kept cycling since then around the flatlands of my home area, I never slept again in a tent, nor did another multi-day tour. It has been Franzi and her uncompromising lifestyle with bikepacking around the globe for 7 years that fascinated and made me so curious for such a trip on a bike again. Seeing all those tremendous shots, Franzi sent from different points of the globe, did attract me to an unforeseen extent. I yearned for being incessantly outdoor day and night, biking through nature, and enjoying the landscape in the purest way. As I did in my youth, but even more now, I wanted to understand what drove Franzi to explore the globe by bike for the last 7 years. With every photo she sent from abroad I got more curious to try it all out again myself, that so called "bikepacking", just the way you do it nowadays, more than 40 years later than when I had cycled to the UK.
That's how the idea of our common tour came up. The moment Franzi sent me the "Inside The Tuscany Trail" movie I was completely hooked. It seemed to be a tempting region, a perfect route, promising weather, a comfortable infrastructure, and a pleasant event for trying it all out. The idea of a daughter-father duo got more and more concrete, until we finally decided to tackle the Trail in 2020. While the suspension and the joyful anticipation rose, so did my nervousness too: how will it be sleeping under the stars? Can I cope with not having a shower for days? And, even more important, how will we have our food supply organized? With every day the event was approaching, the amount of questions seemed to increase as well. How good it was to have Franzi at my side!
Franzi sent me a packing list, but I could not leave it as is, without adding various safety and comfort items. It actually got real tight, until I decided to bring my backpack too. With fully crammed bags I picked up Franzi at the base in the northern alpine upland and we finally headed towards Italy. As we agreed on Franzi being the deciding boss of the trip beforehand she did a final bag control the night before we'd head to Massa, the Trail's start. Franzi combed through all my stuff, and I can't really remember which items had to stay at Orbetello, but it felt as it would have been "everything." Either way my backpack had been the first that was taken out and stored in the car that we left at the finish. I knew my daughter would be tough, but I never expected I would end up with being "me and my bike only" in the end.
With having Franzi being the boss, the usual roles felt like they were being turned upside down. Her mentioned bag-control gave me hint of how it would feel over the next few days. And indeed I had to learn a lot - turn off the lights when camping in the wild, having all conversations on a low volume, looking for a place to camp, and all that stuff. The nights in the tent have been quite ok, not being able to wash my body, and having no spare clothes to change was pretty borderline dreadful - yes, I could smell myself. The worst thing was to leave the tent without a coffee in the morning though - the actual step that let me finally realize I am stepping out of my comfort zone, but it worked, and it felt good. A kind of a new experience, taught to me by my experienced daughter, that I am so proud of.
I can't deny that the beauty of the Tuscan hills and its steady up and downs, brought an undying pleasure. Beautiful old cities, all linked by a mind-blowing landscape, but there has been something else that has been of an invaluable asset, something I would recommend every parent to do at a certain stage of life: spending 5 days, 24hrs with my daughter to such an intensive extent that cannot be outweighed by anything. Endless conversations and heated debates about the gender-neutral tongue, foreign aid, equal rights... Controversial positions, but stimulating perspectives on both sides paired with little stories about experiences we both faced during last years the other one was not aware of. Cycling, talking, cycling.
Those 5 days have been one of the best trips I made during recent years, at least it will be one that will stay in my mind with all its details forever. What a wonderful time we had, what a peerless family trip.
Wistfully looking back I am hoping we both will find the possibility to do such an experience once again in the future. Especially as I know now I CAN bikepack, as well as I know I can adapt to my daughter's preferences and follow instructions when needed or helpful. It is not that hard to let your kid rule over you for a bit, try it out! Thanks so much Franzi.“ (Ulrich Wernsing)
All photos by Franzi Wernsing and Matteo Dunchi.