J41 - Four men in Chambéry

DAY 43 <-> DAYS 38-40

“I can’t believe it“, “It’s both a relief and a sadness to think that it’s the last day“, “I’d never have been able to do almost 200 km every day“, these were some of the reactions yesterday at the finish line of the Sun Trip 2024.

La Rue de Boigne, avec en arrière plan le Château des ducs de Savoie

Halfway through the day Richard Defay, who had to give up in Morocco for health reasons, was in place under the Fontaine des Eléphants. For nothing in the world would he have missed the arrival of his comrades from what we called the ‘Taroudant group’. They were the only ones to have this group dynamic, and they insisted on having it right to the end. To achieve this, Bertrand had to use a few taxis to get his engine repaired after the breakage in the Pyrenees, and then catch up with his two friends in Valence. In any case, he wasn’t classified in the solar challenge (because his recharge wasn’t 100% solar), and even though his beacon was greyed out after these adventures, it didn’t put the smile off his face!

At 3.30pm on 22 May, Vincent Gallego, Luciano Trumpler and Bertrand Goudenhooft arrived in 41 days and 2 hours, the first grouped finish of the Sun Trip 2024, and the first arrival under the sun in Chambéry!

“We were super lucky with the weather on our side, we had a few hours of rain during those 41 days but otherwise it was sunny“, Vincent tells us. “I’d never done this before, so I didn’t know how many kilometres a day I’d be able to do. It’s impressive to see the distances covered, we were consistent from start to finish“.

Luciano Trumpler, who was lucky enough to find the arms of his wife in Chambéry, was equally happy: “I’m so happy to have done the route with them. On the first stage I didn’t really know where I was going and by chance I followed Vincent, who speaks Spanish, and we stayed together for the whole adventure! That helped a lot and I’m also very happy that the bike I built myself worked well. Apart from a broken shock absorber, everything went well. I’d like to thank Sun Trip for giving me the chance to experience life like this“.

Bertrand Goudenhooft was reunited with his daughter and grandson, “I found what I was looking for on this Sun Trip, thanks to the moments I shared with them and by proving to myself that I can also ride alone at times, over long distances“. Bertrand will have just enough time to get back to his home in Metz, before returning to Chambéry for the start of the Savoie-Nice, where he will be taking part with his wife Mariedo, already a participant in the Sun Trip Alpes 2022!

This desire for a Sun Trip was also shared by Richard Defay, who doesn’t intend to leave it at that. “It was a wonderful experience, I’m happy with the solo part, then I did well to wait for the group. Unfortunately, the food poisoning I picked up in Taroudant put me out of the running. It was also an adventure to have to be repatriated from Boulmane Dades, which was a long way from anywhere! I’ve recovered well since then, and I’ll certainly be back on a big Sun Trip, maybe in 2026 on the Great Eastern route...”.

The four men were then received at Chambéry town hall before going their separate ways for good. Well done to them.