“17-Year-Old Cyclist Bikes Nearly 1,700 km from France to Portugal in Tribute to Grandfather”

There are trips that you will remember all your life. The one that Jessica has just done is one of those. Native Pontault Combault (Seine et Marne), she cycled nearly 1,700 km in the space of two weeks. A performance all the more resounding as Jessica n’a 17 years old !

High school student in Management and Management Sciences and Technologies (STMG) at Camille Claudel high school in Pontault-Combault, the young woman decided to take up a challenge in order to pay tribute to her grandfather. “When we learned of the death of my grandfather in the fall, with my father, we wanted to go by bike to where he lived in Portugal,” she says.

Fifteen days on the bike

This is how the high school student and her father got back on a bike, in the hope of connecting Pontault-Combault to Bidoeira de Baixoa small village located 150 kilometers north of Lisbon. “I’m pretty athletic, but I’m not into cycling every day either,” smiles Jessica, who made a few outings on two wheels before the big start.

After a few weeks of preparation, the pair set off from Pontault-Combault on April 15. With her father, the young woman has set herself to cover a hundred kilometers each day. As the father-daughter duo begins to find their bearings, Jessica’s dad has to hang up the bike due to health issues. But there was no question for him of leaving his daughter alone to tackle the remaining 1,500 kilometres. “He followed me on the rest of the car journey,” continues the young woman, who slept most of the time… in the car alongside her father.

During these fifteen days, Jessica did not experience any physical failure, or even breakage with his bike, or almost. “I just broke a mirror,” she says.

In terms of emotions, the high school student has had some more difficult moments than others. But not enough to make him turn back. “When I found myself alone on the bike, it wasn’t always easy,” she admits. The excitement at the start took a hit when I arrived in Spain with a fairly difficult day, particularly due to the wind”.

To make matters worse, on certain sections, Jessica’s father could not follow the young cyclist. “It was a little stressful to be after those areas where he couldn’t follow me. Especially since we had no network. We sometimes drove 2-3 hours without seeing each other”she testifies.

Strong emotions

But all those worries and doubts were swept away as she got closer to Portugal. Very followed on social networks in France and in particular in his city of Pontault-Combault, Jessica’s adventure was also favored by Portuguese observers. So much so that when he arrived in the village of Bidoeira de Baixo, a small welcoming committee awaited him. “There were members of my family who were there to accompany me on the last meters. It was a very strong emotion. With my father, we cried a lot. But of joy, ”reassures the young woman.

In the days that followed, Jessica did not go unnoticed in the places she went. “People called out to me and said ‘she’s the girl on the bike’,” she laughs.

Returning to France at the beginning of May, Jessica resumed her studies which should lead her to embrace a career in real estate. “I would like to open my own agency in a few years,” she envisages. Until then, maybe the young Pontelloise will ride her bike again. “My parents really want to prepare for this challenge in the next few years. Maybe I’ll do it again, I don’t know yet. Who knows…

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